The dark, dark hallway.

The hallway was the first job I did in my home. This was because it was giving me nightmares. Just looking at it's nasty bumpy walls covered in magnolia-painted wallpaper made me hyperventilate. It was also very dark - as if light was being sucked from the air.

First thing was first - strip off the wallpaper over the course of a weekend. This process uncovered walls that were replastered in patches and some of the original dark green Victorian paint.

They didn't go for light and bright in those days. 

Once the walls were stripped we got a plasterer to come and skim the walls then painted them bright white to reflect what little light the hall got.

To add to the impression of sunshine and light I painted the inside of the front door the brightest yellow I could get my hands on. I actually took a pantone even brighter to the mixers who told me that what I was asking for was actually impossible to make.

The next stage was to fit the radiator back and cover with an attractive radiator cover. I toyed with painting it neon pink but basically wimped out. It looked nice in the white undercoat. 

We stripped out the beige carpet and sanded and painted the floorboards so they were shiny black. 

Finally I collected interesting and unusual hooks to hang coats on - including a little ceramic pig, a tap, an elephant and some old Victorian school pegs.