Are you changing the floor? Panels on the doors and trim on the wainscot, plus the pattern on the floor tile is going to make this narrow hallway feel very busy. Try adding "elegance" with paint and excellent lighting. If you hang pictures, center them 5' above the floor, but again the number of them is causing a busy feeling since the hall is narrow. If you lay a new floor see #1 below to help give the illusion that the hall is wider.

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We aren't able to change the floor yet. So, veto my entire plan?

I am not seeing the whole door and IMO the fancy pieces on the wainscoting look tacky not elegant at all. I would need to see what you mean by arched doors since IMO the doors should be the same all through the house and that simple wainscoting is very elegant . Your art is all hung too high and I agree elegance does not come from gluing trim onto something.

This is a narrow hallway with scalloped wainscoting, tile, and 6 panel. Granted, it has better lighting and recessed doorways but I think it looks great.

We are renovating for a reason. That photo of my hallway is atrocious but moving the photos and painting isn't going to cut it. The 70's need to go!

This is the 2 panel I was talking about.

The picture you are in love with, is busy with poor proportions for the space, .. No to the arch top door, especially. Very dated. Simple two panel, square the top

Your flooring update should come before ANYTHING. Your scallop selection, isn't an update, and will take you way back before the nineties. That you can be certain of.

Doors should be simple and no moulding on walls, as hall will easily feel too busy. You had referenced elegance and that can be achieved in other ways - updated hardware on the doors, lighting and picture choices. You may want to consider adding a long runner as that will also add elegance

I repeat keep it simple and those arched doors need to go.

I would stay with the same doors throughout. The six panel door is not out of style.

Personal I would not do wainscoting in your narrow hall. I would remove the molding and paint. Add white trim and doors.

Personally I am not a fan of wood trim as molding around doors and as baseboards.

To truly update the halls I would remove the wainscoting altogether. The style of the home doesn't support it. Select a great wall and trim color instead.

I would select the 6-panel door.

Another great way to elevate a space is a new light fixture.

I vote for 2 panel doors, straight top. No arch.

I never think of multiple irregularly placed doors in a hall as decorative..i would paint them to match the walls...and not so shiny that they stand out

It looks like a beautiful long runner would give the hall a big shot of personality and style ....

A runner is out of the question. I have never been allowed to have rugs in the house. A have old cats with no manners.

My goal was new doors, not a complete redo of everything. We have priorities and the flooring wasn't one of them.

Thanks for all the well thought out replies, especially the ones that didn't tell me my taste is tacky.

I'm in a situation much like yours: 70's brown doors that don't match anything with a long narrow hallway. What I did in the interim is paint the hallway a deep rust, which makes the doors disappear. Next year will be the Year of New Trim for me. I'm very excited!

The thing about this kind of space is that the more you have going on, the smaller and more cramped the space feels. So you need to have simple lines, flat planes and monochrome colour. In your case, because the floor tile is patterned, the rest of the space needs to be very subdued. That's not to say you can't have arches on your door panels-- but 2 panel which is less busy than 6 panel is a better choice. And rather than having wainscot, have simple but substantial (think 5-6" ) baseboards and door casings. Woodwork and doors should be the same colour as the walls, but in a slightly glossier sheen.

If you really want wainscotting, save it for your dining room where there will be space to admire it. The style you prefer is more baroque than the current fashion but by no means tacky if well-executed.

Ok. Revamped. Is this a better plan?

Remove wainscot, replace the drywall under the current panels since they are glued down, paint walls light/med grey. White 4 panel solid core doors with white traditional trim and black door knobs and probably hinges. We already have recessed lighting which usually seems to work well in new builds. I may just need to get a more daylight color bulb. I don't want new lighting installed because I don't want the asbestos popcorn disturbed and we can't have it replaced or do the floors just yet.

If the grey on the walls ends up making the tan/brown in the tile stand out more then I'll get some sort of washable rug option to offset that and hope I can manage to vacuum it even though I've always had issues with my vacuum eating rugs in the past. Maybe there's some secret black magic involved?

I like the new plan! 3 thoughts:

• lever handles are easier to turn and recommended for aging in place
• greige rather than grey may be a better way to go given what look to be warm colours in your tile. If you have a spare tile stored away somewhere, it's worth taking it to the paint store and asking them to scan it for some matching colours.
• definitely replace the light-bulbs in your fixtures with LED bulbs in the temperature you prefer. I like 2700k but that's a fairly warm, yellowish light. 3000k is standard. And some decorators are recommending 4000k as being close to daylight. Me, I find 4000k is way too blue. The important thing is that the lights should be there before you choose a paint colour.

I'm trying to get away from warm colors but it's hard since this entire house is tan neutral instead of grey neutral. I will look at some more greige colors also before choosing.

If trends matter to you, you'll be glad to know that grey is going out and beige is coming back. :|

Me, I'm all about colour, so I'd probably pick a deep blue that goes with the tile. And then I'd increase the wattage of the lights. The walls will disappear and white trim and doors will draw the eye. And yeah, I know this contradicts earlier advice to go monochrome-- but there's more than one way to skin a hallway.

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Denim was originally what I wanted when I thought I was going to have the bright white wainscoting with it. I think my husband still wants blue so we can easily go back to that goal.

I prefer cold colors so I'm a little sad to hear you say beige is coming back. Trends aren't really my thing. I absolutely hate barn doors and bowl top vanities.

Behr’s Soft Denim would be nice if still considering blue.. Pictures to help, but if still adding wainscotting select a more updated version than what you had shown. Duplicate the shape in your door choice.

Here's what we finally got finished. It's so much better to not have dark trim and weird low quality paint roller texture on the walls. All the doors match! <3