Hallway Makeover to Feature Great Art

When you have a gorgeous art collection, do what you can to show it off and draw in viewers.

After arranging a beautiful collection of black and white collection for this hallway, it was obvious that the carpet had to go out and some serious color and definition needed to come in.

Even priming the floor was a huge improvement for this space, but we needed weight and color to draw focus on the art.

Velvety off black weighted the space and added architectural interest... time for some color.

Adding color and geometric detail to the risers invites people up from the entry.

Now your eyes go directly to the art as you come up the stairs. Notice how the arrows on the stairs connect to the dunce cap in the portrait? Subtle connections give a room sophisticated cohesiveness. But wait, there more...

To create the same effect in the hallway, I used a dropcloth, cut to size to create a runner.

I primed and painted the runner with black and white then added rough painterly stripes as contrast to the stark lines and shapes in the art collection on the wall.

Adding precise detail - these hexagon line drawings - connects the runner to the graphic element on the stairs.

Remember, BEFORE...

and AFTER...

Now this area is all about the sunlight, the art, the color...

as the striped runner leads you into the living space nearby.