How to decorate your hallway

Hallway
Natural light, flowers, antiques and a rug: a beautiful hallway
© Farrow & Ball

Your hallway sets the tone for your home and creates that all-important first impression, so make it welcoming. Think colour, light, photos and quirky conversation pieces… and start with these simple design basics.

1.Greet and meet

Remember this is the room that greets you and your loved ones, so make it cosy. Try walking through the hallway and imagine you’re seeing it for the first time. What do you notice? What does the hallway say about you? Or – what do you want it to say about you? Use this as the starting point for your re-design.

  • Glamorous - Black/Pink

    2. Be bold and colourful

    Unlike the kitchen or bedroom, you only pass through the hallway briefly, so you can afford to make a statement with a busy rug (like the Calicut rug, £895 from Oka) or bold wallpaper (try Glamorous wallpaper, £35 from Graham & Green). Pale colours will make a poky hall feel roomy, but be wary of using white on the walls – it will attract grime and greasy handprints in a high traffic area.

  • ODDA Storage Unit With Clothes Tree

    3. Create optical illusions

    Hang a mirror horizontally to increase the sense of length, or vertically for ceiling height. Painting the short end wall with intense paint colour will also add depth. The Beauchamp gilt mirror (£90) from John Lewis will make your hall seem longer.

  • 92 x 275cm Deep Red Wool Runner-TF113

    4. Hang it

    Take advantage of your hallway’s abundant wall space and hang fun prints by 55 Max like this smiling girl (£325) and photo frames. This is an area where people wait so choose pictures that can be viewed close-up. Be wary of placing expensive artwork in a narrow hallway – it’s likely to be bumped and scratched in the passing traffic. Get inspired by our gallery on creating wall art.

  • Giro Floor Lamp

    5. Make a feature

    There’s unlikely to be a lot of furniture in the hall, so create a feature item. A fancy hat rack like the odda storage unit with tree hat stand from Ikea (£99), can become a quirky conversation piece. If there’s space, put a chair near the door. Great to to rest your feet while waiting for late-coming kids or hubbies.

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