A “Dark, Scuffed, and Emotionally Flat” Entryway Now Looks Like a Rainbow
“The hallway felt like a missed opportunity,” says interior designer Justine Guillermou about her client’s family home. “It was neutral, forgettable, and didn’t set the tone for the house at all.”
As founder of Rainbow Shaker, a London-based interior and set design company, Justine is all about bringing unique joy to a home and creating “expressive, color-forward spaces.”
Awkward Transforms to Useful
In the hallway, Justine not only wanted to bring personality into the space, but also function. “We redesigned [under the stairs] to improve storage, turning what had been awkward dead space into something much more useful for family life,” she explains.
The First Thing You See When You Walk in Should Signal the Whole Home’s Personality
The first step in the family’s home transformation was to redesign the staircase and entryway. “Before renovation, it felt dark, scuffed, and emotionally flat,” Justine describes.
“Because [the staircase is] the first thing you see when you walk in, I wanted it to feel like an instant mood-lift — a signal that the whole home had personality, joy, and movement,” Justine says.
With so many rooms being vibrant and personality-driven, the staircase and entryway are the most impactful because “it’s the spine of the house and the first thing you see when entering” the home.
Custom-Designed Stair Riser Decals Add a Pop of Energy
Instead of replacing the entire staircase — which would’ve cost upwards of roughly £15,000 or $20,000 — Justine digitally designed geometric risers and had them printed on custom commercial-grade vinyl.
“[They] bring color and movement the second you enter, and the hallway now has a sense of identity rather than just being a pass-through,” Justine explains.
The stair risers were inspired by Bauhaus principles and the client’s love of Miami’s bright, cheerful colors. The design is paired with the perfect entryway art — Wacka Designs shoes and sneaker art prints.
5 Bold Paint Colors Brighten the Space
With Rainbow Shaker, color is to be expected. Justine painted the walls a fresh white with Johnstone’s Paint’s Swansong, and added a stripe of NCS’s S 2565-R80B (a bold royal blue) to the hallway wall and the trim around the front circular window.
Benjamin Moore’s Aurora Borealis was added to the front door and trim, and to match the custom decals, Justine painted the staircase’s newel and balusters Dulux’s Satsuma Spice. The client’s floors were already tiled in a beautiful teal geometric pattern, which Justine complemented with YesColours’ Fresh Aqua — adding a pop to the picture rails and interior door trim.
What was once a purely functional space is now full of joy and energy, thanks to the bright colors and fun patterns. “I love that the staircase has become a real moment,” Justine adds.
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