Paint to Make a Narrow Hallway Wider

Lighten Up

• Lighter wall colors make a room appear larger, while darker colors bring the walls closer. This optical illusion works because pale colors reflect more light, making the space seem bright and airy. In addition, paint with a shiny finish adds to the walls’ ability to reflect light, so either an eggshell or a stain finish is a good choice. An eggshell finish provides just a hint of shine, while a satin finish, which is suitable for both walls and trim, is a bit glossier. For even more shine, semi-gloss or gloss finishes are possible choices, but the high sheen of these types may highlight every imperfection in the wall.

Main Connections

• A hallway that connects to a main living area visually joins the larger room when the two spaces are painted the same color, with a lighter shade used in the hall. For example, when a family room has medium blue walls, a connecting hallway with paler blue walls blends easily into the larger room while retaining the illusion of light-filled space. Keeping the two paint choices in the same color family avoids drawing attention to the cramped size of the hallway.

End Tricks

• One way to emphasize the width of a hallway is to paint the end wall a darker color than the other walls. While this is an exception to the rule of light colors, it is an effective illusion. The darker color draws attention to that wall and the eye travels from side to side instead of into the distance. Reds and yellows, which are called advancing colors because they seem to pull the walls toward the viewer, are particularly successful in this trick, but even a darker shade of blue or green will work.

Break It Up

• If the hallway is not only narrow but long, painting vertical stripes at intervals along the wall will draw the viewer’s eye to the side and de-emphasize the length, while also adding visual interest. A light color, just a shade or two lighter than the main wall color, is subtle but noticeable. The width and spacing of the stripes should depend on the length of the wall and where doors or windows are located, but the stripes should be several inches wide. A pattern of thin stripes or deeply colored stripes draws attention to the entire wall and emphasizes the hallway’s narrow length.