How wide and long is your hallway? You can do wall paper panels ? Clad the walls? Timber or other materials for interests etc

doesn't always have to be paint and wall paper.

Use art work ? To give walls interest textures etc

I like framed wall paper as it gives you flexibility to change your looks without much hardship.

you could do multiples or singles

Instead of your verticals you can inject colours into your room by changing them into Roman blinds . Have them installed on to the ceiling to give your room a perception of high ceilings

I'm bias as I love Romans. They are pricey custom made but definitely worth it. Lots of patterns to choose from .

You could use shelving units to create interest in the room and also to hide your mess.

Vy - Thanks so much for your comments. The roman ideas look grand :)

I definitely need shelving as the hall gets messy real soon. The area is quite small with an open living setup and having it organised is a constant battle. The hall way is about 8 m long and 90 cm wide.

bigreader - Thank you. Will definitely consider the idea.

Unless you start cleaning and tidying up no point doing anything, if you want your house to look like those in the photos on Houzz changer your habits first. I am not being nasty just practical. I keep my un ironed clothes in the baskets in the living room and no matter what decorations I put out it always look out of place unless I clean up and put away ironing.

Since your hallway is narrow I'd go with bigreader's suggestion of a nice runner .

You could also pop a big mirror on one wall to give an illusion of a wider hallway or panels of mirrors

Really nice blank canvas to add texture and interest. I don't think feature walls alone will achieve this. They are also a bit dated now too. Rugs/runners, mirrors, wall art, cushions and throws. The trick will be getting your colour pallet right. I reckon you'll find other benefits with adding some rugs too,it looks like you'd have a decent echo/reverb going on.

As I said before keeping clutter under control is the key, get lots of storage ,you said cost is I s an issue. Look at IKEA they have solutions for wall units that you can get in different colours and that in itself will brighten the place. You would benefit from a buffet next to the kitchen /dining area or a large wall unit with lots of shelfs and drawers, coffee table with storage drawers , storage unit with baskets for kids toys and school stuff, once you have this under control start adding rugs if think you still need it. By the look of it you have small kids get them to put things in appropriate place and get some funky coat hangers in the entrance so they can hang hats and bags etc.

This is all IKEA

And this , the only thing I would say negative about IKEA 's furniture is Don't get white colour it tends to go yellowish, every other finish is OK.

oskuee - Appreciate your valuable feedback. very helpful indeed. Will be visiting IKEA in the next few days. Will keep posting the progress... Cheers.