Hi Pam,
My husband and I are finally getting to the painting part of our long rehab. We are having trouble figuring out what color to paint our hallway, because we’ve decided to keep some of the 1960s blue and gold flocked wallpaper that use to cover the entire thing. So we can’t figure out what color to paint the hallway that would mesh well with the wallpaper. Help from readers would be appreciated.
What do you think, readers? I’ll pipe in with my thoughts at the end…
Meanwhile, enjoy the slide show of Heidi’s space before, during and after taking down a bunch of the wallpaper. And, hey: If you personally like the “befores” better, please remember our #1 commenting rule: No one can be made to feel bad for their decisions. (Lamentations will be deleted or not approved.) Flocked wallpaper can be a lot to digest — and this wallpapaper was no wallflower. I am SURE that Heidi gave the decision lots of consideration — evidenced by the fact she decided to keep the memorial flocked wallpaper in the hall.
Janet says
Cream or gold would give a more period effect but I like the blue idea. It would put the focus on the fact that there’s gold on the light fixture as well as in the wallpaper.
I’d start out looking for a grayed sort of blue for the walls, not quite slate gray. Not necessarily pale, either. Actually, the blue jeans don’t look half bad with the wallpaper! You could paint the doors with the cream.
It may depend somewhat on how the adjoining rooms look (period or contemporary, as well as their colors) and the color of light and amount of light the hallway gets.
Isn’t paint fun? You can mull and mull to your heart’s content. The best part is, if it doesn’t turn out to thrill you, you can always repaint! Go to a store that sells sample size cans (Benjamin Moore is one of these) and get a variety to experiment with.
rechercher says
Contrarian view here: I would go for a markedly lighter shade of the midnight blue tone in the wallpaper, so that the gold in the paper would really pop.
pam kueber says
Yes, I think that could look really good — if Heidi is okay with having a dark hallway…
S. Louise says
I vote for gold. You have a lot of light doors in the space to break up the intensity of the color, so I wouldn’t worry about it feeling too heavy.
pam kueber says
Oh and I meant to say: GOOD ON YOU for paying homage to the flocked!
pam kueber says
I am in the gold camp. And I’m with Jeanne — a relatively strong green-gold. I think that you are sort of seeing what cream would look like with the stripped walls you have now — I don’t think the contrast is really as pleasing as the more complementary nature of the gold would be. I used a Benjamin Moore color called Putnam Ivory in our bedroom — that might work… still might be too light. Alternatively, look at the BM Historic paint colors — all the golds have a very green base.
I’d paint the trim the field color of the wallpaper — and carry that through to the adjacent spaces, if you’re looking for a neutral wall color.
Like others I wonder: What are you doing with the floors. And other’s suggestions about decor — like framing the medallions — are terrific.
Heidi Swank says
Thanks so much for all the suggestions. We really like the gold idea, too. And I like the idea of a paint color with a subtle gold sheen/sparkle to it. Where do I get paint like that?
We’ve been hemming and hawing over the flooring. Most of the house was artificially built up so the house could have a sunken living room. We love this, but unfortunately the soil used to build up the rest of the house wasn’t properly packed. This resulted in some serious heaves in our slab. In one corner of the great room the slab has dropped almost 2 inches. We had thought to jackhammer out the entire slab and have it repoured, but that was very pricey. We’ve been in the house for 5 years and the slab hasn’t moved any more.
Wow. That is the very long winded way of saying we are now considering very low pile carpeting maybe in brown. We can use a thicker pad in the places that are lower to level out the floor. Maybe like you see in the Case Study houses or something.
Thanks so much!!!!
Lynn-O-Matic says
Martha Stewart has a line of paints, Precious Metals, with metallic or shimmery finishes. My daughter chose the pink pearl for her closet. Will let you know how it looks once it’s up.
pam kueber says
Great tip, Lynn-o. Thanks!
Lynn-O-Matic says
Heidi and anyone else interested in this paint–
We finally got the Martha Stewart Pearl Pink paint up yesterday. It’s amazing. I love it. However, the shimmer *really* shows any faults or irregularities in the wall. Our drywall mudder promised us a knocked-down plaster look but did a sprayed-on texture called Spanish lace instead. The shimmer really shows the parts where the little globs of mud didn’t get knocked down as much. You couldn’t really see it with the flat primer. We also had to do a second coat, which we didn’t have to do with the other paint. If you want a metallic finish the results are worth it, however. Gorgeous!
pam kueber says
Hey Lynn-o, send me pics when you are ready for prime time. Sounds gorgeous!
Heidi Swank says
Lynn-o!
I need your help! I am two coats into the Precious Metals Froth in my hallway. I keep ending up with marks where the columns of 20″x20″ squares overlap. Our walls aren’t textured (as I believe yours are) but do you have any insights into a better way to put this paint on the walls? We love it and it looks AMAZING with the flocked wallpaper. Help!
Lynn-O-Matic says
Hi, Heidi! We had the same problem. I should have written about it. After combing the internet I found some advice from a Home Depot rep. They said to use a thicker coat than you would for regular paint, so keep your brush/roller pretty saturated, and don’t let it dry at all as you do a section. In other words, don’t do what we did the first coat and have Daddy cut in at the top, then Mama roll the upper half, and then kids come in and do the lower half. Each wall needs to be done all at once, and you want to keep rolling in the same direction. Otherwise you get the effect of someone rubbing a section of velvet the wrong way. It’s a little more work than regular paint and takes more paint, but it is so cool in the end. I smile every time I go by. In fact, we liked it so much we got some for the other daughter’s room.
I really hope you can make it work. It’s to die for.
Holly Kohler says
Did you know that flocked wallpaper paints really well? It might be an option, to paint the hall…..and just paint over the wallpaper too, keeping the flocking texture in tact.
The Atomic Mom says
That is serious wall paper. I can see why you’d only need a little of it to make a statment. 🙂 I think a nice cheery yellow-gold of some sort would be fantastic.
Lynn-O-Matic says
I really dig the light fixture at the end of the hallway!
I would go with gold on the walls, cream on the doors and trim, and blue on the ceiling. The blue would really set off the ceiling light, which kind of recedes into the gold right now. As Martha Stewart says, bold colors that would overwhelm a larger room can really work in small spaces.
Good luck. Can’t wait to see the finished hallway.
Gavin Hastings says
Ok…it seems that there is a built in halfway down the hall with a chair rail across the top: that is your starting point.
I would install a chair rail riight through the entire hall/entryway area. Low…at the height of the existing piece. Match the rail as closely as possible. It looks about 30″ in height.
This will “open up” the hallway…which is what I assume is the idea here.
The chair rail gets painted your existing trim color….the area below, the green-y gold…and the top wall space:off-white,similar to the wallpaper.
This will give you a good base, yet keep the hallway open and air-y. Trust me.
Trouble says
It looks like the front end of the shelf when the doors are open? Where would the chair rail terminate when you get to the end of the hallway?
Gavin Hastings says
I would go right around the front door- and where the corners of the hallway open to another room I would stop. Not just a flat stop….the top tip of the chair rail would meet the corner edge and working down to the rails base I would mimic its’ profile.
That’s if the doorways of the next rooms have no moulding…..if they do, I would butt them to the casings.
Gavin Hastings says
Google Image: ending chair rail no casing.
Picture #8 shown how to stop then you get to the large opening of what I guess is the living room….
Lynne says
GOLD, no question. Gold.