Hallway & Stairs

Before:

I can't find my before shots at the moment. I'll post them when I do, but suffice it to say, it was not good. The old oak woodwork is the main feature of the house, but it hadn't been shown to its best advantage. The walls had been covered in a cute country kitchen wallpaper with little light blue flowers (that was over 2 other wallpapers--literally took me months to scrape it all off). These were illuminated by very 1980s brass and cut glass chandeliers. And the windows were framed with frilly lace balloon valances.

After:

The hall wallpaper

I'd had in mind exactly the William Morris kind of look I wanted in a wallpaper, but couldn't find anything even close. I was about to settle on a very expensive paper that wasn't really right, but as close as I thought I could get. But then I happened to be in Kmart of all places and discovered this paper. It not only was exactly what I wanted, but it also was 1/4 the price of the others. (Sushi and RocketMan have since stolen my wallpaper and installed it in their own hallway--thieves!)

It's a paintable wallpaper with a heavy embossed texture. You hang it white and then paint it the color of your choice. Foolhardy me decided that I could highlight the texture by using two colors. I rolled on a dark green first, and then dry-brushed a lighter green on top. Seemed like a good idea until I realized how much wall there was to brush by hand.

The ceiling paper is also embossed. I'd intended it to be reminiscent of those old tin ceilings. This paper was more expensive than the Kmart paper, but not nearly as nice to work with. It stretched and bubbled and wouldn't stick. Just shows you that price isn't everything.

 
The stairs Here you can see one of the new light fixtures I installed. When I took down the old lights, I discovered that they had been merely screwed into old plaster with much of the weight being born by 90-yr-old wiring. Not good. Installed proper boxes so that the new lights now hang from the joists as God intended.
The downstairs hallLooking up the steps from the front door back through the kitchen. Here you can see some of the wallpaper on the ceiling that was such a bear to hang. (Because the ceilings had been papered before, I didn't have a lot of choice).
Looking up the stairs

The other light fixture on the landing. I liked it so much that before I sold the house I put the old lights back in and brought this with me. I'll hang it in my new dining room whenever I get around to it.

The ceiling on the landing is about 13 feet high--more than my acrophobia can handle. So many many thanks go out to both my brother and my friend Amelia who helped get that paper on the ceiling. I literally could not have done it without them. And if my brother weren't 6'6", there's no way we could have hung paper on the sloped ceiling over the stairs. Even with his height, it was a feat of perseverance, acrobatics, and brotherly love.
The upstairs hall

There originally was no light at this end of the upstairs hall, so it was very dark. I had saved this old fixture--which had been in the dining room but was replaced by a new chandelier--and installed it upstairs.

The mirror was bought at my parents' church rummage sale. It matches one in the bedroom. Between the light and the mirror, this dark end of the hall became quite nice.
The stair landing

Look back at the stair landing. Despite the great height, I did manage to install these new blinds myself, though not without a lot of shaking. Nothing quite like being on the "Not a Step" step of a stepladder at the top of a flight of stairs with a chandelier hitting you on the back while you try to drill holes in hardwood.

I guess I'm a little glad that my new house has low ceilings.