• Dual colors dress up a hallway.red door, white wall image by pcphotos from Fotolia.com
  
  Hallways are an often-neglected area of a house, full of doorways and a boring paint job. But you can paint your hallway in a number of ways that will make it more interesting to guests and add spark to your daily trips through it. From simple paint jobs with small border adornments to grand murals, the endless possibilities will allow you to choose a style that is right for your home.
  
  

Simple with Border

• You can go for a simple color in your hallway, such as white or cream, but choose an interesting border running horizontally along the walls for an eye-catching effect. Borders usually appear at the top of a wall, and hallways should be no exception. Floral and geometric designs make classic borders. You can either stencil the border yourself or buy a prefabricated border to apply to the hallway.
  
  

Simple with Wainscoting

• If you choose to go with a simple shade of paint, you can dress things up with wainscoting. Wainscoting is wood paneling that adorns the bottom half of your wall, giving the top half an open feel. The plain top half will then serve as a superb background for artwork or framed windows.
  
  An easier alternative to wainscoting is installing a single panel running horizontally along the length of both sides of the hallway. The panel can be painted white, the space below it a darker color and the space above it a lighter color.
  
  

Bold Accenting Color

• Use a bold color in your hallway to accent the colors in the rest of your house. If your interiors are mostly light yellow, try a gold hallway. If your interior is earthy, paint the hallway a rust-red. Remember---you generally don't spend much time in a hallway, so it may be the only place in the house where you can use a truly exciting color without getting sick of it.
  
  

Large Mural

• An indoor mural is a sight to behold.the doorway to a building with a seascape mural on the wall image by David Smith from Fotolia.com
  
  For a hallway that fits your personality, add a mural. The mural can change as you walk down the hallway, for example, starting in a forest and ending in a field or starting with butterflies and ending with cats. Abstract murals can invoke a range of feelings, from "get up and go" to "slow down and relax." If you're confident in your painting skills, you can paint the mural yourself, or you can hire someone to paint it for you.