- 1
Adding a period vignette expands the decor in a plain hallway.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
Break up a wide hallway with multiple doors into separate areas, or otherwise create individual identities for each. Outside each doorway, place a console table, a decorative dresser, a chair of appropriate size or even a tall, narrow bookcase along the wall. This concept was a functional arrangement in elegant homes when servants brought morning tea trays to bedrooms and needed a place to set them down while opening the doors. Although few enjoy this luxury anymore, such an arrangement will still break up a wide hallway, making it appear less like a hotel corridor. Each vignette can also be enhanced with mirrors, pictures, lamps, books, flowers, plants and other ornaments and still retain its function. - 2
Warm or cool lighting sets the tone for an exhibit of art objects.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Create a personal art gallery in a long and wide hallway. Art is very individualized and can range from a formal series of similar posters or prints in matching frames, to a casual grouping of family photos or children's creations. Floating shelves aptly displays sculpture and slab-like pedestals, called plinths, can utilize a collection of art objects. The function of a gallery is to effectively display art, so careful attention should be paid to lighting. A centralized row of track lights can be focused on individual pieces, or singly mounted frame lamps will highlight special pieces. A small chair or two, or even a narrow bench, allows a viewer the chance to take in the mini gallery displayed on an opposite wall. - 3
Books provide decor either alone or when enhanced by plants and kitsch.Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
Put a wide hallway to both functional and decorative use by turning it into a color-coordinated library. Install shelving or a series of matching bookcases along one wall and fill them with books and/or matching color objects. Make the shelves deep enough to accommodate larger books, or limit displays to paperbacks and keep larger books elsewhere. Lighting needs to be sufficient for book selection, and significantly so for actual reading. Colorful book spines serve as their own decor, with complementary ornaments and collectibles to match them or contrast to add variety. Bookcases can be free standing, or arranged around and over doorways. Any hallway windows can also double as a reading nook when a window seat is added. - 4
Mirrors and glass give the illusion of space and openness.Digital Vision/Photodisc/Getty Images
Enhancement with mirrors lightens rooms or halways, especially if there is a lack of windows. A full-length mirror on a blind end wall can be very effective, and smaller ones along the sides -- perhaps joined by other wall décor -- function to repeat and multiply the available light. If there is a window on one side of the hall, hang a mirror of similar size directly opposite it to create the effect of two windows.
previous post