Just when you might have thought we were finished with painting, I’m back with another update. With our little one arriving in about five weeks, I’ve been in full “finish the house” mode. Knowing I’ll be recovering from a C-section and might be stuck noticing every unfinished corner, I wanted to tackle a few projects now to calm my nesting instincts. First up: the upstairs hallway.
The hallway connects a lot of rooms — the nursery, our bedroom, the hall bath, Clara’s room, the guest room and the laundry — so it felt like a high-impact spot. We walk through it constantly, so fresh paint would make an immediate difference.
We were tired of seeing the over-sprayed edges left from when we painted the trim last May. It’s funny how those little details stand out every time you walk by.
The hallway also ties into the stairwell we painted last November and the foyer we refreshed last July. When we chose the foyer color — Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray — we knew it would travel up the stairs and into this hallway. In our house it reads as a soft, warm greige rather than a cool gray, which makes it a versatile, light neutral that keeps the stairs and the interior hallway feeling open and bright. It also plays nicely with the colorful rooms that connect to the hall: Clara’s room, for example, has coral, blue, red and pink on its walls and ceiling.
Our bedroom, by contrast, is painted a deep, moody blue — so keeping the hallway neutral helps all the rooms flow together without clashing.
Some of the rooms off the hall — like the guest room, laundry nook, and hall bathroom — still don’t have their final colors, so the neutral hall lets us leave those decisions open-ended.
You can actually see where the stairway paint ended in some shots. That random paint line on the ceiling both amused and annoyed me — the kind of thing you only notice once you’re living with it for a while.
The hallway is long — about 33 feet from the laundry nook to our bedroom — and has a lot of doorways (eight) and light fixtures (three) to cut in around. Cutting in is tedious but satisfying; I enjoy the progress meter of “three doorways down, five to go.” I also find my mind wandering to random thoughts while I paint — food-related questions being especially persistent during pregnancy.
Clara helped in her own way: she provided positive energy, sang Frozen songs and danced around waving a giant ribbon, which was the perfect entertainment while we worked.
Overall, cutting in took about five hours spread over two days (two coats), and John handled the rolling, which also required two coats and took roughly three hours across the two days. Along the way I thought of a few practical painting tips worth sharing:
- Use an extension pole for higher areas — even if you can reach them without one, the pole is easier on your back.
- We painted the ceiling the same color as the walls to create a seamless, airy look rather than defining the ceiling as a separate plane. This works well with light neutrals and in smaller rooms like bathrooms.
- Put on some music, a podcast or an audiobook to make the time pass faster while you roll.
- A short-handled 2″ angled brush is my go-to for cutting in. It’s a real time-saver and makes neat edges easier to achieve.
- We don’t always use drop cloths over hardwoods; after years of painting we’ve become careful and any small drips are usually easy to wipe up while wet or pop off after they dry.
- And try not to obsess about food while you work — it’s a tough but worthwhile distraction to avoid.
We also made a video showing how we roll walls and ceilings, which you can watch for a closer look at our technique.
Here’s the finished hallway — a big improvement from how it looked when we first bought the house.
From the other side, the fresh paint already brightens the whole upstairs. I’m excited to rehang some doors to hide the dark laundry area in the back, but the overall view feels much fresher.
We’re glad we knocked this out before the baby arrives. For anyone interested in related projects, John created a detailed infographic about changing outlets, and we also have a video showing how I cut in without taping most things off — both helpful if you’re planning your own refresh.
Below is a quick key to the paint colors we’ve used and some we’re considering:
- Our Bedroom (Black Pepper)
- Our Kitchen (Nelson Blue)
- Foyer/Hall (Edgecomb Gray)
- Possible Nursery Accent Color? (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 (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)
- Our 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 — those are still undecided.
Other Favorite Paint Colors
If you’re struggling to pick a color, check out some of our deep-dive posts on favorite paints and whites for more inspiration and detailed comparisons.
- The 12 Best White Paint Colors
- Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Sherwin-Williams Pure White
- Sherwin-Williams Extra White