Wow, newhomebuilder, thankyou! I love your home and mine can't even compare to yours. I actually posted a photo of the outside recently..something tiled "need help with exterior trim" I think if you click on the photo above it will bring you to my photobucket photos. It was a dump when we bought it and my husband re-did everything..kitchen, 4 baths, porches, basement apt. for my mom. It's hard when you try to redecorate with what you have. Change one thing, and it throws off everything else.It's like the domino effect! I am trying to do the best with as little money as possible. I finally got rid of the old owner's navy blue with rose colored flower runner. It was hideous and went with nothing, but my daughter's upcoming wedding was a good excuse to talk my husband into getting rid of it.

I'm brand new and definitely an amateur, but I would probably stay with a more neutral color, as you suggested. My entrance is somewhat similar in style and floor coloring. We used a Lowes color (back before we knew that there was a SW nearby us) It's called Cream in my Coffee and looks like it says. So I would say stay with a lighter more neutral color. But you don't *have* to I don't think. Other people here could give you much better guidance than mine though, I'm sure! You could try Sherwin Williams coloring guide on their website to see what you like or to get an approximate idea anyway. Good luck!

Eld: first of all, thank you so much for your thoughtful suggestions! You are really educating me here. It never occurred to me that anything other than white would be the solution to a dingy looking area. But what you said makes perfect sense. Funnily enough, I was actually going to use Light Navajo White, because that is what I just used in my kitchen. Because my house is so small, I really want to use the same colors and materials throughout everything except two bedrooms and the bathrooms. So same flooring, paint colors, etc. in the library, LR, eat-in kitchen, and hallway. I thought it would help the visual flow of the space and unify it, while at the same time making it look and feel bigger. The light navajo white says it has a hint of brown. It is definitely not a super white white. Do you think it would work in the hallway? Also, Eld, yes, the door on the right in the picture is the back door of the house. It's actually located about in the middle of the length of the house. The hallway, if you measure starting at the Sterilite drawers on the left, is just over 16' long. There are three other doors off it besides the back door. The main bathroom is just before the laundry on the left, my room is on the left just after the laundry, and Joy's room is at the very end. I completely agree that better lighting would make a huge difference! Murraysmom, thanks for sharing! I love water colors! Your little hallway sounds peaceful, with the softness of a light green and the painting. I don't know if you've seen any of cpartist's colored pencil art--she posts on the kitchen forum and sometimes here as well, but her drawings are so gorgeous! She is to drawing what Shades is to glass mosaics. My dream wall would have a large cpartist work of flowers in a vase hanging up and Shades' glass lizard climbing up the wall! Eld, hahaha! Every time I write your name, my stupid phone changes it to either "Elf" or "Elderly!" If I missed any when I proofread, my apologies in advance, lol!! :-) Chris, if that mural is to cover up a "design mistake," then I say Praise the Lord for design mistakes! My comments are glowing because I truly love your art!! And I'm so glad you have this "therapy" to work on while you're caring for Joe in the sunset of his life. You are one strong woman, and I am so inspired by you. :-) If I get really industrious in the next few days, haha, I'll post a floor plan of my house. But I'd love to hear more stories about all your hallways or other awkward spaces you have or want to decorate! :-)

If you don't want the white bead board look for your wainscoting/paneling for the bottom half of your wall, there are wood and wood looks available, too (including bamboo, though I'm not a fan). If you don't want to invest in cedar or redwood or some of the more expensive wood paneling, there's this light colored one that looks good at least in the pic. Would want to see and touch anything being considered first before buying it -- or make sure it could be returned if you hate it. https://www.google.com/search?q=peel+and+stick+white+wainscoting&client=firefox-b-1-d&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwia3vuW9bDyAhUDElkFHQmxD9QQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1366&bih=615#spd=17953413995505439033