Just when you might have thought we were done with painting, I’m back with another update. With our little one arriving in about five weeks, I’ve got a fresh burst of “finish all the projects” energy. Knowing I’ll be recovering from a c-section and spending more time at home makes me want to check off as many tasks as I can beforehand, so we decided to tackle the upstairs hallway.
The hallway connects a lot of spaces—the nursery, our bedroom, the hall bathroom, Clara’s room, the guest room, the laundry nook—so it seemed like a high-impact place to refresh. We walk through it constantly, so a new coat of paint would be something we’d notice right away.
We’d already painted the stairwell and the foyer, and when we chose the foyer color—Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray—we knew it would visually flow up the stairs and into this hallway. In our house Edgecomb Gray reads as a soft greige, a warm neutral that keeps interior passages feeling light and coordinates easily with the bold colors in adjacent rooms. For instance, Clara’s room features coral, blue, red, and soft pink on the walls and ceiling, while our bedroom is painted a deep, moody blue. The neutral hallway color lets all of those different palettes sit next to each other without clashing.
The hallway itself is long—about 33 feet from the laundry nook to our bedroom—and it has a lot of interruptions: eight doorways and three lights to cut in around. The cutting-in process is tedious, but I find it satisfying. As one doorway gets done, I feel like I’ve made real progress. I’m also easily distracted: painting makes me wonder about random things like why comfort foods tend to be so high in calories or why there isn’t one universal “cheat day” where no one gains weight. Pregnancy does that to your brain.
Clara helped in spirit—singing Frozen songs, twirling a ribbon, and providing nonstop enthusiasm—while John handled the rolling. Cutting in took us about five hours over two days and required two coats. Rolling also took two coats but was faster overall; John finished most of the rolling in roughly three hours across those days.
Along the way I picked up a few practical painting tips worth sharing:
- Use an extension pole for high areas, even if you can reach them without one—it’s easier on your back and speeds the job up.
- Painting the ceiling the same color as the walls can create a seamless, bright look in a light-colored hallway. We prefer that in smaller or low-ceiling spaces where a contrasting ceiling might feel like a separate, heavy plane.
- Play music, news, or an audiobook to help the time pass more pleasantly. A tiny dancing helper can help too.
- A short-handled 2″ angled brush is my go-to tool for cutting in. It’s precise, efficient, and genuinely makes the whole process easier.
- We don’t always use drop cloths over hardwoods. After years of careful painting we’ve learned to be neat, and any small drops tend to wipe up cleanly when wet or lift off when dry.
- Try not to overthink meals while you’re painting—it’s a distraction that doesn’t help the project move along.
We also made a video showing rolling techniques for painting walls and ceilings, which demonstrates how the process looks in motion.
When everything was done, the hallway looked dramatically fresher compared to when we first bought the house. From each viewpoint the space felt lighter and more cohesive, and being able to close doors to the laundry nook will make the area feel even neater. Overall, we’re glad we tackled this before the baby arrives—it’s one less thing to worry about once the house gets busier.
Before I sign off, here’s a quick list of the paint colors we’ve used around our house so far, plus a few we’re considering. It’s been fun to compare what we actually used to the palette we imagined when we first moved in:
- 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 choices for the hall bathroom, the laundry nook, and an unfinished storage space—we haven’t decided on those yet.
Other Favorite Paint Colors
If you’re unsure which color to choose, consider looking into curated lists and in-depth posts about popular neutrals and whites. That kind of research can help you narrow selections and pick a color that complements adjoining rooms and natural light.