Color Block Hallway with the BEHR® Color Trends 2021 Palette

It’s that time again!! The time of the year where BEHR® Paint shares their color trends palette for the upcoming year. And it’s sooooo good y’all!! I’m super excited and honored to showcase to you the BEHR® Color Trends 2021 Palette, and more specifically, the color Broadway (PPU18-20). The 21 colors selected for the upcoming year remind me of the perfect sunset over a beautiful beach with a crisp blue ocean. The colors are calming yet energizing at the same time. And since we’re spending so much time at home, this palette can help us transform our spaces to make it feel like we’re getting away when we’re really just home.

I decided to take three colors from the BEHR® Color Trends 2021 Palette and transform my hallway into a space that’s just as inspiring as the rooms it’s joined to. Hallways are not typically spaces we spend time in yet it’s the space that bridges all the rooms together. So although we’re not spending time in that area, we’re always walking through it. It’s often neglected and not even really thought of when it comes to design.

Our hallway is quite small. In fact it was just a strip with vanilla walls, 3 different door colors (shaking my head) and stairs (see before photos below). Since there’s not a lot of wall space for artwork or floor space to create a vignette, I had to get creative with the walls and doors to really give it a punch!

I decided to do color blocking on the walls and contrast the doors with a grayish black. The colors I chose to do that with are BEHR’s Smoky White (BWC-13), Almond Wisp (PPU5-12), and my debut color Broadway (PPU18-20)—all from the BEHR® Color Trends 2021 Palette. These colors could work really well on their own in any space, but together they’re the dynamic trio! Just look at how well they compliment each other.

So to get started on a project like this, you have to first assess what sheens you want to use for each painted surface. Living in an old house, my walls are far from perfect so I knew I wanted flat or matte walls to hide imperfections. Although the eggshell sheen is common for walls, and generally used for durability, its low lustre is still a bit too shiny for imperfect walls and my taste. Behr has a new paint product called BEHR ULTRA™ SCUFF DEFENSE™ that comes in a flat finish but is durable for high traffic areas like hallways and stairwells! 

Now to the doors and trim. Generally, semi-gloss sheen or a satin sheen is used for the baseboards, trim and doors. I went with the satin sheen for two reasons: One, the walls will be in a flat finish and I didn’t want a huge contrast of sheens between walls and baseboards. And two, I wanted the black doors to be rich without too much shine, so satin was the perfect selection. I used Behr Paint’s most advanced grade of paint “BEHR MARQUEE®” for the doors and trim.

Now that we’ve flushed out the sheens and paint grades, here’s my simple plan for the hall space: The upper ⅔ of the walls, trim around the doors, and ceiling in the hallway will be in Smoky White. The lower ⅓ of the wall, trim around the doors, and baseboards will be painted in Almond Wisp. And the doors will be painted in the color Broadway. 

Start with prepping and priming your walls and doors. Seal up any cracks or screw holes. Then begin taping to protect the floors. Prepping is key for a quick, and thorough paint application.

When painting I like to start from the top down: ceiling, walls, trim and then doors. So the top half of the walls and ceiling were painted in Smoky White. 

Then it was time for the “fun” part taping off the walls to add Almond Wisp to the lower third of the walls and door trim. I can’t lie, this part of the process had me sweating and scratching my head a bit. But I bought a laser and used a leveler (and pencil) to get straight crisp lines.

Pulling the tape off and seeing the crisp lines was the most satisfying thing EVER! The Almond Wisp is the perfect hue of contrast against the Smoky White. I didn’t want too much of a contrast between the wall colors because I wanted the black doors to really be the highlight of the show.

I’m so glad I went with the black doors. Broadway is the perfect black for painting interior or exterior doors. It doesn’t have any weird blue or brown undertones. And it’s not too black that it feels harsh. It has the right balance of gray to make the doors feel soft yet bold.

To finish off the space, I added matte black door levers, a beautiful light fixture that I found in store at The Home Depot (but you can get it online too), and I repurposed a runner I had since I’m still searching for that perfect one for the space. The horizontal color blocked walls actually make the space feel wider, which is great for us. I’m so very happy with the color choices from the BEHR® Color Trends 2021 Palette. Tell me which color you plan to use in your home, and what do you think about the color blocked hallway. Would you try it??