Woman`s Day shares tips that will help not only visually expand the space of a small hallway, but also make it as comfortable as possible. And with minimal costs.
In most apartments, the entrance hall is the narrowest and darkest room. It is necessary to get rid of the feeling of “crypt”, and for this – to eliminate the mezzanine and remove bulky unnecessary furniture.
Niches with illumination and insertion of mirrors, stained-glass windows, through openings like false windows make the space more airy and light. When choosing finishing materials, give up opaque textures such as wood, stone, bulk plaster. Do not use wall panels either – they “eat up” precious centimeters. For small hallways, the best option is high-quality vinyl or non-woven wallpaper.
With the help of lighting, you can radically change the perception of a small hallway. In addition to the traditional overhead light, use sconces, niches, shelves, floor lamps – all this will make the room more interesting. And surfaces that reflect light, such as mirrors, stained-glass windows, stretch glossy ceilings, help to visually enlarge the space.
For those apartments where the renovation has already been completed and changes in the wiring are not expected, we can advise such a novelty of the market as sound lamps. They light up at the sound of your steps, illuminating the space in the hallway. At the same time, no special devices are required for the installation of these lamps – you just fix them in the right places (the lamps are powered by batteries). The built-in light intensity regulator allows you to use them at night as a replacement for a night light.
A small space can be visually expanded with the help of color. Use for basic surfaces – walls, floor, ceiling – light colors: beige, white, cappuccino, gray. If you want brightness, paint part of the open space in a contrasting color. But it is better to make the ceiling white in any case – this will give the effect of more volume to your hallway.
Competent installation of flooring can visually make even the cramped hallway much more spacious. The whole secret is to deliberately take the floor covering used in the hallway outside of it – for example, “enter” in this way into the territory of the kitchen or living room. You can also do this: lay a carpet runner that smoothly passes from the hallway to the room. The idea is as follows – the gaze of everyone entering the hallway is directed more towards the floor, therefore, the larger the floor area in the hallway, the larger the room as a whole seems. And the “tongue” that forms the floor covering of the hallway in the room can be interestingly decorated stylistically, which will give your home an additional zest. For example, you can arrange a podium in the hallway, raising the floor level by 10 centimeters, or arrange the floor joint in the form of a semicircle, a broken line, etc.
A wardrobe in a small hallway will be appropriate only if it is installed in a niche. If your hallway is a narrow elongated corridor, do not use oversized furniture designed for storing off-season items: if the footage is small, the room will look like a trash warehouse. It is better to fence off a dressing room in one of the rooms for this purpose. And in the hallway, your motto should be: “Here is only the most necessary!”
Since the area of the room does not allow the use of oversized equipment, limit yourself to small-sized items. The most laconic furniture option is hangers in the form of a plank-plank mounted directly on the wall. Hooks are mounted on its outer surface, and the inner one protects the wall from clothes. If you have children, attach the hooks at the height of the clothes. Do not forget about the floor stand for umbrellas (it takes up very little space), a shelf for your phone and hats. And remember, the more large and the fewer small things in sight, the more voluminous the room is perceived.