Hallway Progress and Plans
Hallway Remodel
We’ve been focusing HARD on wrapping up the hallway renovation the last couple of weeks. The closer we get to the finish line, the more my brain buzzes with ideas on how to really turn it into more than just a passthrough but rather an integral, well thought out part of the house. So in this post, I’d like to share some updates on our hallway progress, and future plans for what I have in mind.
I recently shared on Instagram that we finished painting the walls and installing the flooring, which was a HUGE milestone considering we’ve been walking on subfloor for the last year. But before I get into that, let’s take a look at some before and afters. Because, really, who doesn’t love a good before and after? Or is it a “during” in this case, since we’re not done yet? Hmmm…
A Trip Down Hallway Memory Lane
We started renovating the master suite in July of 2020. At that time, this hallway barely existed. Seriously.
The hallway when we moved into this house was so insignificant we apparently didn’t even bother to take a picture before we started demo, but I went back into my archives and grabbed a couple of layout shots from when I was working out the floor plan for the reno.
We started with this itty bitty piece of hallway (and overall stupid master suite layout) circled below:
As you can see by following the orange arrows, to get to the loft you had to walk through our bedroom, past our closets, through the bathroom, and through our odd shower room (because that was a thing for some reason). It was a weird layout, to say the least.
Now that we’ve completely reconfigured the space, we have a much more efficient (and less invasive) way to get to the loft through our beautiful new hallway!
It really is amazing to look back at these floor plans and see our ideas come to life. And while I definitely owe some official “reveal” posts of the other rooms involved in this renovation, today we’re talking about the hallway. Focus, people!
So, in short, here’s where we started (using the best actual picture of the hallway “before” I could find):
And here’s where we are today!
You see that post in the hallway? Imagine that the old bedroom doorway was about a foot in front of that. Here are a few more angles for ya.
This is looking from our bedroom to the kids’ rooms and vice versa.
And this is looking from the corner by our bedroom into the loft and back.
We plan on replacing the door leading to the loft with a frosted glass door to let some of the light into the hallway, like this:
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Wainscoting and Runners
So what’s next for this hallway of ours? Well, I’m glad you asked! I have plans.
After an initial “veto” from my other half, Lucius has agreed to let me install wainscoting! Of course, after I finish painting I decided to do that, ha! But I think it’ll be totally worth it. The top half of the walls will stay White Heron, and the bottom half with the wainscoting will change to a slightly glossy Pure White, both by Sherwin Williams.
While I love this big hallway 1000% more than the old little landing we used to have, there’s a whole lotta empty wall space. I think wainscoting will add some much-needed interest and architecture. Plus, I have some other ideas to liven it up. Here are some inspiration images I used to win my argument. #teamwainscoting
I really like the simplicity of the wainscoting in the example below. Honestly, it’s even a little more ornate than what I plan on installing. I’m also feeling the evenly-spaced pictures with large mats lining the hallway, which is something I’m toying with incorporating on the stretch of hallway leading to the loft.
Here’s another good example of evenly-spaced artwork lining the hall above wainscoting, but this one also adds a runner. I’ve been on the hunt for a runner that will work with all the adjacent rooms. Maybe something like this, or this, or this, or even a pattern as bold as this.
The example below is not only absolutely gorgeous, but I like that they used three of the same runners to create one long one. Considering the length of our hallway, I may have to do the same, so it’s nice to see it in action!
Gallery Wall
While the frosted door and the evenly-spaced artwork are all fine and dandy for the section of hallway leading to the loft, the part that is open to the staircase will get slightly different decor. I’m thinking: mirror gallery wall. I put together some super helpful and professional-looking sketches in Instagram for you:
In reality, it’ll look much nicer. I’m picturing something more like these examples:
The mirrors will hopefully help bounce some light around bring more interest to what could otherwise be a dark, boring old hallway.
Handrails, Newel Posts, and Spindles
And last, but not least, is the detail of what to do with the handrails, newel posts, and spindles. While I LOVE a black railing and pretty seriously considered it, I was afraid it’d be too busy with our setup.
And while it’s easy to stick with white all around, I think I’d like to mix it up and keep the spindles white (hooray for not having to paint those!), but painting just the newel posts and handrails gray to match the treads I painted. Of course I have examples to back up my case. Check out these beauties!
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Final Thoughts
So there ya go - a big old brain dump of hallway ideas and inspiration. Seriously, who knew so much thought (and love) could go into a hallway? I’m looking forward to putting these plans into action! In fact, I’ve already started mapping out the wainscoting.
We have new doors and trim ordered so once that’s installed, it’s wainscoting time. And I’ll be sure to share updates along the way.