# Recommend colour for Hall



## Noilheart (20 Jan 2010)

Hello there,

I have started painting the inside of my house. The sittingroom is already painted now in the 'Matchstick' and one bedroom in "Dorset Cream" colours by Farrow & Ball and look good but of course the paint was expensive.  Now I am getting the hall done and am a bit stuck as to what colour should go on it, and i don't really know what I like, except I know that a very dark colour would not be suitable.  The sun shines in for most of day (if it is actually shining outside!)  but further up the stairs and the landing it is quite dim with little light.    Have tried painting on a swatch of "Pointing" colour by Farrow & Ball but it looks too white and cold.  I did read some of the  threads on paint colour but I still can't decide.  I would consider Colortrend paint too after reading the threads on this site. Should I stick to a fairly similar palette throughout the house or what?  
Can anyone give me a nudge towards a colour?   thanks


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## onq (20 Jan 2010)

Hi Noilheart

Keep it neutral, warm and washable if you have little people in the house. Or boys. Or men... 

Even if you don't halls and stairways tend to be high wear areas.

Take a look at these Dulux ranges:

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One colour you might consider is Raw Silk in this range:

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You could engage an interior designer to assist with colour selection and matching.

Hope this helps.

ONQ.

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## tablesalt (20 Jan 2010)

I think halls should be bright otherwise they would be quite unattractive. It also depends on the colour of your door, stairs and furniture in the hall. I'd definitely use warm colours. Tusk in Colourtrend is quite nice I have it I one of my bedrooms. Its homely and warm, but might be a little too dark. I have Warm White by Colourtrend in my hall and I like it.


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## dubgem (20 Jan 2010)

The first thing you see when you walk into any house is the hall, it's what either warm and welcoming or cold and uninviting.  
The top of the stairs is an area you'll only ever be passing through.  
Choose whatever colour would look best in the hall, and don't worry about the top of the stairs.  You can always put a bright focal point of a picture, lamp or mirror up there to brighten it up, but the hall should be your main priority.


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## Noilheart (21 Jan 2010)

onq: thanks for the links, although i might stick to Farrow & Ball  or Colortrend as they have the same "feel", although the colours on the links do look lovely, I think that now that I have the sittingroom painted already  in Farrow & Ball  I will  have to stick to either that or Colortrend to have the same "feel" in the house throughout.  But those colours on the links might be  lovely if had started out with Dulux.   As regards an interior designer, I did actually consult one last summer when I was rushing to get some stuff done to the house ahead of family coming home from abroad.  It turned out to be a waste of my hard earned money, sadly, she wrote down everything I suggested and handed it to me in a "report" and charged 300 euro.  I didnt know what hit me afterwards  and felt such a fool afterwards when I thought about it.  In fairness I felt under pressure with family coming home and could hardly think straight but she was supposed to be a professional after all!   
Tablesalt:  I do like the Tusk colour, but i think it would be dark for the hallway.  Will keep it in mind for one of the bedrooms though.   Now the Warm White looks good, im considering actually putting it in the hall now  having looked at the colour card, what does it look like in your hallway?
Dubgem: Thanks for that tip, I think you are right in that the ground floor hallway is  more important to the feel of the house.

Thanks for the comments from you all so far.....


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## Pique318 (21 Jan 2010)

onq said:


> One colour you might consider is Raw Silk in this range:
> 
> [broken link removed][broken link removed]



Or put another way....Pink! onq, I thought you were a man's man 

Paint it whatever colour you like. It's your house! 

I would advise keeping it light though.


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## Noilheart (21 Jan 2010)

Pique318 said:


> Or put another way....Pink! onq, I thought you were a man's man
> 
> Paint it whatever colour you like. It's your house!
> 
> I would advise keeping it light though.



Iwish it was that simple, as i dont know what will look good yet  and am trying to ascertain what I will like before it goes on the wall!!!


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## onq (21 Jan 2010)

Pique318 said:


> Or put another way....Pink! onq, I thought you were a man's man
> 
> Paint it whatever colour you like. It's your house!
> 
> I would advise keeping it light though.



<flutters eyelashes>

"Silk" is on our walls and isn't pink, dahlink.

My pal, who wears pink shirts, has fathered three kids.

The gay bars are full of moustachio'd guys riding harleys and wearing leather.

But I've given so much hard technical advice on AAM I need to "come out" and show my softer feminine side 

ONQ.


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## onq (21 Jan 2010)

Noilheart said:


> onq: thanks for the links, although i might stick to Farrow & Ball  or Colortrend as they have the same "feel", although the colours on the links do look lovely, I think that now that I have the sittingroom painted already  in Farrow & Ball  I will  have to stick to either that or Colortrend to have the same "feel" in the house throughout.  But those colours on the links might be  lovely if had started out with Dulux.   As regards an interior designer, I did actually consult one last summer when I was rushing to get some stuff done to the house ahead of family coming home from abroad.  It turned out to be a waste of my hard earned money, sadly, she wrote down everything I suggested and handed it to me in a "report" and charged 300 euro.  I didnt know what hit me afterwards  and felt such a fool afterwards when I thought about it.  In fairness I felt under pressure with family coming home and could hardly think straight but she was supposed to be a professional after all!
> Tablesalt:  I do like the Tusk colour, but i think it would be dark for the hallway.  Will keep it in mind for one of the bedrooms though.   Now the Warm White looks good, im considering actually putting it in the hall now  having looked at the colour card, what does it look like in your hallway?
> Dubgem: Thanks for that tip, I think you are right in that the ground floor hallway is  more important to the feel of the house.
> 
> Thanks for the comments from you all so far.....



Hi Noilheart,

You're very welcome.

I'm sorry your earlier consultation didn't yield what you hoped for, but the role of the designer in the first place is to assess the clients needs and draw out from them what their real preferencs are. These are so often subjective and may change so much that on a full appointment, interior designers - juke like architects - will try and record any decisions taken along the way as a record of work done and where the discussion has been.

SIngle consultations are of limited value however - I am used to seeing Interior Designers take a brief, work on it for a while and come back with a proposal on a sample board, including materials for curtains, carpet, floors, paint, fabrics for furniture, bedspreads, cusions and pillows. There will usually be coloured key plans, manufacturers references and prices, but it does cost more than €300, but you get a full design service. The benefit of this is that you can achieve a "look" for the whole house on an A1 board that gives a genuine feel for what the place might look like.

I'm sure there is a place for a €300 consultation-only service resulting in a report, but I find written paper reports of limited use dealing with colours. Even a printed A4 colour page with references would lift it to a very useful aide-memoire. I like to see my sample boards, colours, materials etc! However dealing with a house in a step by step fashion is a new one on me and so the interior designer you used might have felt unable to comment in the normal way.

Let me urge you to reconsider your approach. Defocus on particular rooms and consider the house and not on a space by space basis. All the items noted above need to be assessed together even if you're not changing them, because the are part of the sequence of spaces and so will work together subliminally regardless. You need to bring this subliminal meshing forward to consciousness and consider it fully. The repetition of key details in rooms, counterpoint colours, picture/poster themes or collections, all add character, and working together can give an "integrated" feel to a house that lends far more to the ambience than even good colour sequence can working by itself. Sorry for belabouring the point, and I know some people just have to get the walls right before moving on, but designers like to get the overall feel first.

Consider "pieces" in the spaces. A monochrome [single colour] space can be utterly transformed by having a counterpoint element in it - a buff or cream wall paint with a corner vase or wallhanging that's an intense blue - just to give a simplistic example. It'll tend to bring out the wall colour and make it more vibrant i chosen correctly.

The comments on paints in the first post by the way wasn't from me, it was from a qualified interior designer. I'm not saying that to get you to buy Dulux - neither she nor I have a connection with the firm. Most people come here with problemsso this is swings and roundabouts - some competent free advice that you can reflect on at your leisure and then accept or reject as you see fit. Looking at all the interest in this thread so far, you'll have a lot to think about.



HTH

ONQ.

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## annR (21 Jan 2010)

Noilheart

Fair play to you for using Farrow and Ball, I am a big fan (no association with them).  I have Matchstick in living and dining rooms and it looks great, am very pleased with it.  If I had the money I would paint the whole house in F&B.  I have a Dulux 'white orchid' in the hall - it's ok as a very pale neutral shade which is not magnolia but it is quite bland and a bit yellowy - like pale magnolia - not warm at all (wish I could change it).

One reason I like F&B is that the palette is concise.  I found that once I started looking around other paint brands the variety of palettes and so many different off whites and warm neutrals got very overwhelming.  I think the F&B palette is not too big yet has a great range.

My advice to you therefore would be, if you like F&B and you have the money, I think you should check the palette again, buy some more samples and have fun!   You will probably find the right shade for your hall and be delighted with it.  Have you ruled out just using Matchstick again for the hall?  It's bright in the sunshine yet lovely and warm if it's darker.


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## onq (21 Jan 2010)

Just an update on the previous which is to say that the "neutral" aspect of the advice arose from the fact that the hall leads to the stairs and thence to the landing in traditional houses.

All rooms are off them and a neutral colour in the hall stairs and landing avoids clashes with the room colours.

FWIW

ONQ.


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## onq (21 Jan 2010)

Hi Noilheart,

From your posts you look like you cannot make up your mind and may need professional help to sort this out but you say you're unwilling to engage a professional. You may not feel up to hiring an interior designer at present, but this is part of the reason you're in your present predicament - you have a painter coming tomorrow to paint a colour you dislike.

Given that; -

your mind isn't settled,
your painter may not be a designer
none of the colours you've seen are what you want,
...I suggest that you ring the painter tonight and put him off, otherwise you're going to end up spending time with your painter trying to choose a colour tomorrow. You simply shouldn't proceed unless you're happy with the paint. Put him off and forget about it for a while.

This will let you recharge your batteries, visit some other people's homes for inspiration, look at some French magazines, whatever - take a break. Come back to it afterwards with new eyes, perhaps better informed from seeing other solutions. Engage an interior designer or don't, but keep in mind that a professional can only help you achieve what you want, not impose their will on you or make that call for you, because that's doing what they want. You have to be happy with any resolution.

Its your decision.



ONQ.

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## Abbica (22 Jan 2010)

Jeez, its only a paint colour, not an extension! Just look at your carpet/floor/stairs, pick a compatible colour that will make the room warm/luxurious/bright, try not to over think it or else you will never make the decision.


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## Noilheart (30 Jan 2010)

annR said:


> Noilheart
> 
> Have you ruled out just using Matchstick again for the hall?  It's bright in the sunshine yet lovely and warm if it's darker.



AnnR - You will be pleased to know I did end up using the Matchstick colour in both the sitting room and the hall/stairs/landing and it looks good.  I got the colour in Farrow & Ball for the sitting room and got it made up in Colourtrend soft sheen for the hall (good colour match).  So glad its finished now.    Now to pick a colour for the diningroom/kitchen which gets no sunlight and is very shaded and dim.   A lot done.....more to do

Thanks for the interest and comments of everyone so far.


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## MandaC (30 Jan 2010)

What is Farrow & Ball paint and why is it better than Dulux, Crown, etc.  I need my entire house painted and if this stuff is good, I will get it.  I am only looking for a cream/linen type colour?


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## Noilheart (7 Feb 2010)

Noticed your query there MandaC - F&B is good quality paint and they claim that it contains more  pigment than other paints, it does look more luxurious. 
See link to their webiste.

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## annR (17 Feb 2010)

Noilheart
I'm delighted for you, good choice.  Is the colour really exactly the same - it's brilliant Colourtrend can do that - I wonder how they achieve the exact colour.

MandaC, have a read on the website, get the colour pallette (I think you can ask for it to be posted to you, and try a couple of samples.  Probably not everyone's cup of tea and very expensive but if you are fussy about paint it is worth it.


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