Before and After: Easy Swaps Give This Hallway a Color-Filled Energy Boost

published Aug 20, 2023
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From corals to blushes to electric hot pink, there are lots of ways to make pink paint work in a home. More often than not, pink lovers prefer to go with a ballet slipper shade because it can act as an almost-white neutral in an already colorful space, and that’s exactly what Mette Norrild did in her upstairs hallway. 

The space was already stylish, with a gallery wall and a cane-doored cabinet (from IKEA Denmark, but you can find a similar piece from Wayfair or Crate & Barrel), but Mette says the hallway felt just a bit boring. She wanted to add more color and swap out the carpet for wood floors. A few changes give the space a new lease on life. 

First up is fresh paint on the walls. Mette went with a ballet slipper pink color called Deco Pink from a Danish brand. She used similar light pinks in other rooms in her home, and she says she’s “totally in love” with the color. The hue makes a charming new backdrop for Mette’s already-charming gallery wall. 

Second is the new flooring, which makes the room feel lighter and more modern. Third, a hardware switch-up also gives the space some bold new contemporary lines; Mette replaced the old chrome knobs with modern matte black ones that pop a bit more against the blue doors. She writes on Instagram that door handles are a “small but important detail,” and her new ones are “simple and elegant.”

Mette says she left the doors their existing periwinkle-meets-baby-blue hue (DYRUP’s French Pottery), though she was a bit nervous about how it would pair with the pink walls. But for now, she likes the area’s color palette of pink, blue, and now green (thanks to a new pendant light).

The pop of green that comes with the light fixture is Mette’s favorite detail in the space — in fact, the emerald-meets-Kelly green shade is her current color crush, she says. Mette’s flower pot pendant is from a Danish retailer, but you can find something similar from Lumens.

Mette’s result, completed for under $2,000 USD, is a whimsical, colorful hallway that feels much more complete than the “before.” The project took her about three months, and she’s thrilled with the result.

Want to add pink paint to your home but not sure what colors to pair it with? Check out these nine options for color palettes that feature light pink.

Inspired? Submit your own project here.