How to Dress Up a Dull Hallway and Put It to Work

I’ve never thought of the hallway as a room that needs to be paid any special attention to. I mean, it’s right in front of the the entry door and its only purpose is to accommodate the army of shoes, the umbrellas and a jacket or two. So how much of design/decor attention should it get?

Well, a lot. I learned that when I moved in with my boyfriend and when his sister (a fashion designer who is a little obsessed with orderly interior design) held me a lecture on it. Apparently, the hallway is the space where you welcome the people who are coming into your home and make the first impression as a host. How it’s designed and decorated, how it smells and how it’s illuminated matters a lot if you want to present yourself as a ‘keen on order and appearance’ type of person. And I thought all it needed was to be just clean.

So, after she talked about the importance of dressing up the hallway and making some very interesting metaphors about it, I decided I was going to take matters in my own hands and beautify this space a little. Since my hallway is rather small and doesn’t have a window that will let natural light in, I thought it would be best not to overcrowd it with stuff. I have one small armoir for shoes which is perfectly closed and doesn’t display the shoe mess, so the next best thing that could fit there and act as both a decorative and purposeful piece of furniture, was an entrance hall table.

The entrance hall table is mainly small in size, designed to fit in small corners and spaces, like the hallway. It’s the type of table you use so you can have somewhere to place your keys and your sunglasses when you come in, and sometimes it’s the place where you check your make up before leaving the house. It’s a convenient table, especially if it comes with a drawer or two to hold the ‘last minute saviour’ things like a lipstick, for example. The material of which the table is made also matters; you want it to complement the overall appearance of the space, not to disturb it. Think wood, something like pine for example.

Decorating the hallway is the next and probably more important step. Whatever style of entrance hall table you choose, decorating it means giving it a dose of appeal, not overcrowding it with stuff which will only make it dysfunctional and hard to clean. Take a look at the following styling ideas that can make your hallway more stylish and functional.

Flowers everywhere

I always thought that the living room is the ideal space for placing a vase with fresh flowers. And I still think so, but after researching a little I found some really cool hallway decors that have that small dash of colour thanks to a nice vase of flowers. This is especially good if your hallway is all in one colour, or a combo of complementing nuances that create some kind of monotony. For example, a space in all black, grey and white would benefit so much from a vase with pink flowers, or a pot with greenery.

A mirror

The mirror isn’t as much of a decorative element as it is a necessity in the hallway. There are a few things to consider when choosing a mirror: the style (so that it complements the table) and the size. You don’t want it to be too big because it would suffocate the space and neither too small, as it wouldn’t serve its purpose.

An umbrella stand

I kind of love umbrellas, and I often use them as a style element for my outfits. Especially in autumn and early spring, when you never know when it will start raining and ruin your day. So naturally, an umbrella stand is a must for me. I looked for something fancy and stylish that besides being a stand for my umbrellas, will also be a decorative element with a suitable colour and shape. As an addition to the whole hallway ambiance it really came as the perfect piece to wrap it all up.