Farmhouse Hallway Updates 2021

A week or so ago I made the decision to paint the floorboards in our hall to match those in the living area. The decision caused a stir on Instagram (again) with people telling me not to do it. I was determined, however, to improve the flow of the farmhouse and went ahead anyway. So, today I’m sharing the latest updates to our hallway decor and how I achieved this look.

The Hallway Decor Before

The first update I did about our hall was in May 2019 after a year of living at the farm. Even I was appalled at how gross it was when we moved in. The hall, like the rest of the house, was in a pretty poor state but out of all the rooms, it required the least amount of work and that’s why I began there. To remind you, here’s what it looked like when we moved in. You can read more about the process of renovating the hall in the Hallway Reveal post.

In addition to wallpaper and plaster cornice to give the hallway decor some fancier touches, we also patched the ceiling boards and painted throughout. Removing the spiral staircase meant we had no choice but to paint the ceiling white. New pine boards and old varnished ones are extremely difficult to match in tone. We would have ended up with a huge square of the ceiling in a different coloured timber. Here’s how the hall looked after the first round of renovation, including the family photo gallery wall.

The Decision to Paint the Floor

The decision to paint the floor was easy for me. It was a matter of getting it done. I had already painted the floors in our ensuite, entry hall, and kitchen so I knew what look I would achieve by doing this. I had a number of reasons for carrying this look into the hallway.

1. It’s lets light in. The hall is in the centre of the house and is the darkest room. Adding a white shade to the floor bounces the light around.
2. It creates more of a flow throughout the farmhouse. The colour change between the living areas was abrupt and very noticeable. Now the colour is all the same it blends seamlessly and gives a more cohesive look to our decot scheme.
3. The floor is ruined. Under our big rugs the floor has already been patched a number of times. There is dry rot that cannot be patched. At some time in the future the entire hallway floor will need to be replaced. Therefore, I did not feel I was doing damage to the floor. I am merely enhancing what is there.

Additions to the Hallway Decor

Since my last update, there have been a couple of additions to the decor in the hallway. I’m always changing smaller items around. The bigger pieces mostly stay put. One is the huge antique oil painting that has been handed down through four generations of family. My parents moved house recently after fifty years and the painting has come to live with us. It adds a certain grandeur to what would once have been the grand entry to the home and looks as if it belongs there. It’s also enormous, so I doubt we will ever move it.

The other additions to the hallway decor include finishing the gallery wall, adding a rag wreath to the back of the door and stripping the paint from the buffet. And boy, was that NOT a fun job! I’m still not sure I like the buffet there and might sell it at some point.

Here’s what the front half of the hall looks like with the floor painted. I love the look. It definitely turned out how I thought it would and makes the room much brighter on these autumn/winter days.