Hallway home office painted in Denim Drift

Dr Dulux: Simple Hallway Décor Ideas to Add a Pop of Colour to Any Entrance Hall

Your hallway might be one of the smallest rooms you have, but it has one of the most important jobs. Because it’s often the first room on show, your hallway décor has the responsibility of setting the tone for the rest of your home.

If you want to make your hallway work harder for you – just add colour.

Whether you want the space to be happy and light or dark and dramatic, we’ve pulled together three simple hallway décor ideas, with a selection of hall paint colours, to help transform the space. Better yet, our small hallway ideas can be achieved in a two-day turnaround.

3 quick and easy hallway ideas you can do this weekend

Hallway colour ideas: paint your stairs

Wondering how to decorate a hallway with colour? A quick trick for transforming your hallway is to add a pop of colour to your stairs. Bold and bright or striking and sophisticated, you have many hallway colour schemes to choose from.

One of our favourite hall paint colours is Banana Split. Small hallways often get little natural daylight, so this burst of sunshine is perfect for brightening the space.

hallway painted stairs chic shadow polished pebble banana split

And you don’t have to paint every single step to achieve the wow factor. Why not give the ombré stairs trend a try? Notice how a pop of colour, like Banana Dream 3 in-between Polished Pebble, has just as powerful an effect as one block colour. This is one of our favourite painted stairs ideas – try it for yourself.

Hallway colour ideas: Create a study space

Finding a quiet and comfortable space to work or study at home isn’t an easy task. Why not turn the nook under your stairs into a makeshift office? With the right hall paint colours, you can easily create a work-friendly hallway.

We’ve used Denim Drift to create a sophisticated and secluded space that aids concentration. Or you could pair our Colour of the Year 2021, Brave Ground with Coastal Grey from its Earth palette. This pairing provides a strong foundation for creativity and productivity, whilst reconnecting your home with nature.

To finish, update your hallway décor with a desk, chair and shelving, and decorate your new work area with potted plants and artwork.

Hallway colour ideas: Give the geometric effect a go

Put your own stamp on your hallway with the geometric effect. This cool graphic design is all about crisp lines, playful shapes and bold colours. It not only adds extra impact to your entrance hall, but small hallway ideas like these allow you to introduce new hallway colour schemes to your home.

Ideas Spotlight: Rethink Your Hallway

Want to completely revamp your hallway? Our entrance hall weekend project is perfect for giving your hallway a new lease of life. Follow our simple steps below to get started.

The hallway is usually the first thing you and friends see when coming through the front door, so a quick freshen up can make a huge difference to your home décor.

Traditionally small and narrow, the average hallway often lacks space and light, so select a shade such as White Mist to open it up. With a clean slate to work with, you’re then free to add a unique flourish, which is where painting the ceiling (if you’ve got a long weekend ahead), the door, its surrounds and a stripe down one wall comes in.

Opt for a soothing paint shade, such as Mineral Mist, to keep things fresh and to create a subtle coastal style in the process. Not only does the stripe look striking, but it also highlights coat hooks fixed to the wall and the chic fabrics hanging from them.

You’ll need

Sandpaper and cleaning brush
Roller tray
2 roller heads
2 paintbrushes
Paints from colour palette
Stirring stick
Tape measure and pencil
String and chalk
Scissors

Keep things on track

2 hours (+ drying). Clear the hall. Use Polycell Polyfilla to fill any cracks or holes in the surfaces you’re painting, then gently sand and clean. Leave to dry. Give everything two coats of White Mist and allow to dry.

45 minutes. Mark up your stripe using our string-and-chalk technique (there are a few handy videos on our YouTube channel), then tape off the two lines measured.

2 hours (+ drying). Seal the inside edges of the tape by painting over them in White Mist, allow to dry and fill in the stripe with Mineral Mist.

1 hour (+ drying). Once dry, carefully remove the tape. Paint a wooden coat rack separately in Mineral Mist, then fix to the stripe. Finally, add a crisp finish by painting the skirting in Pure Brilliant White.

We hope we’ve inspired you with our easy hallway décor ideas. Looking to refresh your entrance hall? Make a start with our how-to guide on how to paint an interior door. Keep things easy with our five simple steps to applying Dulux quick dry, and if you're having trouble deciding what finish to opt for, discover our comprehensive guide to paint finishes.

You can also find out how to master the geometric technique here.