This is Hamish Bowles' old apartment, he is editor in chief of Conde Nast World of Interiors.

Look at the door in the corner. The "door" is partly fake, the real door is a jib off to the right a bit:

Hmmm… tricky question and tricky area. I also do a lot of full finishes on the walls in my house and basically treat my interior as an art experiment so I applaud your courage. getting it to work visually is going to be a whole other challenge however. Do you have any photo shots of the entire hallway? I realize that sort of thing is hard to photograph.

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my inclination is to NOT do the woodwork in that shabby chic style… just the two doors and have the doors match each other in this distressed French style that you’re going for. Then the doors will be accent pieces as opposed to part of the architecture.

I would have the woodwork match the walls although in a woodwork friendly paint semi gloss probably.

You can see in the middle shot what I’m talking about. Hallway with accent doors.

Following

I would suggest, you take a look at Sherwin Williams alabaster before you paint with the chantilly lace. I think, the alabaster would go much nicer with your faux finished doors.

Oh my gosh you guys!!! You just don’t understand how happy this makes me to hear your ideas and AMANDA thank you so very much for your compliment! And to you all thank you so much for actually taking the time to send me inspiration pictures as well !!! I am so happy right now ! You all made my day ❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻 I never expect for people to comment back on my online questions or from a photo Of a piece of furniture I paint either negative or positive lol.. of course negative will make me say “ oh no” it’s ok because my taste isn’t everyone’s taste and vise-versa .. so alabaster beige may be a go as well cat-ky so thank you for that ! Liasch thank you !!! I like your option too .. palimpsest love the picture . Love all the pictures 😊 WELL everyone That space still remains the same because I am not yet at a decision.. Amanda I would love to post more pictures of my very ugly never updated with all Home Depot specials on walls and lighting from the past owners 😣.. I am working on it little at a time . But will send pics as I go ❤️. So grateful to you all

Meant to say my home is from 1930 with no updates from previous owners 😵‍💫 all Home Depot specials lol .. I will send pics as I update , paint , ect

Ok so, here is a pic of the hallway leading to study BTW isn’t that the ugliest floors r tha you have ever seen!!! The floor will be white marble soon hopefully. The other picture is the other end of the hallway leading to the horrible never updated kitchen with yellow stained walls ! So that’s pretty much the hallway . Don’t mind all the paint stuff on the floor please.. lol

Sorry this is the one that leads to ugly kitchen

Looks like a fascinating project! This must be a recent purchase? Lots of possibilities.

The problem you’re going to run into with the woodwork is the transition to a different room. I had exactly that problem here when I did light blue doors. I ended up painting the woodwork white so it would transition to the other adjoining spaces with no problems. It will look weird to have a distressed finish on half of your door frame. Even if you paint the walls in faux finish you’ll still have that problem at the transition point to another room. I stand by my original suggestion to do the doorframe woodwork a neutral. Likely a soft off white…And keep it consistent with the baseboard and the woodwork in the rest of the house. You’re going to need some continuity.

I wonder if you wouldn't be better off replacing the interior doors with architectural salvaged ones rather than do a faux finish?

This may not be exactly what you're after, but I think it will look more authentic than trying to make a newer door look old. It will definitely be an eclectic look because the doors won't be the same, but I think that's part of the charm, if you're going this route.

Here's an article that might give you more inspiration: https://www.bhg.com/decorating/decorating-style/second-hand-decorating/architectural-salvage/

Repeat the color on the 2nd door AND repeat that color in the kitchen. If you were to repeat that call on the kitchen's lower beadboard, it would tie it altogether and visually help make the overall space more harmonious.

AWESOME IDEAS EVERYONE! So much talent here .. mmmm what to do…🤔

The door is a door. The trim is trim. Two different species. Paint the trim white.

Can you remove the corner applications?

Alabaster isnt beige, by the way. Its white, just a bit softer white than chantilly lace, which is a cold white.

Are you painting the walls different colors in the adjacent rooms and rest of the house?

If it is a smaller home, I'd use the same color on all the walls. I would also use the same trim color throughout the house or at least on the samel level if you have multiple stories.

If you want to use different colors in different rooms, ithen I'd make sure that they are complementary or different shades of the same color especially if the rooms open to each other without doors. If you pursue to do different colors, id keep the trim consistent through out the level/ floor.

If trim style varies from room to room and you do not plan to change it, then I'd paint it the same color as the room. Just my opinion.

You didn't mention ceilings, which is something else to consider. Most people slap a coat of white paint on their ceilings and by default, they also slap a white color on the trim, which is not my style.

I do like the alabaster as a wall color. Since you like shabby chic, i'd stay away from gloss and semigloss paints. Id look at washable flat paints or chalk paints. I'm weary of egg shells since I typically use Sherwin Williams paints and find that their egg shell paints are impossible to retouch

Another thing to consider when painting walls, trim, and ceilings is how you want people to perceived the room. You can trick the eye to so that the room is larger or smaller by how you paint the walls, ceilings, and trim.

My primary house is from the 1930s as well. If you have any questions about construction from this era, drop me a message.

I disagree about having the same colour on all the walls. I have a 1400 square-foot home built in the late 40s. It’s not open concept and I picked a colour palette that flows nicely from room to room but is not all the same color.

The both doors so close to each other and in the same room must be the same color they don't have to have the decor accents the same but Hardware must be the same

To happy leg : yes your right , the 2 doors are close together right across from each- other . So I should do the other door the same color , but should I also pant it the same rustic look as well or will that be too much? Also will apply the decorative pieces..Thx 🙏🏻

To Kelley : I have only painted the living room Chantilly lace and ceiling , trims as well chantilly lace , both flat no gloss and love it. I painted the study which is adjacent to living room a cream white , trims as well which looks ok . I have not painted the the other rooms yet but have some ideas for dining room and other rooms as well . I am also planning on doing mouldings on hallway wall , living room and dining room . I will be choosing diff colors but color to all go with each other for sure . Thx for your input and I am going to message you which I so appreciate! Oh , and yes I love the ideas of painting ceilings same as walls to have a larger / longer effect ..

To FLO : THANK you so much for the compliment!! I like my french blue door too🤗.. some think it doesn’t look authentic but I did lots and lots of research and when I match up the pics from old french Holmes it looks the same, so thx again ! Matter of opinion of course .. love your ideas btw ..

Warning! Your floor tiles in the kitchen and hall are probably asbestos tile. As you anticipate a future renovation what will include a change in flooring, please be careful if you decide to remove that flooring (there is probably wood underneath the tile in the hall, but not in the kitchen, given your home’s age.). Professional abatement might be required. Good luck with your home!

We lived in Brussels Belgium for 3 years and were in Paris several times every month. So I have a pretty good perspective on true French design. I like your unique perspective and encourage you to forge on. If you like Chantilly Lace it’s probably due to the quality of your natural light so keep that in mind when considering other choices. Generally, in France walls and ceilings were same colors except in very special places such as Royal cottages! I would minimize the number of colors for sure. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Yes I would do the other door in that style, to match. And what Flo said about colors. It will depend a lot on the colourway that you pick… I love colour, so I couldn’t face doing my whole place in white. I kept the colours quite soft and one of them is a pale green so it’s a neutral.

Flooring can be put over the old floor without taking it out it saves money

And the walls being a white if there's no light in there of a window you might want Chantilly or do a bright white it looks nice with the blue doors or you could do a softer White if there's some kind of lighting that goes through there and the doors being blue if you want a narrow bench or console table in there it will look nice and if you do any Runner rug it's all going to come together and look nice with the doors being blue

If I wanted those types of doors I would not want to see a large contrast between the walls and the doors, unless the doors were just a solid paiinted color and not done in the finish you have there. I would wallpaper the walls and paint all doors the same and then I would paint baseboard and crown if applicable and casing the blue color before you added the glaze on it. Leaving only the doors themselves "antiqued"

Casing and baseboard is the same as the door

Thank you 🙏🏻… I have so many ideas from you all .. still deciding 👍

Thank you ptreckel! I appreciate you letting me know that ❤️

Thx happyleg! Agree with you totally!!

Awesome ! Thank you Flo!!!

Liasch , facscinating is an understatement! Arghhhh … every single room is awful 😣 we could have purchased a beautiful home from the 18 or 1900’s which I love for less than what we purchased this house for , but we live in New England! Homes are extremely expensive 😵‍💫.. guess it’s ok though , as I can decorate in my taste , but it’s alot of work …

I love French country style and think your door is charming. I'd definitely paint the other door the same.

It's refreshing to see someone on Houzz doing something different than the same old gray blah decor.

This blogger loves French country, and has a lot of articles on how to do it, and also links to beautiful French homes:

https://designthusiasm.com/

Thank you Diana !!!😍 So lots of comments to paint secondary door the same .. that’s a go ! Still deciding on the rest… Thx for the website! Checking it out now …

Good luck! 37 years ago we also needed to buy a house based on what we could afford. It will happen. Somethings are more time consuming than others. You may have to do an order of operations priority list. Otherwise you’ll get swamped with everything that needs doing. This applies to your budget, as well as decor projects. Sometimes simple, inexpensive things can have a big impact! Sometimes temporary solutions can work until you have time or $$ for a bigger renovation. Make yourself a wish list, and estimate the cost both in dollars and in time commitments from yourself. Then prioritize, the things that have BOTH big impact and low cost in terms of time and dollars. Kind of a Venn diagram…😉

Well my friends 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫…palimpsest where are ya.. you were right! I couldn’t wait and didn’t want to go purchase 10 diff color paint to see what the heck to do with these walls 😝.. so I mixed up some of my own.. I tried an off white NOPE, a beige NOPE, a medium to light blue also NO, a blue with grey undertones, NO , and a very almost white with a hint of blue , still didn’t look right! I even tried a little white washing the light almost white with tint of blue still NO . Now I added some of the blue that’s in the door color and it finally looks like it’s going to work . I wasn’t going for a theatrical hallway but no matter what I am going to make this work! The walls look like a drunk person painted them at the moment so I am not going to show you guys yet . lol.. I am going to put decorative moulding on the walls as well when I get them.. now what color do I do the ceiling??? If I keep the decorative moulding white or a distressed white will the ceiling look ok white ? I wanted to do the ceiling same color as the walls but I just want one color on the ceiling .. also I am going to put a small chandelier with a small medallion in that hallway ..

Oh , and I am going to paint the secondary door the same as other .. I made the paint colors myself so now I have to figure out what colors I used ! Omg what the heck did I get myself into ! I have to laugh because this is what I do .. I make a project out of everything! I don’t know what I would do without you all !

You are delightful, Renee! Keep us updated on your progress!

Awww thx Diana ☺️you are too !

Love your ambition on this and where this is headed - I'd only advise skipping the conventional polished marble for the floors and looking into something like limestone - you want a softer/not-polished texture in the stone to tie into the aged French Country vibe. I could even see a take on a black and white checkered floor but with a tumbled beige/charcoal stone combination. Just something to consider.

Actually she could use honed marble which would give a more casual feel.

This kitchen is awesome--the floor works so well for a casual vibe.

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Two more kitchens with honed black and white marble flooring:

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I love those floors. If marble isnt in the budget or in the preferable upkeep there are great poecelain options out there.

Another great inspo photo with painted doors, mouldings, wallpaper and marble floors

Match those two beautiful creative doors. It will be a happy creative space. I love architectural interest in areas we don't expect.

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I would do walls and ceiling same color. It will feel great and adding nice light fixture with a medallion would be all you need. Love your spirit!

Love it Flo (( hugs))

Thanks to you all!! Love the floor , the ideas and the images !

I like white ceilings but that’s just my personal preference. Flo knows what she’s talking about when it comes to paint.

If a runner is in consideration, keep your budget in mind for the hallway floor. A lot will get covered.

Another thought is to consider a wallpaper. It could really add to your creative doors. Then the floor can be a simple,porcelain tile with a runner. No one will notice because wallpaper + your doors will be the attraction.

I love your creativity!

Just to get your artistic juices flowing…