Homebuyers inspect kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms and baths, but you seldom hear anybody gush over a hallway. Hallways are often left before last, when the rest of the decoration is complete. Do not leave yours as an afterthought. You pass through the hallway several times daily, and it deserves the exact same careful attention to detail which you give to the rest of your home.
Challenges
Small-space decorating is always a challenge, but home hallways sometimes seem hopeless. They’re too prominent a room to ignore, but also tight for conventional decorating options. Because hallways are generally long and narrow, the proportions feel off–especially when the ceiling is high. Hallways seldom get much all-natural light, so they’re often dark and seem cold.
Solutions
Foreshorten a long hallway with a contrasting paint colour on the dead-end wall. Pick a bold color that stops the eye. Add art and an image light to boost the effect even further. If the ceiling appears disproportionately high, lower it visually by painting it a few shades darker than the hallway walls. Produce a narrow, dark hallway feel larger and lighter by hanging cushions. Hang them on the end wall or across from the doors which open from the hall.
Ideas
Decorate the hallway like any other room in your home by paying attention to the ground, walls, furnishings and lighting. Lay a runner on the ground. Hang a selection of arteither in clusters or in a gallery-style row with graphic lights. Replace the builder’s fundamental light fixture with a sparkly chandelier, modern pendant, wall sconces or a track with adjustable spotlights. Add architectural interest with cornice molding, wainscoting or raised wall panels. If you’ve got a vast hallway, then add a console table, bench or a torso flanked by a pair of seats.
Color
Even if you want light walls in the rest of your home, the hallway is an ideal place to add colour. It’s possible to use dramatic colors which may feel too extreme everywhere. Pick a color that matches the rest of your house –especially any rooms where the hallway is visible–but feel free to go bright and bold or rich and deep. For example, if you can see the hall from the living room, paint the hall several shades darker than the living room walls, or utilize one of the livelier colors from your sofa cloth or throw pillows.
Scale
If you opt to add furniture into your hallway, then pick the appropriate scale. Make sure that you’ll have at least 36 inches of unimpeded diameter into the opposite wall or it will feel too crowded, and you are going to be bumping into the furniture. If you have problems finding furniture that’s shallow enough to the space, consider a wall shelf mounted at table height or a lender of short bookcases. Crescent-shaped demilune consoles work well also; there are no sharp corners to bump and they seem visually younger than rectangular pieces with the identical depth.