Just when you might have thought we were done with painting after Monday, I’m back with another update. With our baby due in five weeks, I’m suddenly determined to “paint all the things.” Knowing a c-section recovery will leave me stuck for a while and likely fixated on unfinished projects, I wanted to tackle a few jobs now so I can relax once the little guy arrives. First on the list: the upstairs hallway.
The hallway connects so many rooms—the nursery, our bedroom, the hall bath, Clara’s room, the guest room, the laundry nook—so it felt like a high-impact place to update. We walk through it constantly, so a fresh paint job would be noticed immediately.
We’d already painted the trim last May, and the over-sprayed edges had been bugging me ever since. The hallway also ties into the stairwell we painted in November and the foyer we updated last July. When we chose the foyer color—Edgecomb Gray from Benjamin Moore—it read more like a soft greige in our house than a true gray. We knew it would flow up the stairs and into the upstairs hallway, creating a consistent, light neutral backdrop that keeps things bright and allows adjoining rooms to showcase their own colors without clashing.
That neutral choice was especially helpful since neighboring rooms use bold colors—Clara’s room has coral, blue, red, and soft pink on the walls and ceiling, and our bedroom is painted a deep moody blue—so the hallway needed to be a flexible transition space.
At the same time, several upstairs rooms—the guest room, laundry nook, and hall bathroom—haven’t been painted yet, so keeping the hallway neutral leaves options open for those future projects.
You can even see where the stairway paint job stopped in one photo, which made me laugh and cringe at the same time. That random line on the ceiling drove me nuts.
The hallway is basically like two or three rooms in one stretch—it’s about 33 feet from the laundry nook to our bedroom and it includes eight doorways and three lights to cut in around. Cutting in is tedious but satisfying; I like ticking off doorways as I go. I also find my mind wandering to random things while painting—pregnancy has me thinking a lot about food and why some treats have so many calories while other things don’t. Clara helped out too, not by painting but by cheering, singing Frozen songs, and dancing around with a giant ribbon.
All told, cutting in took about five hours across two days since we applied two coats. John handled the rolling, which also required two coats but went faster—maybe three hours total over two days. As we worked, a few practical painting tips stood out:
- Use an extension pole even if you can reach high spots. It’s easier on your back.
- Painting the ceiling the same light color as the walls creates a seamless look and keeps the space bright, especially in smaller rooms or hallways.
- Play music, news, an audiobook, or let a dancing preschooler entertain you—audio makes the job go quicker.
- A short-handled 2″ angled brush is my favorite tool for cutting in. It’s a real time-saver for neat edges.
- We don’t use a dropcloth over hardwoods. Years of careful painting have made us tidy, and occasional drips are simple to wipe up while wet or pop off when dry.
- Try not to obsess about snacks while painting—your mind will wander, but the work still gets done.
Here’s our finished hallway—much fresher than when we bought the house.
The transformation is dramatic compared to the original look.
From the other side, the hallway feels brighter and more cohesive. I’m looking forward to rehanging doors to close off the dark laundry area in the back.
We’re really glad we tackled this before the baby arrives—seeing the fresh hallway every day is a nice payoff for a couple of days of work.
Below is a quick key to the paint colors we’ve used around the house so far:
- Our Bedroom (Black Pepper)
- Kitchen (Nelson Blue)
- Foyer/Hall (Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray)
- Possible Nursery Accent (Grassy Fields)
- Nursery Built-Ins (Senora Gray)
- Nursery Walls (Going To The Chapel)
- Clara’s Door (Cinco De Mayo)
- Clara’s Ceiling (Pink Cadillac)
- Clara’s Walls & Half Bathroom (Benjamin Moore Simply White)
- Clara’s Raindrop Color #1 (Tranquil Blue)
- Clara’s Raindrop Color #2 (Milano Red)
- Clara’s Raindrop Color #3 (Pink Cadillac)
- Front Door (Blue Lake)
- Closet & Sink Nook (Revere Pewter)
- Sunroom Ceiling (In Your Eyes)
- Possible Dining Room Color (Knoxville Gray)
- Possible Guest Room Color (Sparrow)
- Possible Office Color (Polar Lights)
* Not pictured: possible colors for the hall bathroom, the laundry nook, and the unfinished storage space since we haven’t decided on those yet.
Other Favorite Paint Colors
If you’re struggling to choose a paint color, here are some posts we’ve found useful when narrowing options and exploring favorite shades:
- The 12 Best White Paint Colors
- Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Sherwin-Williams Pure White
- Sherwin-Williams Extra White