The Cruella Devill Upstairs Hallway

 How many Dalmatian puppies does it take to renovate a hallway? You're about to find out.

It stared with a pretty awful paint job, and unattractive lighting fixtures from the 1960s. Here's the BEFORE:

For some unknown reason, the previous tenant developed a thing where she painted every wall in high gloss and an awful builder's beige. This photo really showcases how bad choice that was! Especially with the under-sized baseboards and dingy (because it's old) beige carpet. 

My parents lived in fear of the ceiling light fixtures in this BEFORE photo for decades - they were very tricky to open, so they resisted turning on the light at the top of the stairs because changing the bulb was too much of a hassle. Those had to go! 

This is the IN PROGRESS Cruella Deville hallway (minus the gallery wall):

I started selecting matching (imagine that!) light fixtures for the two in the upstairs hallway, and same for the downstairs hallway. I went with the crisp black and white Kuzco Arcadia. Importantly, these milky globes have an open bottom, so it's easy to change the bulb. The colour temperature is now a little cooler, and with the matte walls, everything looks so much better. 

The walls are Dove White OC-17 in eggshell, which stands out against the bright white trim and eliminates the "glare" issue that the awful gloss beige created. We had the carpet removed to reveal the original parquet, and 5.25" baseboards. The knobs are in the process of being switched to matte black Halifax style levers for a modern touch, and they're freshly painted in bright white (I believe it's Benjamin Moore Ultra White OC-10 on all the trim). 

The statement piece of this hallway is the Dalmatian runner - an inexpensive option from Amazon. I was able to get 3 runners (they are a traditional tufted carpet, which I prefer to some of the newer rug materials), and they line up to the precise length of the hallway. 

The final detail is (or will be) bold black and white artwork hung in gallery wall groupings (black frames, of course). 

I really enjoy this hallway - my inner Cruella Deville adores the Dalmatian rug, and I think the rug gives it a very modern look (which it needs because it has a lot of traditional elements like the panel mouldings on the doors and colonial style baseboards). I also like that the light fixtures tie into others throughout the house, and the black/white colour scheme also relates back to the rest of the house to give it unity.