Colors to Make Your Hallway Memorable

Bright colors for your hallway.

By Christine Pittel

Oct 1, 2008

Just a guess, but the word you'd use to describe your hallway probably isn't one of these: glamorous, mysterious, dramatic, delicious, warm, intimate, exciting. But it could be!

Van Buren Brown

"I always think it's a mistake to try to make an interior room look brighter with white. I'd rather make it dark and interesting. This is the color of semisweet chocolate chips. I just used it in a great Georgian house with beautiful white moldings and pedimented doorways. In an eggshell finish, so you get a bit of sheen. It doesn't feel dark to me, just intimate and enveloping." -Tom Stringer

Yellow Ground

"Usually hallways don't get much sun, so I like yellow — a color that emanates warmth and light. It won't take on that gray pallor that white and beige or tan can acquire when there's no window around. This yellow tends more to pink than green, which combats those cold violet shadows. Hang a series of black and white photographs — repetition works well in a corridor." -Marshall Watson

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Pewter

"A hallway should be the reverse of what's happening around it. If the rooms are white, then the hall can take on a more dramatic color. But if it has no architectural features, the dramatic approach can look a little imposed. This seagull gray doesn't scream for attention, yet it has presence. Light, yet deep enough to look sharp with a contrasting trim." -Birch Coffey .

Classic Gray

"Remember those boutique hotels with hallways so dark they made you feel like a mole? I think the drama should come from your art, and the paint should be fresh and light. I can't identify this color — it's not white and it's not cream and it really doesn't feel like a gray. It will minimize any architectural flaws and make artwork look fabulous." -Betsy Brown

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Platinum

"To reduce that long tunnel effect, you have to dematerialize the walls. Lacquer them to reflect light or, most swish of all, use this pale silvery gray metallic paint. It will make everything shimmer. Add rock crystal Baguès sconces and a giltwood mirror to take it to the most glamorous, angelic plane." -Maureen Footer .

Not Your Average Hallway

"Why do people treat hallways as a lonely, pathetic passageway? I love to see seating, even if nobody's actually going to sit. It feels comfortable. Add arched doorways so the space seems less rectilinear. Give it a waist with wainscoting. I did this woodwork in cream and the walls in a delicious burnt orange, the color of candied orange peel." -Darren Henault

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Orangery

To get the look of the hallway in the previous slide, we suggest using .

Warm Grays

"Go for impact. A hallway is a playing field for strong, colorful artwork that is harder to put into rooms. Hang it against this warm putty-colored gray, with a hint of pink and lavender. Not too light, so it doesn't go vapid. It's a color I've seen in old Jasperware. Add an unusual settee to make it feel less like a passageway." -Kim Alexandriuk

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Elephant's Breath

Kim Alexandriuk suggests using .

Taupe

"This is more molasses than chocolate, a wonderful color that's neutral and exciting at the same time. It mixes well with coral, green, yellow, tangerine. If you have traditional moldings, do them in off-white to set up a dramatic contrast. People are often afraid of dark colors. But it's just paint, bottom line. Try it. You'll like it." -Sue Burgess .

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All White

"I like to use white in a space that has no natural light, and this is the perfect white — not too blue, not too pink, not too yellow. And at the end of a hall there should always be a focal point — a console table, a fabulous chair. My ideal hallway would have a piece of Cycladic art — very Brancusiesque — at the end, with Noguchi paper lanterns floating down the center." -Lisa Jackson

Naples Blue

"Hallways without windows can and should be mysterious. This is a deep blue with a lot of green, wet and languid. It says, 'Take me to the ocean.' Why not use it on the ceiling as well? Make it a cocoon. Then reveal who you are. I'll often do strips of molding, routed out and attached to the wall at different heights, to display a rotating selection of family photos." -Susan Zises Green .

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Black Blue

"I like black in a small hallway. Clients think you're crazy at first, but it's very romantic. Do sconces or a chandelier on dimmers, because you don't want bright light flooding the walls. This is not lifeless, like some blacks. The blue in it makes it warmer. And art looks amazing against it. Would be even better with a black and white marble floor." -Elizabeth Bauer

A Bright Hallway

"There's just something about white that feels very pure and fresh and doesn't compete with the rooms off the hallway. This is not too gray, which can get a little sad, and not too blue. It has warmth, but it's not yellow. Just a nice reflective white that's soothing and peaceful. I'll do everything, including the ceiling, in the same color — just different finishes — which feels more modern than picking out the moldings in different shades." -Alex Papachristidis

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Cloud White

To get the look of the previous hallway we suggest using .

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