Farrow & Ball colour expert shares simple hallway paint secret to make your home feel bigger

Hallways are a fabulous opportunity to flex your design muscles and experiment with more daring paint ideas. Whatever your home aesthetic and palette, a clutter-free entry that makes you smile every time you come home is the ultimate goal.

So who better to turn to for hallway paint tips than colour curator from Farrow & Ball Joa Studholme?

The colour expert recently welcomed the nation into her gorgeous 19th-century home during the Channel 5 documentary Farrow & Ball: Inside the Posh Paint Factory. Her small hallway is painted a bold, dark green - Bancha, from F&B, pictured below.

Her hall features a beautifully styled vintage sideboard, an old weather barometer on the wall and terracotta pot plants lining the windowsill. Speaking through her choice of paint in her home set in the middle of a field in the Somerset countryside, she revealed a secret for making your home feel that bit more spacious.

'First of all, the big thing in this hall - painted in the colour called 'Bancha' - I wanted to extend the feeling of the exterior into the interior,' begins Joa.

'Of course, this much stronger, darker hall means that the room after it feels much bigger and lighter. So it's a really easy technique to make your house feel bigger and lighter,' she adds.

Her living space is painted in a soft off white called School House White, and the contrast between the dark olive hall and the neutral living room has the effect of inviting you into the brighter space. We also love the idea of softening the transition between the exterior and interior by using natural tones.

Green is one of the biggest paint trends of 2021, but you could just as well opt for a navy or warm red. Making a decision on paint for any DIY and decorating project can feel daunting, but fortune favours the bold.

If after a little while you fancy something different, you can always paint over it without having to spend tons of money.

There are endless hallway ideas out there, from striped wallpaper to stylish lighting and clever storage solutions. Follow Joa's advice and opt for a dark paint colour you love. Then, clear the clutter and have a lit to make your entry feel that little more luxurious.