5 Simple Tips to Make Your Hallway More Inviting to Guests
You want your home to look smart and on-trend; you also need it to be functional, practical and safe.
You also want it to be a place where people enjoy being, including your guests. The first space they will come across as they enter your home is usually the hallway. Even if your lounge is stylish, your kitchen designer and your bathroom to die for, frankly if the hallway is cluttered, dingy and dark, then the impact is lost.
Balustrade Components understand the need for the hallway to be stylish, yet functional, welcoming yet practical. But how do incorporate all these elements into a room through which traffic constantly flows – including muddy boots, wellies, coats, school bags and more?
#1 Lighten the colour
The hallway is a busy place; it is the space you will pass through several times a day (and possibly night time too) and so we tend to this practically about the space, which is a good thing.
Unfortunately, that makes us think darker colour for the walls because this will surely hide the sins of muddy splashes, dog and cat hair, scuff marks and so on.
In some ways yes, but in most homes, the hallway is a small space and in desperate need of light. This means being brave – but you will soon see that your fears were ill-founded – and opt for a lighter colour.
We are loving the brightness and warmth of duck egg blue, or if you are unsure, opt for a pleasant biscuit-beige.
#2 Let there be (more) light!
Now you have taken the plunge with a lighter colour, you need to make sure you add as much light into the space as possible. As you would expect, we have some great suggestions;
• Glass balustrades – a balustrade is essential on a staircase and having an open balustrade design makes the hallway look and feel bigger. However, it is an essential safety feature so doing away with it completely is not an option. Glass infills are the perfect option. Robust and strong, they make the perfect safety barrier as well as being a reflective material that bounces light around your hallway.
Frankly, they also add the wow factor to a space that can be sadly lacking in design and stylish features.
• Chandelier lighting – the chandelier design has made a comeback in recent years and the reasons are obvious. With LED bulbs and cut glass or acrylic, when you flick the switch, large swathes of your hallway as bathed in light. This is not only adding more light to a sometimes dark space, but it is also a safety aspect to it too.
#3 De-clutter
Coast, boots, wellies, dog leads, school bags, the Wi-Fi router, you name it, anything that cannot find a permanent home anywhere else tends to have a designated spot in the hallway. Unfortunately, this means that in a small space, it can soon begin to look cluttered and untidy.
The time has come to de-clutter and find spaces and storage for things that really don’t need to be in the hallway. The one aspect of a hallway that can really lift it, is to de-clutter the floor.
You need practical flooring solutions in the hallway and by not having things on the floor, it deceives the eye into thinking that the space is bigger than it is.
#4 Bespoke storage
Following neatly on from de-cluttering is getting the storage sorted in the hallway. It is the one space in the house that if you have the budget, spending it on bespoke storage solutions is well worth it.
We have seen some great ideas and love the idea of taking up wall space for family members to have their own open locker space. Shoes go in the bottom box (no more ‘lost shoe hunts’ in the morning!), pegs for coats and jackets, shelving for school bags etc. and also a small board for notes and messages that are important.
Or, if that sounds too fussy, investing in a bench for the hallway, complete with ‘hidden’ chest like compartment to place things in, is certainly worth looking at.
#5 Add a mirror
As well as glass infills on the balustrade, adding a mirror or two (or more!) is the ideal solution to throwing light about a space.
Opt for the biggest mirror your walls can hold for an effect that elongates the space.
How would you make your hallway look and feel bigger?
Balustrade Components is an online retailer of components, fixings and glass panels that are perfect for creating balustrades for stairs, balconies and so on. Glass balustrades are perfect in any hallway, timeless and elegant, complementing any interior design scheme.
XOXO
Debbie
