Room by room: The hallway

The hallway

This is probably a space you didn't think I would cover as it isn't technically a room . . . its a space that takes us from room to room and often sadly neglected. It is also often part of the entrance to your house and is the "room" that sets the tone of how your guests will feel about coming into your house. Is your entrance hallway inviting, warm and welcoming?  How does it "feel"? Have a look at your entrance hall and see how others might view it.

Lets focus first on the hall nearest your entrance. What makes it inviting . . . do guests feel that this is a home, a place they want to keep entering.

I think entrance hallway need to be neat and tidy (even if you have children). If it is a place to keep shoes, why not add attractive baskets for the shoes, the dollar store often has baskets that are inexpensive.

If it is a place to dump the keys and bags, add a small table, bowl for the keys and interesting hooks on the wall for storage.

If the front door is dull, paint it with a bright colour or add a curtain across the window to add privacy and colour. Have you thought of a stain glass window? I love stain-glass but it can be very expensive. I have seen larger stickers that you can buy that cover the window and give the impression of stain-glass.

Why not wallpaper the walls, a lamp by the front door . . . how about fresh flowers or a bowl of potpourri to make the entrance smell nice. A pot plant, a mirror . . . there are many things we can do to the entrance hallway that will make it inviting but still remain practical.


Halls that are away from the front door can be dark and dingy and we hardly every stop and have a look at the hallway but there are ways of jazzing it up to make it a more inviting space that aren't expensive. 


Here are some ideas:
  • brighten up with colour - mine hallway is yellow
  • consider wallpaper
  • add a colourful and cheery runner
  • add photos or artwork on the walls . . . it is often the place to add the family photos, look for interesting frames to make them stand out
  • add a mirror or two to make it look bigger
  • find an interesting light-shade or add lighting along the floor (like they have in planes)
  • add a lamp on the hall table that creates atmosphere in the hall way in the evenings
  • create a theme, perhaps seaside or country
  • if very dark, add a skylight
If the hall is wide enough, think about adding a bookcase such as the one above. Perhaps a hall table for more storage such as for shoes and a place for a lamp and other bits and pieces. Below are some ideas I found on Pinterest, how about a blackboard for the children or an "organisational station" (I hadn't thought of that idea). 


There are many things you can do in the hallway that will turn it from dull and boring to interesting and place you enjoy walking through.

If you have enjoyed this one, please check out others in my Room by Room series:



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Comments

  1. Our official entryway is not usable at this point in time (from the outside - on the inside it is quite nice I think because the hallway is lined with bookshelves - which I think always makes a house feel welcoming!)... It is something that we need to seriously work on before it will be able to be used though because of the outside aspect - it is a gathering place for mosquitoes and we've been storing our outdoor table out there for the time being. However our other entryway is even more difficult to make inviting and nice, because it takes a person through our workshop before entering the house. We have done some work to try to make it nicer - we built a rustic shoe shelf to help organise our shoes better... and we're in the process of building a storage unit to help store away handbags and other bits and pieces that tend to hang around our entrance. Hopefully in the long run when we can do some more work on our entrances, they will be nice and inviting. :)

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    1. Because you aren't on a suburban street, your front door isn't quite as important, but I can see your dilemma with where it is and how dark it can get. These things do take time, as they say "Rome wasn't built in a day!!".

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  2. What fun ideas! I love them all Jo! We only have a short hallway in our home but it does have an embroidered Bible verse on the wall as well as a small shelf with pictures and a tiny bouquet. Have a lovely week :)

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    1. Hallways can be odd places, we only have one and it isn't long but enough room to hang some small paintings plus a bookcase at the end. Thankyou, almost the weekend for me!!

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  3. Those are nice ideas... there are so many ways to brighten our homes and make them areas of blessing. Thank you for the reminders... and the ideas. :)

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    1. And many of the ideas don't need to cost very much which is always a plus!!

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  4. Thanks Jo for sharing this with us at Good Morning Mondays. Hallways are important as they always lead somewhere and our is rather narrow, but we have a beautiful mirror that used to be my mums hanging there and it adds depth. Blessings

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    1. I have a lovely large Indigenous painting at the end of my hall, colourful and interesting to look at (and protected from the harsh sun so the painting won't get damaged). I think people forget the hall because they never really look at it!!

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  5. Great ideas...thanks for sharing! I love seeing how other people decorate spaces, it is definitely inspiring as I try to improve our own home.

    I've pinned your post, thanks for sharing at #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup ...hope to see you again this week!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this post - there are so many ideas, I found things I would love to try that aren't expensive but will make a big differences. Thanks for stopping by:)

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