Hallway Makeover

I was feeling particularly industrious this last weekend so I decided to start working on my hallway makeover.   I love the way it turned out.  After five years of living in this house, it finally looks finished. 

The space wasn't horrible before

but it wasn't anything to make you wanna do the the splits with jazz hands over either.  And that's what I really wanted...a hallway that was worthy of splits and jazz hands.

So, I started by hanging some canvas photos {go here for my DIY canvas tutorial} of all the fam on the wall to personalize the space and warm it up.

I ended up using all of my fabulous, found frames which I decided not to paint.  I just love the mixture of wood and gold hues together.

I used them to frame the canvas photos which gave them a little more oomph and presence. 

At this point the hallway was looking considerably improved...worthy of jazz hands and possibly a box step, but I was going for full on splits mode.  

So, I decided the next thing that needed happen was to break up the mass of white by painting all of the doors {all six of them} along the hallway.

I used this beautiful, dark grey.

It has a lot of gold in it, so it is delicious and warm...and just YUM!

I have no idea what the name is, just this label on top of the can...just in case you were curious.

I started questioning my decision when I painted the first door.  I was worried that my hallway was going to look like the hallway at some cheap motel.  But, by the time I finished painting the sixth door I felt confidant I had made the right call.  And what solidified that decision was the fact that this grey is the perfect shade for concealing "kid filth".  Now that I just typed that, the thought of knowing my doors might be dirty but not being able to see it makes me a little uneasy.  Oh well, nothing a good dousing of Lysol won't fix.

Finally, I threw a couple of runners down to brighten up the space.  

They will hopefully protect the wood and prevent the kiddos from using the hallway as scootering/roller skating/skateboarding thoroughfare, like they've done in the past.  My kids can be hooligans sometimes.  

And here's the completed space.  I apologize for the not-so-great pictures.  There isn't any direct sunlight in the hallway, so it was hard to get a well lit shot...but you get the idea, right?

I think it's totally worthy of splits and jazz hands- theoretically of course.  As much as I would have loved to break out a jump split, I was pretty certain a torn "hammy" or strained groin muscle would have resulted.  So I just imagined myself as a teenager again, splittin' and jazzin' it up all the way down the hallway.

Here's the breakdown:

frames:  Thrift store and Hobby Lobby

runners:  Target

paint:  Home Depot

splits and jazz hands:  priceless...

unless you end up at the E.R. due to injury, in which case you might be out more than it cost to redo the hallway in the first place.