Inspirational ideas
Colour ideas & inspiration for the hallway
It is the house's first impression — and often its most neglected space. Yet halls forgive everything: with no long runs of furniture to please, they are the perfect place to dare the colour that intimidates elsewhere.
Colour-drenched stairwells, practical dados, picked-out doors: our hallway schemes make the most of every corner, from the floor to the landing.
“The hallway sets the key: it announces every room that follows.”
Which colours work in a hallway?
A hallway almost never has daylight of its own: it borrows it from the rooms alongside. That is why frankly pale colours so often disappoint there — they read grey — while a committed shade, taken from floor to cornice, turns a passage into a room in its own right.
For a hallway that is light but not blank, our schemes lean on Greenwich Time No.8, Syon Park No.13, Whitehall No.9 and Sleet No.91, lifted by Frieze No.84 or The Boltons No.28 on the woodwork and stairwell — just enough contrast to draw the mouldings.
For a fully coloured entrance hall, Cornhill No.128, Chester Square No.199, Forest BH.16 and Pink House Pink give the kind of colour moment you never regret in a space you pass through: you don't linger, so the effect stays a pleasure. Limestone No.55 or St Clement No.11 on the ceiling is then enough to give the height back.
Hallways take knocks: choose a hard-wearing finish for skirtings, doors and handrail. See also our grey paint ideas, neutral colours and black paint ideas, or browse all our hallway paints.
Our schemes
46 schemes
