We weren’t lying when we said we’d post about this makeover in the near future! Remember way back to last week when we showed you all the before shots of our upstairs hallway? Well, today, we’re showing you all the improvements we’ve made so far. Phase One. Complete. Awww yeah.
And in case you couldn’t guess by the title of this post – we did it all with paint! In fact, this entire post is about how to brighten a boring hallway using paint.
Here are the supplies we used:
We cleaned all the bead board and the trim as best we could and then we puttied and sanded all the holes in the walls. We also primed the wood trim before painting it.
We painted the upper portion of the walls with PARA Paints Lunenburg*. Guys. This colour. It might be my new favourite forever amen. I mean, the actual town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is one of my favourite places on Earth…so it would only follow that the colour be so delightful that you want to live inside it.
I want to live inside this colour.
It’s a perfect mix of green and blue and it’s the exact look we wanted for this hallway and landing area.
It’s teamed up with Chrysler Hall white which we used on all the trim and bead board.
Oh and the piece de resistance? The old bookcase turned plain old wall now has a little attention grabbing style! (In case you didn’t notice that… haha.)
Yep! We stencilled it!
Sorry for the shadow in the middle of the wall. There’s no avoiding it with the stair well post right in front of the window!
The stencil is called Drifting Arrows and it’s from Cutting Edge Stencils. Got to admit, there were some nerves before attempting this project. Why? Can’t really explain that. I think there are always a few nerves before attempting something totally new.
Either way, it turns out it was super easy to do. We watched the tutorial video first and then just followed the instructions.
The stencil kit comes with this great little clip on level. Basically, you start by taping off your area, put your stencil in a spot where you can use the whole thing, check for level with the little clip on and then tape it to the wall.
We used Chrysler Hall white for the stencil too. We don’t want too many tones in the hallway because it’s such a small space. It’s just enough to create some depth and interest.
Roll your foam roller into some paint and then blot it really well on some paper towel. The key is to use medium to light pressure when rolling the paint on the stencil.
After one good go, remove the stencil carefully and just reposition it and keep going.
Cutting Edge sends along a special ‘ceiling’ cut matching stencil so that you can finish off the edges too! I decided to leave our ceiling ‘undone’. And to further our modern beach theme, I actually went over the wall with sand paper to distress it a bit. It faded the paint that little bit more to make it look sun-bleached and weather worn.
This little landing wall took less than an hour to do and it is so worth it.
I’m sort of obsessed with this stencil now. We picked the arrow motif because arrows factor heavily into traditional nautical-style decor, but these arrows have a distinct modern-contemporary twist. We are considering using them in the main floor hall way too.
If you haven’t checked out Cutting Edge Stencils yet, you totally should. The delivery process was a breeze and they even send you a little freebie stencil with each order. Stencils are a great non-permanent way to add some je ne sais quoi to your walls.
Further into the hall, you can see that we have moved our little teal chest out of the window nook space and replaced it with…. drum roll please… the sister dresser of my purple lion dresser! Yes! We actually bought TWO of these sad dressers. I’ve got a serious plan for a rehab on this one – so stay tuned. In fact, I’ve already started on it. 🙂 UPDATE: Here it is!
We are going to use this one to house all of our linens. And they are going to stay organized. They are going to stay ORGANIZED, (right, Erin?!?!) *cough …likely not….cough* But I can try right?
For about two days after we did this paint project, I’d audibly gasp when I came up the stairs because it just feels so much lighter and brighter and modern and happy. And we aren’t even finished yet! That’s why it’s a little sparse looking at the moment.
Still to happen up here:
- fix up the dresser for the linens
- get a new ceiling light fixture (possibly a DIY, we can’t decide yet)
- add in some functional accessories like mirrors and a second lamp
- fix up the cupboard door because the handle is on the wrong side!
- add new door knobs
- fix up the doors to give them a modern beachy feel
Anyway, for a quick refresh and renew, this was just what we needed. What do you think?
OOH! Next week is our May DIY Challenge! The theme is ‘Trash to Treasure’. Y’all know we are going to ROCK that one. 😉 And what we’re cooking up is hopefully going to fit into this hallway space!
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*We are members of the 2015 PARA Paint Blog Crew. We were supplied with the paint for this project, but our opinions of the awesomeness of it all are completely our own.
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