*Today’s post was made possible by Fancy Walls, and features gifted product for the purposes of a candid review. All opinions are my own.

I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all got ’em. Those awkward corners, hallways, closets, and nooks in our homes that don’t really function the way they could—or the way that they should. For my parents, that was the leads-to-nowhere hallway off to the side of their upstairs landing. This spot on the second floor of their home connects all of the bedrooms together, and (for some reason!) includes a dead end hallway leading to one window on the front of their house. Maybe there was some mechanical reason for saving this space for a hallway, but I personally think it would have been nicer to give the square footage to the bedroom on the other side of the wall…At any rate, the hallway has been a bit of an afterthought since my parents moved in because, really, what else could they do?

Never one to leave “well enough” alone, I decided to give this hallway some real purpose—or at least some style. The plan was to paint the window alcove a soft light blue color so that it stood out, making it an architectural feature, and then my mom and I decided on a new Fancy Walls peel-and-stick wallpaper pattern that would cover the side walls. We thought this would give the hallway some needed personality and make it look more integrated into the design of their home. Instead of being a boring beige dead end, the hallway would have color and life. A soft upholstered bench (similar option here), inspiring complimentary-colored art, a new overhead light fixture, and potted plants would then go a long way in creating the perfect spot for my family and their guests to actually linger in rather than one they intentionally walked right past.

The wallpaper pattern we chose from Fancy Walls is called “Floral Calm,” which pretty accurately describes its attributes. The paper is made of a really soft blue, gray, and white color palette that instantly feels relaxing to look at. We loved that it wasn’t so bold that it made the hallway stand out too much, and that it matches the existing hallway paint color well enough that it looks intentional. My parents eventually plan to repaint the yellowy beige stairwell more of a grayish color, but that’s not in the cards any time soon. Happily, the colors in the new wallpaper work with the existing paint for now, and will complement the new paint color nicely, too, whenever that does happen.

It took me a couple of hours to wallpaper the hallway on my own one afternoon, but the process (as always) was pretty straightforward and not too challenging. I peeled off the top section of backer paper from each single panel, lined up the top of the paper along the ceiling edge, and then pressed the sticky side of the wallpaper into place against the wall using a wallpaper smoothing tool. Then, I peeled off more backer paper, and pressed the next section of the panel into place against the wall, making sure to squeeze any air bubbles out the sides using my smoother. Once I reached the bottom of the wall, I used a sharp razor blade to cut off the excess wallpaper. Then, I repeated those steps to finish, cutting around any doors, heat registers, and electrical sockets, as needed.

The new wallpaper pattern somehow brightens the hallway so much, and definitely succeeds in making this space one that people gravitate toward. It’s obviously not a big hallway, but it’s just big enough for a bench where folks can plop down to enjoy a quiet moment alone in the sunshine that streams in through that front window. It feels almost meditative in the way it came together, especially with the soft tones and pattern in the wallpaper as a complement to that feeling. If you’ve got an awkward spot in your own home that just doesn’t feel like it matches the energy of your other spaces, consider giving it some love with new paint and wallpaper! I think you’ll be surprised just how much of a difference this will make in the way you feel about your home as a whole.

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