I never liked this very small hallway leading into the bedrooms, and have always wanted to do something about it. I wanted to add a door to separate the rooms from the rest, but that was impossible since we do not have enough space for it. So, my only option was to do a hallway makeover with an impactful transition instead of closing it with a door.
Some background and considerations
The hallway is only about 92″x35″ It is also done is such a way that the walls on both sides when walking into it are not aligned, and there is nothing that can be done about it. On the left, it’s the pantry wall and if you look from the bedrooms, you can see that even that wall is not straight since the pantry protrudes over about half of the wall.
The other consideration was that while we did our bedroom makeover to transform our closet into a makeup nook, we left a little portion of that space to create a linen closet that would open into this hallway.
So, because of this, I wanted it to make an impact because it would serve as a transition and it is open for viewing on both sides of the hallway. Because it leads into the bedrooms, I wanted this tiny transition to feel as if we were moving into a distinct area of the house that would feel good just before going to bed. So, using my neuro-architecture knowledge, I dove into what would make us feel good in such a small space. The answer was a definite turn towards nature and organic materials to make this hallway makeover an impactful transition.
design choices
So I needed to gather all the elements of functionality and aesthetics in addition to the wellness impact to make them all come together in a cohesive design.
- I had to add a door for the linen closet
- I needed to find a way to transition from the kitchen to the hallway
- I needed to close the gap where the pantry protruded
- I wanted at least one aesthetic element, and something with curves since I could not make an arched hallway
Choosing the design elements
First off, I knew I had a door to add, and it is simply the same as the others because it is not in the plans to change them now. The others, including the trim and baseboards are painted with Revere Pewter from Benjamin Moore.
The other element I knew I wanted was a creamy white to blend in with the side wall going downstairs (painted in Revere Pewter) and the kitchen (painted in Simply White by BM). So that left me with one wall to the right and the ceiling to work with for aesthetics and an impact.
My final choice was to add a decorative arched niche in the right wall, a wood element in the ceiling to create a visual separation and a darker green colour on the ceiling to create the transition, but also provide that imagery of walking into a forest with the wood element. With these being the last elements we see going into the bedroom and out of it, it creates a nature-like transition that is calming and grounding.
I worked on this project with Rona Canada for the paint, specifically from their Sico line. After going through their paint swatches and a visit in store, I picked up the following two colours:
- Ceiling: Sico Prestige, Storm Clouds, flat finish
- Walls: Sico Endurance, Pillow Cloud, eggshell finish
For the wood elements, I still had a big barn wood shelf from my old office design, so we cut a piece from it to fit the weird corner on the ceiling between the pantry wall and the one opposite to it. I couldn’t have had a better element to transition this hallway, I love the old wood element and it adds so much interest and warmth.
kicking off renovations!
We first started by taking out all the door trims. On the side of the hallway, they weren’t changed yet like we did everywhere else. Then we tackled the linen closet. The space was already closed off from the bedroom, so we just has to open the wall from the hallway, finish the drywalling, sanding and electrical work. We added an outlet because I wanted to store our robot vacuum in this closet, it’s practical to have it handy all I need to do is open the door and let it do its work :). We refinished the hardwood flooring as well just like we did in the bedroom closet turned makeup nook.
I painted the inside of the linen closet with the Sico Storm Clouds. We then added melamine shelves for all the extra towels and bedsheets – yay, finally more storage in here! Lastly we fixed the doors.
Next step: the arched niche and the rest of the hallway makeover
We drew the arch on the wall and cut through the drywall 4″ thick. We then solidified the edges and top with 2″x4″s, covered with drywall and put an edge. Finally, we applied the usual compound, sanded, etc.
We used a thin decorative trim to cover the part of the pantry that was showing, and we cut it in place to have an even look on both sides. We then proceeded to cut all the new trims to size and painted them. Then we painted the ceiling first, then the walls with the chosen colours mentioned above. We nailed the trims, filled the holes with spackle, made colour touch ups as needed and finally screwed the piece of wood beam onto the ceiling.
I found a little antique door knob for the linen closet door in brass that we fixed to it. At some point, I’d like to change at least the door handles everywhere in the house for either black or brass.
And voilà! A simple hallway makeover for an impactful transition from one space to another. This was not a huge renovation project but it did take some time and attention to details, especially for the arched niche that I absolutely adore!!!
I was able to add a tint vintage vase with baby breath stems, and I made a little 3D plaster artwork that I put inside the niche. What we have is a beautiful transition and a hallway that is no longer an eyesore but rather a space that ties in the others together, that is aesthetically pleasing, grounding and functional!
