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Before & After: the dark grey hallway takeover continues

I've been banging on about my hall sporadically over the past couple of months. The entryway part of it got quite a major overhaul to boost light and declutter it. 

But leftover was this little understairs nook. Which I sort of liked as it was...


But since we'd painted a wall in the top part of the hall dark grey, there was an argument that the new wall needed a same-coloured buddy to balance things out (you can check out the other wall here, where I also asked your advice about whether or not to repaint the stairs nook dark grey too).

Apart from the untidy lighting wire I need to find a solution to, the area looked OK. But because there's no natural light, the white never really looked especially white...

Though it still was a vast improvement from what it had been previously...

...somewhat cluttered. It was my workspace for a while when I had lodgers, and I'm not sure now what those charts were stuck up on that shelf, but seeing them every time I came in and out of the neighbouring kitchen can't have been relaxing.

Even tidy it looked pretty busy.

But then this scary giant clear-out happened, and I moved my workspace upstairs and out of sight from day-to-day living.


But in the end, I was seduced by dark paint. And things went from this...

...to this...

...and this...



I'm kind of over dark grey, but – like its wall partner up the stairs – the understairs area had to blend with the floor to visually create more space rather than being chopped up with colour changes (and the floor isn't due for a change for a good while yet). And the other point was to make it dark so it was cosy rather than grubby looking. I think it's better. Do you?

12 comments :

  1. Better grey! Another idea would be to paint the wall between the shelves to match the risers of your stairs.

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    1. Thanks Adam! And that is a very interesting idea. Maybe when I get bored with the grey...

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  2. New commenter here. I know what you are saying about grey, but I love it, and what you've done with with space - another thing in common, I have the same penguin postcards over my desk space

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    1. Hi Sarah - thanks for getting in touch and for the positive comments... Those postcards are so great aren't they? Only problem is there are so many good ones but only so much wall space to display them

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  3. Nice Color combination!! I really Like IT.. you did a great job for your makeover!!

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  4. Great use of space i couldnt do it better myself, colors are also perfectly chosen.

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  5. I think the way you rearranged and organised the space is great! Gives you a chance to work in peace, good use of space, light and colour.

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  6. Love the transformation! I'm a bit of a grey addict which is so odd since I absolutely adore bright colours and am known for it. We've turned our little 4th bedroom into a home office (still a work in progress) and opted for dark grey on the walls. I was a bit worried initially that it would make the room feel very small but it really doesn't. We're adding white furnishings and colourful accessories and hopefully it will be finished in the next 10 years!!

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    1. It's amazing how dark colours just don't shrink a space as you think they would, isn't it? Good luck with the long room revamp... !

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  7. I personally love the change to gray! White is nice for certain spaces, but I think the gray really helped with this particular nook. It isn't so dark that you feel like it's a hole sucking you in. The lighting also looks nice with the gray color as well. http://www.countrystoreinteriors.com/Window_Blinds_Sarasota_FL.html

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