I’m going to be making a few tweaks to some of the rooms in our house. I’ll be keeping the interior design scheme we already have, just mainly adding some accents and changing a few things around. The first room I’ll be tackling is the hallway (I’ve updated the hallway since this post. You can see it here), so I thought I’d show you the initial hallway renovation: before and after, and what it looks like at present.

I’ll be carrying out lots more home decor makeovers in the future and can’t wait to share them with you. Be sure to join my email list to get them straight to your inbox.

One more thing before you scroll! Did you know I also have a podcast where you can learn how to confidently decorate your home with bold interior design. Listen now to the Daring Home Decor Podcast for tons of FREE design content.

(I’ve included some affiliate links in this post, shown with an asterisk (*). If you click on them and make a purchase, I get a bit of money in my back pocket, to help towards future creations to share with you on my blog.)

If you’ve read my about page, you’ll know that Andy and I bought our house in 2013 and basically gutted it. Below is the hallway before we started work (apologies for the poor quality of some of the before pics!). See above for what it looks like now.

This is a before view from the top of the stairs.

And this is the after view. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see lots of up to date pictures of the hallway and rest of the house.

The plaster on the walls was loose, so we had it removed, and the walls boarded and skimmed. At one point we arrived in the morning to find the newly plastered ceiling had fallen down overnight, 😯 likely due to old lime paint. So we had to then also have the ceiling boarded and skimmed.

We replaced the spindles and handrail on the stairs, as the spindles in situ were too far apart. I wanted an oak handrail to match the oak doors. Andy arrived home with a pine handrail (as it was cheaper) and said we could stain it to make it look oak. I persuaded him otherwise. There are some things you can do on the cheap but this was not one of them! So he exchanged the pine rail for an oak one. We went for a thick pile plush neutral carpet on the stairs to match the carpeted rooms in the rest of the house. We also replaced the skirting board with Lambs Tongue which would have been an original feature when the house was built in the 1930’s.

I painted the walls a mid-grey (Dulux Warm Pewter) to contrast with the orange. To complement the grey I chose a gorgeous Farrow and Ball lotus wallpaper. It isn’t the cheapest of wallpapers but it oozes drama and close up, the design looks like it’s been hand printed. It really is a beautiful wallpaper.

For more fabulous FREE design content, join me on the Daring Home Decor podcast.

UPDATE – I’ve added some cool accessories since the initial renovation. One of my latest additions is this ‘beige is a swear word’ print below that I created myself and am giving away to you for FREE as a thank-you for joining the Caradise email list. So don’t delay, get your free print now!

The floorboards had to be ripped up as they were wet from water damage that had occurred before we bought the house, and also because we were installing underfloor heating.

For the flooring, we decided on a Karndean Parquet Flooring in Blond Oak, which comes in individual blocks and was laid by a specialist fitter. Many visitors have mistaken it for the real thing! It is hard wearing (I can wear my heels without damaging it), and it’s comfortable underfoot. The only disadvantages I’ve noticed is that in certain lights you can see scratches on the surface (I stopped vacuuming it when I noticed these and use a soft brush now), and even though the underneath was boarded completely level, I am noticing some lines and dips where the joints of the underneath boards meet. These things however, are not noticeable unless you really inspect the floor closely.

We replaced the doors with 1930’s *DX Oak Doors and glass knobs. The doors were finished with *Patina.

My mom gave me some vintage 70’s orange glass lampshades that she had in her loft, and we made them into a trio ceiling light.

I bought the console table second hand from eBay. It was a cream colour (sorry, no before pics). I initially painted the whole thing in the light grey (Dulux Quartz Flint 4), but wasn’t happy as it blended into the background, and was basically dull and boring, so I decided on a bold orange ombre look, which I think works well with the vintage lampshades and packs a punch. I left the Quartz Flint 4 on the bottom of the legs and then blended Quartz Flint 2 further up. The orange was an acrylic poster paint as I couldn’t find a bold enough shade in any paint range.

I also initially had a smaller rectangle mirror above the table, but, again, it was lacklustre so I bought this *oversized round mirror which I love, to add drama and give the illusion of more space.

SEE THE LATEST UPDATE TO THE HALLWAY HERE.  😉

The LED arrow sign I made myself from black card and the feather lampshade was also a DIY project that I made from a wig head. I styled some artificial viburnum flowers in a brass globe vase that I bought from eBay. The ‘H’ for hallway letter was another DIY project which was jigsawed from MDF and painted in a crackle glaze.

The small table was an upcycle from wine bottles which I then decoupaged. The marbled vase was a charity shop find, as was the wooden lovers on the console table.

The bright orange colour of this vintage 1930’s *’Gone With The Wind’ movie poster fitted in perfectly with the hallway.

I love this flamingo print that we put on the landing (you may already know, I have a thing about flamingos). I framed it using an old frame that Andy cut to size for me, and I bought the made-to-measure mount and anti-glare perspex online.

We kept the stained glass window that was there when we bought the house. The wall light is part of the set from my mom and matches the ceiling lights in the hallway.

The pot for my artificial palm is actually an old chimney pot that Andy brought home from a job (it obviously has no bottom, but as the plant’s fake it doesn’t matter). I like that it’s aged and tatty as it adds character to the room.

Even though I do love the hallway and landing as it is, I will be carrying out a mini-makeover soon, (see how it turned out –LOOK ) just to hopefully raise it up a notch. Enter your details here to receive my new posts straight to your inbox.

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