8 Ways to Dress Up a Drab Hallway
Make your hallways as special as the rest of your home with artwork, bookcases, vibrant floor coverings and more
Shane Inman
September 9, 2013
Houzz contributor and senior principal interior designer of The Inman Company. Under Shane's leadership, The Inman Company is committed to raising the standard of business to incorporate the highest-quality customer service with unwavering excellence in design.
Houzz contributor and senior principal interior designer of The Inman Company. Under... More
The hallways that connect living spaces to sleeping spaces to the exterior of a home are just as important as bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens. Whether you're working with a short hallway, a hallway with a sharp turn, a spacious hallway or one that's a tight squeeze, you can make it feel just as special as the rest of your home. Make your hallways come alive with built-ins, lighting, colorful rugs and more.
1. A colorful rug. If your hallway could use a pick-me-up, add a colorful rug for instant style. The horizontal stripes on this rug help a narrow hallway feel wider. The long rug, which extends from one end of the hallway to the other, has a dramatic impact. Can't find a rug that's long enough? Try sewing several of the same rugs together to create a faux runner.
2. A picture gallery. This designer took advantage of an extra-long hallway by hanging a row of family photos and art. While identical frames and matting can look graphic and bold, this eclectic mix of colors and sizes adds warmth to the space.
How to get your art placement right
How to get your art placement right
3. Cabinetry. Take advantage of a wider hallway and build in some custom cabinetry for extra storage and display space. The cabinet in this photo serves as a display shelf for collectibles. Its neutral shade of paint keeps the hanging artwork as the focal point.
4. Pendant lighting. Most interior hallways don't have windows, which means adequate artificial lighting is a necessity. Try adding hanging pendants instead of the standard surface-mounted lighting. The right pendant will light up your hallway while adding design flair, too.
5. Wainscoting. Hallway wainscoting is a great decorative design element, but it also helps protect drywall from scrapes, bumps and marks. Traditionally, wainscoting was installed in transitional spaces like this, to protect active rooms from heavy traffic.
6. Bookcases. Some avid readers can never have enough room for books. Extend a library out to the hallway to create extra display space for beloved books. Whether built-in or purchased, bookcases can add a functional and aesthetic element to wider hallways.
7. Murals. A floor-to-ceiling map installation can transform an awkward hallway into an educational opportunity. Don't like the look? Wall decals and murals come in all sorts of customizable options, and they're often more affordable than wallpaper.
8. Framed mirrors. For those who love the gallery look but don't know what to put in their frames, a hall of mirrors can be the perfect solution. An installation like this can highlight a great collection of frames, or simply bring additional light and visual space into a small and dark hallway.
More inspiration: Browse thousands of hallways in every style
More inspiration: Browse thousands of hallways in every style
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kcalayag: I think the chairs in the bottom photo look best. Reasons: The colours in the chairs seem to ground the painting by adding colour, the backs are higher and the seats a bit smaller/shorter, they take up less floor space and therefore would allow an easier flow of foot traffic past the whole arrangement.
Personally, I would take some of the items off the top of the buffet. For instance, the big vase with flowers seems to overwhelm that small space. I would sit the vase on the floor to the left and remove the bottle.
The chairs on either side of the buffet hint at formal symmetry but the items are not perfectly symmetrical (as two matching lamp would be). I find that the items give a mixed design message as they are situated.
I think an asymmetrical arrangement, on the buffet, consisting of the lamp and candle with glass globes would feel more welcoming and it would also leave a small space where an object could be randomly placed without necessitating removal of something.
I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Best wishes.
Designing long stretches of wall like this with different hanging picture frames and mirrors looks very neat!
I would say a simple, light or dark colored rug with a lot of colorful frames and photos on the walls. that is, if the interior base is light colored like in the first photos