Photos By: Unsplash

Our hallways are the first thing that we see when we come into our homes. They are the last thing that we see when we close the door. We keep important things, like our coats, shoes, bags and keys in the hall, and yet we pay very little attention to them. You might spend time and money on other areas of your house, and yet see this important space as little more than a dumping ground, especially if you have a busy family who is always in and out. Your hallway, however, doesn’t just welcome you home. It also gives visitors – and even people looking in from your doorstep – their first impression of your house, and as we know, poor first impressions can be hard to recover from. Making your hallway look more expensive can help you to make a better first impression, as well as giving yourself and other members of your household a more luxurious welcome. After you have tidied up, and added coat hooks and shoe racks, here’s a look at eight of the best ways to make your hallway look more expensive.

Start at the Door

Your door is your first chance to make a statement. You barely pay it any attention, but you use it every time you enter or leave your home, you can see it from the hall, and passers-by can see it from the kerb. A great front door, both inside and out, can make your whole home more attractive, and more interesting. If your front door is currently the same as every other house on your street, it’s time to make a change. Think colour, consider a vintage door, or try a totally different design with unique elements. Then, keep it clean.

Create a Statement Staircase

At one end of your hallway, there is a door, and at the other end (or off to the side) there is typically a staircase. Your staircase isn’t just a way to get up the stairs. It takes up a big part of your home, and it’s the perfect place to add some glamour and luxury, and considering most stairways are similar, it’s a great way to stand out and make an impression. Think spiral staircases with an impressive balustrade—modern options like a stainless steel and glass balustrade can instantly elevate the space and give it a sleek, high-end finish. Consider using tiles instead of carpet, and even adding fun wallpaper to the sides of the steps to create images when looking head-on. If you are looking to add a new staircase to your home, look no further than Majestic Stairs. Majestic Stairs can fit new staircases to suit your home and décor and add a little luxury to your home for a reasonable cost, without too much disruption to your life.

Add Plants and Flowers to Your Décor

Plants and flowers are one of the cheapest ways to make your hallway look more expensive. Add house plants and large potted plants to your hallway, and buy fresh flowers for shelves and sideboards.

Utilise Shelving

It’s easy for hallways to become messy. If you are in the habit of just dumping your bag and coat when you get in, adding shelves can give you a better way to accessorise, but also make it much easier to keep your hall tidy.

Use Mirrors to Open Up the Space

If you’ve got a wide hallway, you can add shelving, shoe racks, hooks and large plant pots, while still having an open and airy space. But, if your hall is relatively narrow, adding furniture and accessories might make the space feel very closed in and small, which never looks expensive. Using light colours on your floor and walls, with pops of colour in your accessories will work well, but well-positioned large mirrors, especially near your door and windows to reflect light, can also help.

Don’t Be Scared to Add Personality

Often, when we try to make a room look more expensive, we avoid taking risks. We stick to classic designs and copy things that we’ve seen on Instagram. Adding personality helps your hall to become unique and interesting, which in turn is expensive looking. Add photos in frames, artwork that you like and accessories and colours that make you happy.

Use Lights to Create Drama

If you are worried that your hallway is becoming dull, add lighting. A large overhead light can create a focal piece, and lamps can help you to create mood and atmosphere.

Avoid Overcrowding

Trying to do it all can be a mistake. If your hallway is tiny, trying to add too much, even on the walls, can make it overcrowded. Choose pieces carefully, be smart with storage and make sure you can keep things tidy effectively.

There are many advantages to a tidy and attractive hallway, and often, it’s not that hard to achieve. Making a few small changes can make a world of difference.

Photo By: Ellen Grasso & Sons, LLC

It can be easy to forget about your hallways at home. A part of the house you’re unlikely to spend a lot of time in. Somewhere we often pass through without much thought, simply on our way from one room to another, or going upstairs. However, hallways and staircases are an important part of any home, and there is a lot you can do with your them to make the space feel more than just something connecting rooms. To help you think about your hallways and stairs in a new light, we’ve put together a few ideas to hopefully provide some inspiration on how you can enhance your hallways and staircase at home.

Photos and Art

Hallways are a great space to show your taste in art or photos without having to worry about what you put on the wall clashing with furniture in your living room or bedroom. The colour schemes in hallways and going up staircases is often quite neutral, and this provides a great blank canvas for you to fill the space with photos and art. One thing to remember when hanging photos or pieces of art on the wall is not only how you layout the frames but the size as well. Having a consistent frame size, with one or two variations, will help the space feel connected and thought out.

Photo By: Method Development

Lighting

Making sure the lighting is right in your hallways is really important. Often hallways are in the centre of a house and have as such have few or no windows to bring in any natural light from outside. This is why the colour schemes used are often light and neutral to help maximise the light available. Because of a lack of natural light, getting good artificial light can really enhance your hallway. Installing a feature light such as a modern chandelier or integrating smaller lights throughout your hallway can both work well and create a really nice atmosphere.

Flooring

Simply by updating the flooring in your hallway, you can make the space feel new and revitalised. There are lots of options when it comes to how you can do this. If you have wood floors you can have them sanded down and varnished to give the wood a new lease of life. Alternatively, you could add a rug, which like pictures and art can help reflect your style. If you’re looking to have a new floor installed it’s worth considering vinyl flooring. Not only does it come in a huge variety of styles and laying patterns, but it works really well in hallways as it’s durable and very easy to clean. This makes it ideal for a space that encounters high foot traffic, and also where people may walk across with their shoes on directly from outside.

Photo By: Patrick Schmitt, designer Inc.

Painting Your Stairs

The staircase is often a key feature of the hallway, and it can seem like there isn’t a lot you can do with it. If you are open to the idea, stripping the staircase back to the wood and then paining your stairs can look amazing. There are lots of different designs you can paint onto your stairs, but one of the most popular is a graduated paint fade. This is where you start with one colour at the bottom of your stairs, possibly a dark blue, and fade the paint using lighter and lighter shades of blue all the way up.

Add Somewhere to Sit

If you have the space, adding a little chair or love seat can make a really lovely addition to your hallway. Not only does it give people somewhere to sit and take their shoes off or put them on, but it can help fill out what can feel like an empty space at times. Often the only furniture in a hallway can be a small table or cabinet, so adding a chair can work really well. However, if you don’t have the space for this, it’s often best not to force it. Adding a chair when the space isn’t big enough can make your hallway look cluttered. An alternative would be adding a bench which takes up less space.

Hopefully, these ideas have shown you that there is a lot you can do with your hallway to help it feel more a part of your home. Some of these ideas may require professionals but others you can achieve on your own if DIY is something you enjoy.