One Room Challenge Final Reveal of The Hallway Refresh

I am beyond excited to be showing you the One Room Challenge Final Reveal of The Hallway Refresh. Honestly, I almost didn’t survive this 6-week design challenge. After a few breakdowns and some tears, I think I can finally laugh about it. Despite some ups and downs with the light fixture and not getting a product on time, we pulled through and I am SO happy with the final results!

Originally I picked the hallway because the design process had already started in the rest of the rooms of the house. The hallway was neglected and kind of sad and dingy looking. When the One Room Challenge came back around I took it as my chance to force myself to fix up this space. I’m so glad I did because I think it is now my favorite area of the house. Is it weird if I just hang out in the stairwell?

In case you missed any of my previous posts about the One Room Challenge, I put together a few before and after comparisons for quick reference. Taking a look at all the before photos is recommended to fully appreciate the results of the One Room Challenge Final Reveal of the Hallway Refresh.

By far painting, the stairs is the biggest upgrade to this space. When we looked at the apartment the stairs and banister were actually brown, having never been renovated since probably the 1970s. When we moved in the banister was white and the stairs were painted a mustard yellow. This was definitely an improvement but the paint job wasn’t that great. I’m sure they were just rushing to get it done but the sight of it really bothered me. Now the stairs are so colorful and bright. The sun from the skylight reflects off of the stairs and brings a lot more light to the bottom hallway as well. Looking at the staircase instantly puts me in a better mood. How can you not be happy looking at a rainbow of pink?

The other goal of redoing this space was to brighten up the bottom hallway. It is the only area in the whole house with no window, therefore, it is the darkest. I picked a light and airy wallpaper for the accent wall and created a landing area. I bought this bench, this coat rack, and added baskets. Now we can hang coats, put down our bags, and store shoes. I’m really happy with this upgrade because it so much better looking but it is also so much more functional. I’m glad that the light fixture worked out in the end because it was so important to the design. It also gives off so much more light than the old fixture on top of also being way better looking. Thanks for all the support while I figured out how to install it!

The last problem I encountered was the macrame plant hangers did not get delivered on time. This really bothered me because they were the first things I ordered 6 weeks ago. I went back to my original plan of DIYing plant hangers out of twine instead. The stairwell wall gets so much light which is why it was important to incorporate plants here. I love how easy the plant hangers were to make and the contrast of the twine against the white wall. I wish I had stuck with that plan instead of causing myself so much stress. In the end, I’m happy with how this wall came out. There are never enough plants.

I needed art for the top of the stairwell and Ethan made this abstract painting that came out so good! I’m completely in love with it and so happy that we decided to do that last minute.

I could go on and on about how happy I am with the turnout of the One Room Challenge Final Reveal of the Hallway Refresh. I’ve listed all the room sources below as well as links to each week of the One Room Challenge. A huge thank you to the One Room Challenge for letting me be a guest participant, Ethan for putting up with all my craziness and my friend Thaddeus Rombauer (who is an amazing photographer) for helping me photograph the space. Be sure to head over to the Calling it Home website to check out all the other One Room Challenge guest participants room reveals today and also yesterdays One Room Challenge participants reveals.

Thanks for following along on this crazy journey! I hope you enjoyed the way the Hallway Refresh came together. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Wallpaper / Bench / Coat Rack / Light Fixture / Paint / Flower Pots / Baskets / Rug / DIY Plant Hangers

Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6