Hallways can be tricky. There are not many things you can do to update them, but I recently found an easy, budget friendly way to modernize your hallways just by using paint!
Paint is an easy update for any home and can make such a difference!
I recently painted my kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and two hallways. Each room looks so different!
(Check out the master bedroom before/after transformation HERE!)
(I’ve also gathered my painting tips from these projects and combined them into a post you can check out HERE. I didn’t tape off any room because of this amazing tool I found!)
Paint can go a long way and have an amazing transformation… if it’s done correctly.
We have a fairly outdated home with old, plain interior doors in our hallways. It was challenging coming up with a way to modernize the hallways with outdated features like ours, but I figured out a way to help modernize any hallway!
How to Modernize Your Hallways
Paint the Walls
The previous owners of our home had the right idea going with tan for the walls- it’s a neutral color. However, it was very bland and dull to look at. It had to go.
BEFORE
We still went with a neutral color for our paint makeover, but lightened it up quite a bit.
Having light colored walls brightens up the space and will make the hallways feel more inviting.
AFTER
Hallways are typically the base of colors around your home, so you don’t want anything too eccentric.
I would suggest doing white or a color so light that it almost appears white in some lighting. I chose the color Dove by Behr Marquee from Home Depot. It’s a really light grey.
Tip- ALWAYS buy a sample and try it out on your walls first, especially if you’re painting a large amount of wall! The lighting in stores is not the same as the lighting in your home.
Paint the Interior Doors
This is an easy and affordable update considering doors are pretty expensive to replace. Ideally, I’d love to have interior doors with some finished molding, but it’s not really practical in this moment.
A little paint definitely satisfied my urge for wanting new doors though!
MY HALLWAYS BEFORE
I’m not saying to repaint them the color they already are.
That might make them look a little more fresh, but I’m talking about changing the color completely.
Make them stand out!
MY HALLWAYS AFTER
Interior doors in most homes are white. Are yours? Or maybe they’re cedar and they match your molding and baseboards?
The interior doors typically match the molding or baseboards in your home. To make them a little more modern, make them stand out.
Having a color door will bring your hallways to life. Make your hallways something people notice instead of just pass through.
Hallways tend to be so boring, but they don’t have to be!
Color your doors and make them stand out, but make sure you choose the right color. I cannot stress this enough.
Choose the Right Colors
I like the modern farmhouse style. So, when picking out colors, I went for something that would match that style and help flow through the rest of our house.
If you like the modern farmhouse style as well, I’d suggest going with a shade of green, blue or grey. Generally, I’d suggest you select a lighter tone of those colors for a more farmhouse feel and a darker tone for a modern feel. Be careful with blue and green colors. I would stick with a shade that has a grey or charcoal tone in them.
I wanted to make our hallways more modern looking since most of my decor is a blend of modern and farmhouse, but a little heavier on the farmhouse and I’ve been trying to find ways to add more modern touches.
Of course, you’re free to do whatever you want in your own home. But personally, I tend to stick with cool tones and neutral colors for our home. They’re easy to work with and it’s easy to change up your home decor without repainting.
The color I chose for the interior doors was Obsidian Glass by Sherwin Williams from Lowes and it is a green-grey.
In my pictures, they tend to come out looking teal… I’m not sure why. But in person the color looks like charcoal with a hint of olive green which is exactly what I wanted.
How to Paint the Doors
I took our doors off completely to paint them, but I was also replacing the hinges.
It might be just as easy (or easier) to paint them without removing them. I actually painted a few of them completely while they were on the hinges and then swapped the hinges out after they dried.
It’s easier and faster to leave them on because you don’t have to wait for them to dry and then flip them over to do the other side.
Yes, I painted both sides. Optional for sure, but that is another reason why you should pick colors carefully. I picked a color that would go well in every room in the house. I’d say that’s why doors are typically white- it goes with everything.
If you leave the doors on the hinges, you also won’t have to worry about them going back on correctly. For some reason, you can do everything correctly, but some doors fit differently when you put them back on.
So, some of our doors wouldn’t fit back on very well. All it takes is for them to be off a TINY bit and they won’t shut.
To avoid that headache, I’d leave them on while you paint them.
Whichever way you choose, you might want to invest in something to protect the floors. I found some affordable builder’s paper at Home Depot that I used for all my paint jobs. It’s inexpensive, you get a bulk amount, you can cut it to any size you need and it’s easy to manage.
My dog loved lounging on it while I painted.
I slid the builder’s paper underneath the doors that I left on the hinges. For the doors I took off , I laid down large sheets of the builder’s paper through the hallways and laid the doors on them.
So whichever way you go, this was a good investment!
Hardware and Doorknobs
I went a little extra with this project and updated all the hardware and doorknobs to the interior doors.
The old hardware was gold and dingy looking and really wasn’t going to look good with the freshly painted walls and doors.
I bought new hinges and strike plates.
OLD HARDWARE
NEW HARDWARE
You might see in all my pictures that the doors don’t have doorknobs on them.
In an effort to make it a little more budget friendly, I attempted to spray paint all the doorknobs. That was a FAIL.
I’ve seen other people who seem to have success with it, but it was a long and painful process only to not even work for me. Plus, I’ve read that you have to repaint them somewhat frequently depending on how much traffic they get.
So, I ended up finding affordable doorknobs from Amazon (which I love them), but the latch doesn’t fit our ancient doors. It’s an easy fix, but it’s just not something I’ve had the chance to tackle yet.
When I get the doorknobs on, I’ll take more pictures and update this post.
Other Update Suggestions
Everyone’s hallways are different, but if you have white molding and baseboards (PLUS have two large dogs like I do), you might want to consider just giving them a fresh coat of paint. I just did a few touch ups around the door frame and on the baseboards and it made a huge difference.
If you have sconces, you might want to consider updating those to match the rest of your freshly modernized hallway. If you don’t want to buy new ones, I updated mine with this spray paint. For only a couple dollars, you could have a brand new looking sconce!
Shop My Hallway Makeover
Obsidian Glass by Sherwin Williams
Doorknobs (comes with strike plates)
Conclusion
I’m so thankful I decided to take on this project and I’m hoping it encourages or inspires you to figure out how to modernize your hallways with paint.
Paint can go a long way and make such a difference.
Hallways are usually so boring, but if given the right kind of love and paint color, they can be a haven to walk through!
Your hallways deserve more than boring and dull paint colors. Don’t you agree?