I have the same hall way, so really loved everyone's ideas! I have thought about clearing out a closet on one wall, removing the doors and putting a sleeping closet in there that stays open to the hallway to give it more width. It would only be cot sized because of the depth possibly with book shelves and a light looking like one of those European wall niches with a bed. Because I love rustic, I would layer it with a collection of wool blankets, fun pillows and maybe a pictures and/or old postcards. I have lots of guest and a child could sleep on the cot. Now, to figure out what to do with what is in the closet! What do you think of that idea? My hallway is actually the same color. I've also been thinking of running a 2 pieces of wood down the hall apart enough to hang pictures between them in an effort to make a more tidy gallery, but fear it would lengthen and skinny up the look of the hallway. If the ceiling was darker than the walls would it cause the widith to look wider? Here is a link that might be useful: Winchuck River Store

That's a difficult space! Love the idea of painting the tiles -- I didn't know that was possible, but I love that it'd be inexpensive and unique. Love the runner with the sideways pattern -- it'll visually widen the space. However, I don't see the point in doing both -- a runner would cover up the painting. I hate the idea of navy (for this space -- I like navy in other areas). In such a small space, you need light colors to keep things bright. If you love the color, I'd say bring it in through the rug, photographs, or accessories. Not the walls themselves. No one has mentioned the idea of a mirror. A big, wide mirror could make the space look wider. Would it be crazy to go with two twin mirrors -- one on each wall? Is changing the door a possibility? I ask because the two tall-thin windows on the door are reinforcing the idea of a long-thin room. If you could have one wider window on the door, I think it would make a difference. I'd also put a pretty wreath on the inside of the door. You don't necessarily have a lot of space for decoration on the side walls, so use what you have! You say one of the walls opens up to the living room. Without knowing the details, I could imagine the room being opened up with a pony wall /some sort of divider above -- bookcases? Could you cut into the walls and make niches? For small shelves /something to break up the space /a place to bring in some color and interest. You'd need to check on electrical wires, etc., of course. You say you want a space for keys and shoes. I'm not clear on whether this is your everyday family entry or whether this is a front door for guests. It doesn't appear to come from a garage, so I'm going to assume it's for guests. Two ideas: - Do a built-in shelf (instead of a table). It'll take less space but give you a small space for setting things down. - Go with an Ikea attached-to-the-wall shoe organizer. They can be dressed up nicely and would provide you with a spot for both keys and shoes. Pictures I hope will help:

The shelf style you show coordinates with the mirror style. The length of the shelf should be proportional to the mirror if you are placing it under the mirror. The length should be about the length of the mirror at the widest part. If you did a trio of shelfs like you show, you wouldn't need to move the mirror, just make the shelfs off to the mirrors side. Just make sure when you are walking thru the entryway that its not impeding the pathway. I had a shelf like that once and my face ran into it enough times that I took it down, lol. That way it would be a separate arrangement from the coat rack, and you could always hang a key rack close by the coat rack and then the mirror and shelves would be a separate arrangement. It depends on the look you want, I think either would work. At least that is my input, although I am not a professional.

Hi Mary, We also live in a 6 unit condo building (120 yr old rowhouse) and in addition, we just last month returned home from subletting a *gulp* 4th-floor walkup on Irving and Cambridge, downtown Boston. FWIW, back home a few summers ago, (we only have 1 renter, the other units are primary) we took about 1G out of our reserves, painted all 3-floor hallways ourselves, updated all the old horrid lighting with LED simple light fixtures from Amazon (which made a massive change..for the better!) and had our carpets professional cleaned and just those simple fixes were amazing. All of this was planned in advance, we all voted on it, my husband is the Board President, if we had hired outside resources this would have cost us a fortune. The renter joined in on the fun, we had a beer and pizza party afterward and everyone felt they were represented and adding much-needed sweat equity. Steps in Boston are so narrow and steep in historical buildings. Would start with your interior lighting and step management. New windows will be extremely expensive. Changing the front door will also require wiring for the doorbell. Honestly, before coming up with a color scheme, perhaps create a punch list and have everyone vote on this. 100G for all you're mentioning will not cover this amount of work. Please let us know what happens, will be very interested in your project!