Color Month

Before and After: A “Cold, Uninviting” Hallway Gets a Colorful Yet Sophisticated Redo for About $600

Written by

Sarah EverettAssistant Editor, Home Projects
Sarah EverettAssistant Editor, Home Projects
Sarah is an assistant editor at Apartment Therapy. She completed her MA in journalism at the University of Missouri and has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Belmont University. Past writing and editing stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and several…read more
published Jul 4, 2022
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When you’re thinking of places to add color and pattern to your home, don’t forget the hallway. Hallways are often fairly empty (and therefore color and pattern-free) because the focus is on the rooms the hallways connect, but that doesn’t mean they have to stay that way. It’s possible to add fun without adding too many clunky pieces that make the space feel smaller.

Xiomara Ortiz (@xiomadesignstudio) added major color and style to her once “cold, uninviting” hallway during the One Room Challenge. She said the pass-through needed a major color revamp — and she did not mince words. “The colors felt like vomit,” she says of the before. “It was so bad that I stopped using this entryway and started leaving the house from the back door.”

Because Xiomara is planning to start subletting her place, she wanted to make the hallway and the door a little less …gross.

Enter: charcoal gray (Behr’s Shadow Mountain), white (Shoji White), and a wavy rainbow wallpaper. “A fresh coat of paint and wallpaper transformed the room drastically,” Xiomara says. Initially, she was planning to completely redo the wainscoting, but by simply painting it the gray-black and adding new trim at the top, she totally changed its look — and saved about $400.

“I’m proud that I was able to complete this project on my own, on time, and well under my $1,000 budget, Xiomara says. (Her grand total was about $600.) “Even though I chose a dark smokey grey color for a tiny room with very little windows, it feels bright and welcoming.”

A few other setbacks in the space included delays in framing and shipping for doors and windows (and those will probably be added in a mini-makeover in the next few months), but overall, Xiomara is proud of the final look and new, slim accessories she added, like a wall shelf, a tiny drink table, and a brass planter (small space dwellers, note the small pieces!).

“New lighting and flooring completed the space,” Xiomara adds. “The after is just an entire vibe! It’s warm, soulful, and sophisticated.”

This project was completed for the Spring 2022 One Room Challenge, in partnership with Apartment Therapy. See even more of the One Room Challenge before and afters here.