Farmhouse Style Hallway Makeover Reveal

In this article: Find simple ways to add brightness and character to a small space with this farmhouse style hallway makeover reveal.

Over the past few weeks, my husband and I have been working on a makeover project. I’m so excited that the final steps are finished, and today is the day for the…

Farmhouse Style Hallway Makeover Reveal

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Schlage Canada. All opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience.

The Problems

1.Paint color and lighting

Before we get to the pretty “after” pictures, come with me for a tour of this space before.

Although you’ve seen lots of our main floor living room and dining room, I’ve never taken you upstairs to the rest of the house. Today is the day.:)

The stairwell was painted with the same builder beige color that the whole house was painted when we moved it. It ~ along with a terrible “boob light” ~ made for a very dark and dreary space.

As you round the corner of the stairwell, you see the main hub of all the upstairs bedrooms, bathroom, and linen closet.

(Note the poor pitiful light with no shade at all!!

2. Lack of Character

To be honest, there wasn’t a terrible situation going on in this space, but it just seemed outdated and blah. I also hadn’t given it much attention since we moved in 3 years ago.

I plunked down an old storage dresser at the end of the hall and hung up a mirror on the (already there) nail on the wall…

The trim, doors, knobs, and (broken) light added to the “blah-ness” of the space ~ and although not terrible, just didn’t give the space much pizzazz.

Inspiration

This whole makeover story started with one small inspiration piece ~ a doorknob!

I fell in love with this pretty Georgian Knob with Collins Trim Hall-Closet and Bed-Bathroom Lock in Aged Bronze from Schlage. It became the jumping off point for this modern farmhouse style space.

Piece by piece, that’s exactly what happened!

The Process

Step 1 : Painting.

The first order of business was getting rid of that dark beige paint.

I got out all my favorite painting supplies and painted the hallway. But, my husband was the brave one to tackle the tall walls of the stairwell. Heights just aren’t my thing…

All the paint used in this space was Simply White by Benjamin Moore (mixed in Behr paint). The wall is a slightly flatter sheen (satin) than the doors and trim (in semi-gloss). The difference in sheen gives an overall appearance that the trim is a slightly different color than the walls. The overall effect is light and bright ~ just what we wanted!

In fact, the paint makes it so much brighter in the stairwell, it feels like we’ve installed a skylight!;)

Step 2: Install new trim and baseboards

We took down the old, narrow trim and baseboards and replaced it with a wider style. To give it more interest, we added in a craftsman style detail to the tops of the doors. I can’t tell you what an amazing difference those few extra pieces of wood make!

Step 3: Add farmhouse decor

As this project was coming to a close, we made a quick trip down to Hobby Lobby. (Hobby Lobby isn’t here in Canada.) Of course I prayed for weeks that they would have wall decor on for half price when we were there ~ and it was! Hurray!!

The mix of the black chalkboard finish, soft woven basket, shelf with metal accents, and greenery added just the pop of color and interest that this space needed.

Decorating on a budget sometimes means waiting to purchase items you really want. Thus, the stairwell light is still the old one. I have a new one picked out, but would rather wait for it to go on sale than to choose something I don’t like as well. #helloannoyingbudget

The door handles from Schlage make a bold farmhouse statement and dress up the Simply White painted doors.

They’re the decor equivalent of  the perfect earrings for an outfit!;)

A black semi-mount light replaced the broken previous light and was a great farmhouse style option.

Although we didn’t change the bi-fold doors of the linen closet to be french doors this time, adding modern handles made it appear that they are french doors ~ and updated the look immensely.

One of my favorite additions to this space is the craftsman door trim.

Remember how it looked before?

Here it is now:

We are so thrilled with this new light, bright cheery space with farmhouse charm.

Oh, and one more thing!

After living here 3 years, we finally got art hung in the stairwell! (That family picture is a super affordable project. You can find the details here.)

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(Please note: I was unable to link the actual decor items I purchased at Hobby Lobby, but included similar items in the links below. Also, the exact size of the door handles for the closet that I purchased is about 7 1/2 ” from center to center. That size was unavailable online.)