Thanks for the replies. I picked up a quart of BM's Rich Creme to test drive in the hallway. After paying for it, I thought of using some of the "Spool" paint from the offfice, cut it 50% with white, and try that, too. Southern Heart...Yes, I'm lost in the deep ox-blood red of my office. I do love it; but it will need tweaking sooner or later. It may morph into Bangkok Rust. (I'm originally-and-long-ago from the South, too! After 30 years of living in Texas, Delaware, Spain, Indiana, California, England, and North Dakota people still "hear" the southern in my voice...especially if I get upset.) Mairin...I bought a BH&G house and garden planning program last winter, loaded it in the computer, and promptly "lost" the disc in the remodeling mess. I am so hoping I find it soon. Shea...You got me thinking (not an easy task, LOL) that the pale grey might be a nice play off of the black and white bathroom, too. The real problem is there are simply too many choices when it comes to color!

Trees! That would be fun. I had been thinking of a spot to stick up that Cole & Son "Woods" paper, but a smaller pattern might work better with so many doors. And grasscloth. I had looked into it for my entry hall and living room and elsewhere (perfect cover for 50s paneling, right?) and was under the impression that it just wasn't durable enough. I'd love to be wrong. Or find a good faux grasscloth. WHERE does one go to look at wallpaper in person these days? Seriously, are there any more wallpaper stores? You all have not made this easier at all by giving me so many options I hadn't considered! So thanks! :) Do we all agree that the can lights must go, or is replacing them with ones that actually illuminate good enough? With the furnace intake and an attic access panel and four of the recessed lights, I think that the ceiling is sort of busy and making the light fixtures more substantial might help distract from that. Really, this hall isn't awful. I'm putting off the rest of the house because this is actually manageable. Actually I was planning on doing the entry hall which is well-lit and also brown and thought I needed to carry the treatment into this hall which branches off from it but there is a door. I don't have to match! Gee. I need to focus. :)

I have hardwood. It can really take a beating and is rather low maintenance. Like lindac says, you have to take care, wipe up spills immediately, etc, and yes, it will show dings if you drop a hammer on it. Will you have an area rug in the room? At 6 and 2 your kids would never be untended, and they should be learning the procedures for taking care of problems. In my house, we use bathtowels for spills as they can go directly into the washer. We once had a full gallon of milk burst on the floor and once had a pitcher of red kool-aid spill without any sign of damage. It took a LOT of bath towels to clean up those messes!!! I would lay the same flooring you have in the rest of the house, along with a rug. You will never get a good match with laminate.

I think the wheat/beige will look better with the colors you have and will keep the hallway from feeling too dark.