The funny thing is that nothing dates faster than the latest trends! Whether it's the recent vogue for Pistachio green, Orange, or neutral greys or taupe colours or trendy wallpapers, such as the ubiqitous 'Woods'. Paint is the safest and easiest option for those without confidence or design knowledge. Paint does bring out the architectural quality and details (that why until recently architects have rejected them on the whole). But I really disagree with those that say paint lasts longer than papers. Of course it depends on if it's used in high traffic areas but wallpapers in some houses have lasted well over a century! A choice of wallpaper show a certain statement of confidence and with current Site specific, carefully designed Digital papers or Artisan designed, hand crafted or printed wallpaper you are installing a work of art to be enjoyed for a considerable time.

The background seems to be a soft calming pale warm grey which I would try to match on the other walls and pick up the yellow in some of the accents such as lamp bases, curtains, cushions, a throw for the bed or even upholster a chair or long bench for the end of the bed if there is room for it. I would use a deeper tone of the grey or an aubergine in some other accent pieces, perhaps the bedhead or bedside tables.

Hi Liz, sounds like you've got an exciting project on your hands. My two penneth, for what it's worth, is that hallways are often neglected or left til the end. Some people don't think they are worthy of spending too much money on. However, I disagree. When you first walk in the door, or you move from room to room, your hallway gets oodles of views and movement throughout the day. When people visit - their first impression to your house is in your hallway, so you should start as you mean to go on. So rather than paint over the wallpaper and make do, if it was me, I would bite the bullet and take off the old wallpaper and repaint the walls. Whilst doing it, pay attention to the lighting in the hallway and make improvements to increase the light. I can't comment on what needs to be added from the pictures, but you could consider recessed lighting up the stairs, better quality pendant lights, placing mirrors opposite windows to reflect the light back in. Or why not follow Abigail Aherne's lead and embrace the dark side. Make it cosy, comfortable and a little bit quirky! There's lots to consider, but ditch the paper!! Most importantly, enjoy the process and don't think of it as a chore. It's exciting and the adventure is only just beginning.

Hi Gerty, I would definitely recommend a neutral textured wallpaper if you didn't want to just paint the walls either side. Harlequin do some really nice ones that would work against the busy fireplace. Or you could use on another wall and paint either side of the fireplace, hard to say for sure without seeing the whole room. This has a slight plaster affect which slightly emulates the pattern in the fireplace... This one is a metallic texture which could look really nice... This shows how the textured wallpaper will look but I would stick to a neutral colour...