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North Carolina homeowner Guerin Piercy and her fiancé, Brian, 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 passage feel airy and whimsical; the cost and results are her account, not an independently verified estimate.
North Carolina homeowner Guerin Piercy replaced the gray walls in a hallway she found gloomy with floral peel-and-stick wallpaper, white-painted doors and trim, and a secondhand light fixture, in a makeover she told Apartment Therapy cost about $200. The change turned a passageway she described as “ominous” into a lighter, vintage-inspired space that she said felt like an “English dollhouse.”
Apartment Therapy’s before-and-after report says Piercy bought the home with her fiancé, Brian, and their two dogs, knowing it needed work. Before the redo, the hallway had been painted gray after plaster repairs. Piercy said the gray was not to her taste, even though it replaced what she described as “dingy beige pink.” She also recalled an old, dusty light fixture and an aged yellow switch plate.
Rather than repaint the hall in a dark color she had considered, Piercy used three rolls of Better Homes and Gardens peel-and-stick wallpaper she had originally bought for the kitchen. Its white ground and repeating purple bouquets suited the hallway better, she said. She and Brian painted the doors and trim in Sherwin-Williams’ Snowbound, a white shade also used in the kitchen.
The couple measured and marked the wallpaper before applying it to keep the pattern aligned. The three rolls ran short, so they paused the work until more arrived. Piercy said the narrow strips around door casings and corners proved difficult: after wasting several pieces by trimming them on the wall, she found it easier to cut them to size beforehand. A $15 light fixture from a Habitat for Humanity ReStore and gold-framed artwork completed the project. Brian installed the fixture, according to the report.
A Small Budget, Noticeable Hallway Change
The project offers a concrete example of how a homeowner changed a frequently used but relatively small part of a house without replacing its original finishes wholesale. Piercy’s approach combined removable wallpaper, paint on doors and trim, and a secondhand fixture, rather than a major renovation. The reported total of about $200 may interest readers looking for lower-cost ways to give an entry or corridor a more personal style.
The account also shows the practical limits of budgeting around wallpaper. Piercy had to buy additional rolls after her existing supply ran out, and some narrow cuts had to be discarded. Her advice was to order 115% to 130% of the wall’s total square footage, a recommendation based on her experience and reported by Apartment Therapy, not a universal rule for every product or room. Readers should check a wallpaper maker’s pattern-repeat and coverage guidance before ordering.
Her description of the result is personal rather than an objective measure of brightness or value. Piercy said the hallway felt airy and light, and that the floral print added a whimsical quality. The change’s relevance is less about a guaranteed cost or outcome than about how color, pattern and lighting can alter the character of a passageway.
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From Gray Walls to Jacobean Print
The hallway makeover followed an earlier repair and paint job. Piercy told Apartment Therapy that she hired a painting company to repair plaster and paint the walls gray after moving into the home. She later decided the color did not suit her, but was not convinced that another dark shade would resolve the gloomy feeling she associated with the space.
She wanted the hall to connect visually with adjoining rooms and reflect the home’s older character. The wallpaper had first been intended for the kitchen, but Piercy changed plans and used it in the hallway instead. Its floral design is described in the report as a Jacobean print. The white trim color echoed a shade already present in the kitchen, while the gold-framed art and salvaged light fixture added finishing details.
Apartment Therapy published the project as a home before-and-after, drawing on Piercy’s account of the work. The source identifies the wallpaper as a Better Homes and Gardens peel-and-stick product that was sold out at the time of reporting. It does not provide independent cost documentation or a full materials list beyond the details Piercy shared.
““Turns out, gray is not my color. I despise it.””
— Guerin Piercy, as quoted by Apartment Therapy
Costs and Product Details Remain Limited
The roughly $200 total comes from the report and is not accompanied by an itemized budget. The source does not clarify how the total accounts for the wallpaper rolls, paint, artwork, tools or other supplies, or whether any materials were already owned. It does identify the light fixture as costing $15 at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
The exact publication date is not given in the supplied source material. Apartment Therapy says the wallpaper was sold out when it reported the project, but does not establish whether it has since returned to sale or identify an equivalent replacement. The reported room dimensions, exact amount of wallpaper used and independent assessment of the final result are also not provided.
No Further Work Is Reported
Apartment Therapy’s account describes the hallway as complete, with the wallpaper, painted doors and trim, light fixture and framed artwork in place. It does not report a planned next stage or a future renovation date. Readers considering a similar project would need to verify current wallpaper availability, measure their own walls, allow for pattern matching and check the product’s installation instructions before buying.
Piercy’s account suggests a practical lesson for this particular job: make careful measurements and pre-cut tight sections rather than trying to trim wider pieces in place. Her recommended extra wallpaper allowance was 15% to 30% above measured wall area, expressed in the report as ordering 115% to 130% of the total square footage. The appropriate amount can vary with the pattern repeat, wall shape and product coverage, so the manufacturer’s guidance remains relevant.
Key Questions
What did the hallway makeover cost?
Piercy told Apartment Therapy that she spent about $200. The report does not include a complete itemized breakdown; it separately identifies the Habitat for Humanity ReStore light fixture as costing $15.
What changed in the hallway?
Piercy and her fiancé covered the gray walls with white-backed floral peel-and-stick wallpaper, painted doors and trim Sherwin-Williams Snowbound, and added a secondhand light fixture and gold-framed artwork.
Why did Piercy redo the gray hallway?
She said gray was not a color she liked and described the hall as having an “ominous feel.” She considered a dark green-black paint color but chose wallpaper and white trim instead.
What installation problem did the couple encounter?
They ran out of wallpaper and had to wait for additional rolls. Piercy also said narrow strips beside door casings and corners were difficult; she found that pre-cutting those pieces to size worked better than trimming them on the wall.
Is the wallpaper still available?
The report identifies the product as Better Homes and Gardens peel-and-stick wallpaper and says it was sold out at the time of reporting. The supplied source does not confirm its current availability.
Source: apartmenttherapy.com
