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.
sherree benoit says
Love the light fixture in the hall! I would also paint the gold color found in the wallpaper. Your house sounds wonderful. Our 1951 brick ranch is also a little more colonial/cottage on the outside, and more mid century modern on the inside. I look forward to seeing more of your pictures!
George says
That was soooo my thought ( I yelled it outloud) when I first saw the pics…strip the woodwork! That’s cool that you will be doing that. It will make those areas that much warmer visually. Just to throw it out there since you may be interested in metallic colors: I bought bedroom paint today and one of the big box stores has a line, Valspar Signature Colors Brilliant Metals. Looking forward to see what you you decide.
Jana (Berniecat) says
I would vote for a light gold color for the hallway. It would coordinate with the wallpaper and not make the hall feel too small. Love the ceiling light fixture! If you wanted to accent with a darker (navy) shade, you could do an upper border of navy blue paint that would contrast with the vertical navy striped in the wallpaper. I agree with Jane (Mulchmaid)… whatever color you choose will be the right one for you!
Jim says
Assuming that the starburst/sputnik light fixtures and the cottage door are original, it would lead me to believe that your house was built in the 50’s or with a 50’s spirit (often times building construction lags the design world by a few years). If instead these were installed by you and taking into account the aqua chair in one of the pictures, I would say that your taste leans much more towards the 50’s than the 60’s/70’s (the 60’s/70’s were loud and overpowering, a reaction to the at times suffocating niceties of the 50’s). In either case, it was nice of you to save a patch of 60’s/70’s wallpaper that is either not original or that you probably don’t like that much. All this being said, I would chose an off-white or cream to match the base in the wallpaper because it won’t detract attention from the wallpaper itself and will fit in more easily with a 50’s aesthetic.
Heidi Swank says
Thanks Jim. The house was built in 1956 and is a Cinderella ranch. But the focal point of the interior is the large 25′ x 25′ great room with vaulted beamed ceiling and floor to ceiling windows along with the aforementioned stone wall. The original lights had been removed when we bought the house, but we found these on ebay. The exterior is definitively cottage but the interior is more 50s modern.
Aesthetically, we are more the understated 50s modern types as is the house, so the cream could work well, too. We plan to strip the doors and built-ins back to the wood and refinish them with a light colored stain. The introduction of the wood into the mix makes us think that more subtle colors, like the muted gold or a cream, might be a good way to go.
Thanks, too, for the Googie architecture link.
mstark says
NAVY!! Nobody else voted NAVY yet??
I painted one of the bedrooms in my old house a very deep blue/navy. This room had lots of trim and doors, which I painted a creamy white. And I had ethnic indoasian type paintings ornately framed in cream white with blue and leafed gold pictures and it was GORGEOUS!
The color I used was Sherwin Williams Peacock Blue, but I think its too green for this – I’d recommend matching the blue in the wallpaper and then going a few tones darker.
Trip says
You should paint the walls a pale green. It would be like butta!
Heidi Swank says
We were so torn about taking down the popcorn. But it had been painted so many times that it was losing its texture. We thought, “Well, let’s take it down. If we miss it, we can have it put back up and add some nice glitter, too.” I think it will end up staying down. We really like the clean simple lines of the house that contrast with the large rocks in the rock wall.
I think we will paint the hall and entry way the same color. It would be hard to transition between the two spaces because both are visible from the great room. And because of a 12′ brown/gold rock wall adjoins the entry way/hallway, I think a light gold would work well to pull all of this together.
Fabulous ideas. I’m going to take a look at the Martha Stewart Precious Metals this weekend. Can’t wait!
Jim says
“We really like the clean simple lines of the house that contrast with the large rocks in the rock wall.” You might want to read the great atricle about Googie architecture at spaceagecity.com/googie. Especially the “Symbols and Metaphors” section.
Debbie says
I vote gold to match wallpaper!
Jane / MulchMaid says
It’s such a personal choice, I can’t comment on color ideas, but have fun whatever you choose!
Super-cool light fixture in the hall, too!
Marion Powell says
Sorry, I’m confused. Is the paint being used only in that one little hallway where the wallpaper is preserved or is it to cover all the hallways that used to have the wallpaper? Heidi showed several different hall areas, the front? door, the horizontal hall off it, leading to the other areas, another short hall . You can tell by the different light fixtures, (btw, love them).
If the paint is to cover all these areas, it would have to look good with all the rooms off it, especially the living room with the rock wall (love that too!).
And I really think that the flooring choice is very important. Carpet would be easy to match, although sometimes it can drive you crazy. If wood or laminate, will it be light or dark.
Therefor, if Heidi wants to paint first, I’d go with the creme choice since it would be easiest to live with till it could be changed.
And last but certainly not least, does everyone realize that Heidi no only stripped the wall paper but also stripped the “popcorn” off the ceiling? She deserves a vacation after all that. Way to go, Heidi.
Marion Powell says
Oops, that should be Therefore.