Making the most of your hallway
In almost all properties, the hallway is the first room guests will see when they enter. Typically at the bottom of a staircase, or at least nearby, it’s an area you visit during most journeys around the home. It’s important you make the most of this space and give it personality so that it makes a positive first impression on visitors to your home. And because you pass through the hallway on a regular basis, it’s important to add some character.
Making the most of the space
You might feel your hallway is big enough to use as an extra room. Perhaps a comfortable sitting area to read and relax? The right furniture size matters so choose pieces that fit along walls. Complement them with a combination of functional and decorative furniture including cushions, lighting, baskets for small items such as shoes, and coat racks.
Under the stairs is also hugely underused in many properties. With home working increasingly common you may consider the space under your stairs as a mini office.
In properties with smaller hallways, go with a more functional approach. Again, there’s so much that can be done, but it’s important to ensure your solution brings charm and warmth. To achieve this, consider minimal floor space furniture – by creating more space to move around in, the bigger your hallway will feel.
That’s not to say you can’t store belongings in your hallway. Again, under your stairs provides so much scope – don’t consider it a dead space. Integrated storage is probably the most popular under the stair’s solution. Given you’re probably storing things there anyway, with careful planning you can make much better use of this space and create real order.
Making the most of the walls
Clever decorations can offer a ‘wow’ factor to your hallway. Through straightforward and affordable ways, you can make the most of this key welcoming area to suit your style and everyday needs:
Wall art:
Pair the dimensions of the room with a statement piece of wall art to greet guests as soon as they walk in your house. This is the quickest way to add a little impact into your home and will instantly add personality.
One of the best ways to highlight wall art in the hallway is to use several complementary pieces of art. Remember to leave some distance between the pictures so that the arrangement looks equally appealing from different angles.
Photo galleries:
Gallery walls are timeless and will never go out of style. A collection of framed family photographs, prints and pieces of art arranged in one place adds character and depth to your walls.
There are literally hundreds of ways to display your pictures and photographs, from pristine rows of small items to dramatic groups of larger pieces. As well as varying the type of photograph, consider doing the same with colour - integrating black and white can really draw the eye.
Wallpaper:
If you want a change from plain, bringing this space to life with elegant or intriguing wallpaper designs. Keep it light and bright to complement natural light from the windows and doorway.
Patterns and textures also work particularly well in a hallway – consider horizontal lines or patterns that create visual illusion, making the surrounding space feel more significant.
Mirrors:
Mirrors reflect both sunlight and unnatural light, so the addition of a mirror can make your hallway feel more inviting, open, and brighter. It can also help save on energy costs, helping to brighten a room just enough during the daytime so that you don’t need the lights on.
While one mirror works best, a few could also work, but don’t overdo it. When you start to use too many mirrors, you’ll achieve the opposite, and your hallway will start to look confused and cluttered. As with artwork, there’s no need to hang a mirror just to fill empty wall space.