Paint colors for your home, inside and out
North-facing · Hallway · colors from 6 paintings
North facing hallway colors should be light and warm, because a hallway gets little daylight and north light is cool. The four wall colors here have an LRV of 44 to 69, and two very dark colors are included for doors and woodwork.
Quick answer
For walls, use the pale cream #E5D8B1 or the warm sand #D2CAB4. Use #542F1B and #4A4031 only on a door, bench or trim.
A very light color with a warm yellow undertone and an LRV of 69, the brightest option for a dim hall. It was measured from a Mughal portrait of an artist or scholar.
From Portrait of an Artist or Scholar, Mughal
A light color with an LRV of 59 that is less yellow than pale straw. It comes from Degas's "Fan Mount: The Ballet".
From Fan Mount: The Ballet, Edgar Degas
A light tan with an LRV of 52, a practical color for a hall that gets scuffed. It was measured from Sargent's "Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth)".
From Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth), John Singer Sargent
The deepest wall color at LRV 44, with a muted green-yellow tone. It comes from Cuyp's "Landscape with the Flight into Egypt".
From Landscape with the Flight into Egypt, Aelbert Cuyp
A very dark brown with a red-orange undertone and an LRV of 4, good for a door or a built-in bench. It was measured from Rossetti's "Beata Beatrix".
From Beata Beatrix, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
A very dark warm olive-brown with an LRV of 5, suited to trim and picture frames. It comes from Tintoretto's "The Finding of Moses".
From The Finding of Moses, Jacopo Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)
The same paint reads differently in cool north light, warm south sun and under evening lamps. Find the column closest to your room.
| Color | Neutral daylight | North light | South light | Evening lamps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale Straw | ||||
| Warm Sand | ||||
| Soft Tan | ||||
| Sage Khaki |
Pick which color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and trim follow your choice.
The framed picture on the wall is Portrait of an Artist or Scholar.
A hallway usually has no direct light, and a north facing one is cooler still. The goal is to add warmth and reflect as much light as you can. The pale straw #E5D8B1 has an LRV of 69, the highest here, and its warm yellow undertone keeps the hall from feeling gray.
The warm sand #D2CAB4 at LRV 59 is calmer and less yellow. The soft tan #CDBCA7 at LRV 52 is a practical choice if you want walls that hide marks. The sage khaki #B5B29E is the deepest at LRV 44, and works in a hall that opens to bright rooms.
Avoid cool grays, which can make a north hall feel cold and flat.
Dark colors are best used in small doses in a hallway. The chestnut brown #542F1B has an LRV of 4, and the dark umber #4A4031 has an LRV of 5. Used on every wall, they would make a narrow hall feel like a tunnel.
Use them on a front door, an interior door, a bench or the frame of a mirror. Against pale straw walls, they give a clear, simple contrast.
A dark door also helps with depth. A dark door at the end of a long hall makes the space feel longer, and a light wall around it keeps the hall bright.
Hallways link rooms, so the colors should relate to them. If the living room has a warm tan, the soft tan #CDBCA7 can continue into the hall. If the rooms are lighter, step down to the warm sand.
Trim and ceilings in a soft cream white will tie everything together. Keep the floor in mind: a dark floor makes a hall feel narrower, so a lighter wall helps. A runner in the sage khaki #B5B29E can add depth without darkening the walls.
Lighting matters as much as paint. Add a ceiling light or wall lights so the hall is not lit only by borrowed light from doorways.
Test in two places: near the front door and at the darkest point of the hall. North facing halls often vary a lot in brightness along their length.
Use a sample of at least two feet square, and look at it during the day and in the evening with your hall lights on. Warm bulbs add yellow, so a warm paint can look quite golden at night.
Place your door color board next to the wall sample and check that the two feel like part of one scheme. Look at the hall from the far end as well as the front door, since that is the view guests have as they come in. Leave the samples up for a few days, including one gray morning, before you decide. The commercial paints listed are the closest measured matches, so compare real chips with your sample before you buy.
A light, warm color such as #E5D8B1, measured at LRV 69, reflects the most light and offsets the cool north daylight.
Usually not on all walls. Use dark colors like #542F1B on a door or bench and keep the walls light.
They can look cold and flat. Warm sand or tan colors are safer.
A soft cream white works well. Hold it against the wall sample before choosing.
Test near the front door and at the darkest point, because the light can differ a lot along the hall.
A card with every color on this page, its LRV and the paintings it comes from. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
North Facing Dining Room Colors That Warm Up Cool Light
North Facing Bathroom Paint Colors: Warm Tans for Cool Light
Hall Paint Color Combination Ideas from Five Paintings
Paint Colors for a Small Living Room with Brown Furniture
Small Bathroom Paint Colors with No Windows
North West Facing Living Room Colors for Cool Mornings and Warm Evenings
Painting images: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain (CC0). Colors measured by Light & Pigment. Paint names belong to their brands and matches are approximate. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
