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North Carolina homeowner Guerin Piercy and her fiancé refreshed a hallway she disliked with floral peel-and-stick wallpaper, white-painted trim and a secondhand light fixture. Piercy told Apartment Therapy the project cost about $200 and made the space feel brighter and more in keeping with the home’s vintage character.
North Carolina homeowner Guerin Piercy and her fiancé, Brian, spent about $200 refreshing a gray hallway with floral peel-and-stick wallpaper, white-painted trim and a secondhand light fixture, according to Apartment Therapy. Piercy said the change made the passageway feel brighter and more suited to the home’s vintage character after she had found its gray walls imposing.
Piercy told Apartment Therapy that the hallway had previously been painted gray after plaster repairs, but she disliked the color. The gray had replaced what she described as “dingy beige pink”; the space also had an old light fixture and a yellowed switch plate. Although the repaint had improved the earlier condition, Piercy said the hallway still felt “ominous.”
Rather than repaint the walls a dark color, which she worried might not solve that feeling, Piercy chose wallpaper she had first bought for the kitchen. The peel-and-stick pattern has a white background with repeating purple bouquets. She and Brian painted the doors and trim Sherwin-Williams’ Snowbound, a white shade also used in their kitchen.
The couple aligned the pattern by measuring and marking the wallpaper before sticking it to the walls, Piercy said. They ran out after using three rolls and paused until more arrived. Narrow strips beside door casings and corners proved difficult; after wasting several pieces, she found it worked better to cut those sections to size before installing them. A $15 light fixture from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore and gold-framed artwork completed the project.
A Small Refresh Changed the Hallway
The project shows how a relatively limited makeover can address a homeowner’s specific dissatisfaction without a full renovation. In this case, Piercy kept the existing hallway but changed its visual effect with patterned wallpaper, brighter trim and a new light. Her account may be useful to readers considering a similar update, particularly those working with a small or transitional space.
The report also offers practical details about a do-it-yourself wallpaper job: pattern alignment, ordering enough material and handling tight areas around doors. Piercy advised ordering wallpaper to cover 115% to 130% of the measured area, citing her own experience running short. That is her recommendation, not a universal calculation for every product or room; requirements vary with pattern repeats, wall shapes and installation instructions.
The reported total was about $200, but the article does not itemize every expense. The price should be read as the homeowner’s approximate project cost, not a guaranteed budget for another hallway.
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From Gray Paint to Floral Paper
The hallway sits in a North Carolina home Piercy bought with Brian and their two dogs. The house needed substantial work, and the gray paint had been applied after repairs to the plaster. Piercy said she initially considered a dark black-green shade, but worried that a darker wall color would not make the passage feel less imposing.
The wallpaper was already on hand: Piercy had bought three rolls for a kitchen project before deciding the pattern suited the hallway better. Apartment Therapy reported that the Better Homes and Gardens peel-and-stick paper was sold out at the time of its article. That product detail can change, and the source does not identify an alternative currently available.
After the paper ran out, the couple waited for additional rolls before finishing the installation. Piercy said the angled ceiling, which she had expected to be the hardest part, was enjoyable; the narrow sections around the bathroom doorway were more challenging. Brian installed the replacement light, according to the report.
““Turns out, gray is not my color. I despise it.””
— Guerin Piercy, speaking to Apartment Therapy
Project Costs and Product Availability
Apartment Therapy gives the total as around $200 but does not provide a full cost breakdown or clarify whether that figure includes materials already purchased for the kitchen. The source also does not specify the hallway’s dimensions, the amount of wallpaper ultimately used or the time required to complete the work.
The article says the wallpaper was sold out when it was published, but it does not establish whether the same design is available now. Piercy’s descriptions of the hallway as “ominous” before the redo and like an “English dollhouse” afterward are her personal assessment, not independent measurements of light or value added to the home.
No Further Renovation Plans Reported
The source describes the hallway as finished and does not report a scheduled follow-up project, additional renovation plans or any response from the wallpaper maker. The next step for readers interested in recreating the look would be to check current product availability, measure the walls and account for pattern matching and narrow cuts before buying. Any estimate should be treated as specific to the home and materials involved, rather than assuming the same design can be completed for about $200.
Key Questions
What did the hallway makeover include?
Guerin Piercy and her fiancé applied floral peel-and-stick wallpaper, painted the doors and trim Sherwin-Williams Snowbound, and added a secondhand light fixture and gold-framed artwork, according to Apartment Therapy.
How much did the project cost?
Apartment Therapy reported an approximate total of $200. It did not include a detailed cost breakdown, so the amount may not reflect the cost for another home or buyer.
Why did Piercy change the gray hallway?
She told Apartment Therapy that gray was not a color she liked and that the hallway still felt “ominous” after the earlier repaint. She wanted a brighter look that suited the home’s vintage character.
What installation difficulty did the couple encounter?
They ran out of wallpaper and had to wait for more. Piercy also said the narrow areas beside door casings and corners were difficult; she found that pre-cutting pieces to size worked better than trimming wide pieces on the wall.
Is the wallpaper still available?
The source reported that the Better Homes and Gardens wallpaper was sold out when the article was published. It does not confirm current stock or identify a replacement product.
Source: apartmenttherapy.com
