The hallway is a traditionally forgotten room when it comes to prioritising a home refurbishment. It can often be dismissed as a purely functional space and a mere conduit to other rooms where the magic happens. But in a very obvious sense, the hallway is the first, last and everything of the home. It is the first space we see when entering a home, the last space we see when leaving a home, and the space we probably see the most when spending time in a home and moving between the various rooms.
Therefore, refurbishing a hallway is an opportunity to make a statement and an impact when a person enters your home, and a chance to provide a great first impression. The hallway can be the centrepiece of your interior scheme and a chance to create flow and connectivity, and in a very simple way. So here are the key considerations when refurbishing the hallway of a traditional home:
Colour
As a link to other rooms and an entrance space, the colour you choose for your hallway can be very influential, and you have many choices and options.
- Bold – Using pastel colours you can make an immediate impact
- Theme – You can choose a colour that links to other rooms and provides the start of a theme
- Guide – You can combine dark and light to guide people upstairs or to the kitchen or living room
- Organic – You can bring the outside in, or complement house plants and greenery by using organic shades
- Half and half – You can use dado rails to have contrasting colours
- Mood – Depending on how much natural light you have in the hallway you can use colours to reflect a mood, such as mimicking sunlight and using neutral colours like grey or pale green to bring a calming but homely effect.
Space
Narrow hallways need bright colours and less artwork to provide an illusion of space, while larger hallways perhaps need darker colours and more wall clutter to make them cosier. But usually we want to make hallways appear bigger, and we can create space by having smaller skirting boards and thinner architrave around the doors. In a period home this enables you to enjoy the period detail while at the same time providing balance, as these smaller features extend the wall space in between.
Detail
Ceiling mouldings are a great way to introduce a subtle sense of style, particularly if you paint them in a contrasting colour to the walls. You can also introduce period detail which matches a staircase or the flooring. Hallways also tend to have several doors all facing outwards and covering more square feet than any other feature. So why not go all out on period doors to match other detail? And make sure you have a consistency of design period and with details such as door handles and light switches. There are more of those than you think also.
Woodwork
Finally, if you have natural wood skirting boards or architrave around doors and windows, why not make the most of these by leaving them natural and having plain, white walls? This stripped back look will make a feature of these period details, and you can stain or varnish them to really draw the eye. Natural wood skirtings and architrave are an unblemished, traditional feature that many homeowners would kill for, so if you’ve got them, exaggerate them.
There are various ways you can combine colours and space with period mouldings to design an impactful hallway and in a cost-effective way, so check out our range of period mouldings and speak to our experts about your hallway refurbishment today.