You asked…about a dreary hallway

Q: Any ideas for my extremely drab, boring, long, and narrow “L” shaped hallway? The hardwood flooring is new as are the sisal runners. I moved in 8 years ago and the walls have been bare ever since. I used to have family pictures lining the walls in my previous home, but I have plenty of photos in the rest of the house and want to do something different in the hall. The walls are painted a pretty creamy yellow which matches the rest of the house. However, it’s pretty dark even with the bedroom doors open, and the two dated-looking light fixtures don’t help too much. Thanks for any suggestions!

A: Thanks so much for this great question. My first thought, naturally, involves color. Does this wainscoting extend beyond the hallway? Could you paint it a different color without spilling into the other areas of the house? It wouldn’t have to be a crazy color (although you know I can always make an argument for that), but a gentle one, such as Benjamin Moore’s HC-143 Wythe Blue, or an interesting neutral, such as Benj. Moore’s Affinity Color AF-445 Aventurine (I know, I don’t come up w/ these names). Either of these would be lovely with the soft yellow you say the walls are painted. Only paint the wainscoting, by the way; leave the doors and door trim the off-white it is now.

I’m glad that you’re moving beyond hanging a zillion family pictures in the hall. That technique can work well, because the viewer is forced to be close enough to see small pictures, but bully for you for changing things up.

I suggest hanging a landscape picture at the end of the hallway to give you a “view” and open things up. It can be an actual painting, a large-scale photograph, or even a poster. Here’s a c-print by Christina Dixcy called Curved Horizon, Black Hills (2006) (full disclosure: I own some of her work):

And this is a skillful painting I stumbled across on Etsy.com called “Beneath Mount Pilot” (seller calls himself/herself “hedgecock”):

If you’d prefer something more lively and colorful, here’s a print by Timothy Sorsdahl called, “Dusk Like Candlesticks Light My Path Till Dawn” I saw on art.com:

I also suggest hanging a single, fairly large picture on one of the flat side walls with an interestingly framed mirror opposite it. It can look too busy to hang art on both sides of a narrow hall, but a mirror directly across from a picture works well and reflects light.

Speaking of light, it’s not such a big deal to install ceiling fixtures (meaning, it’s not such a big deal to hire an electrician to do this for you), so I suggest replacing your two fixtures with slightly larger semi-flush fixtures. The Minka Lavery Dakota light is one I’ve written about before, and at right is a fixture by Kichler Lighting that would work well. Both of these are inexpensive and available through www.lamps-lighting.com.

Do all of this and you may be able to keep your sisal rugs, although I’d certainly be in favor of using multi-colored runners instead. Good luck!