MAKING AN ENTRANCE Design hallways and landings that combine praticality and elegance.

The hallway in this VSP Interiors project creates a warm welcome through a cohesive colour palette, small-scale wallpaper and flagstone flooring. Similar hues used in the room beyond, including in the antique rug, achieve a harmonious flow between the two rooms.

MAKING AN

entrance

Set the tone for the rest of the home with hallways, staircases and landings that are not only practical but beautiful too

Ahallway is like a handshake. It is the introduction to a home and, as such, requires careful planning to achieve an optimal combination of functionality and inviting good looks. The same goes for staircases and landings, which, as connecting spaces, are often treated in a similar way to hallways.

As with any other room in the home, important factors to consider include storage, lighting, flooring, and wall and window treatments. However, specific concerns that arise may include the narrow width of a terraced townhouse hallway, limited natural light, and, of course, the way in which these areas are self-contained yet also function as important links to other parts of the house.

FLOORING MATTERS

Hallways, stairs and landings are hightraffic areas so ideally the flooring chosen should be non-slip, durable, stain-resistant and easy to clean as well as decorative.

For hallways, the best type of flooring includes stone, ceramic, porcelain, brick, unglazed terracotta or encaustic tiles. Wooden floorboards or parquet are a durable option, though may be less impervious to scuffs and scratches. Meanwhile natural flooring such as sisal is a softer, yet still durable, option and introduces interesting texture. Carpet is more prone to wear and tear and staining, however, a pattern combined with a darker colour will help with the latter.

“I put a huge doormat, inset into the floor, just inside the front door,” interior designer Charlotte Crosland says. “I love wood for a hall. It’s tough, lasts, looks good and is warm. You can do so many different things with it in terms of laying patterns, too. It’s good to put something strong on the stairs; I often use patterned sisal as it lasts a longer than carpet on an area that can get worn quite quickly.”

MAXIMISE SPACE

Grand halls can be delightful ‘living’ areas in themselves, perhaps furnished with a sofa or an armchair, a desk or table, and a chest or bookcase. Furniture can also be 

ABOVE The circular pendant light, table and rug echo the curve of the staircase and draw the eye inwards and upwards. Tom Raffield Urchin pendant ceiling light, £285; Trestle round dining table, £499, all John Lewis & Partners RIGHT When a hallway is large enough to feature a fireplace, it is worth making it the focus of the space. Fiorenza fireplace, £9,320, Chesneys

employed on a large landing to make sense of the space, Crosland explains: “Landings can be neglected. It is lovely to put a desk in front of a window, a work of art on the wall and a pair of lamps for extra lighting. It creates a room that can be used. A landing window is also a good place to fit beautiful curtains or blinds, making a stairwell more inviting.”

Built-in furniture can also be particularly useful on a landing, especially where there is less room. Desk nooks, window seats, storage benches and slim bookcases (with or without doors) are all excellent options. It may even be possible to fit a slender wardrobe onto a landing, or a fitted coat cupboard into a hallway.

Interior designer Robert Carslaw is a fan of jib doors concealing slim cupboards on touch-catches, whilst Crosland likes to make a feature of built-in storage, painting it to co-ordinate with wallpaper, or using brass mesh or grass fabric for the door panels and adding eye-catching handles.

DECORATIVE IMPACT

“Your hallway should shout out ‘I am home’ every time you step through the front door, that you are in your favourite and most comfortable place in the world,” says David Harris, design director at Andrew Martin. “It should also give your guests an insight into who you are. Choose colours that set off your favourite piece of art, textiles, photographs or whatever you choose to adorn your walls. Colour blocks are great and add real interest to a space. Using dark colours under the dado rail, with fresh white woodwork and light colours above, works really well to hide any scuffs and marks. It adds lots of light, too.”

Crosland likes using statement wallpapers in hallways. “It gives an amazing aesthetic and means you don’t have to hang any art, which a lot of people find quite hard in a hall or up the stairs,” she says. “A fabulous wallpaper does it all. I don’t think using light, bright colours is ever really going to open up a small, dark hall. I would go mad and do something wonderful, make it a big feature, with strong colours. The other thing you can do in a little hall is add panelling, with a mirror inset. It opens the hallway up and makes it feel wider.”

Sometimes it may be necessary to reinstate or add period details in a hallway or on a landing. “If you have no intrinsic character, then putting in a cornice, dado 

TOP Monochrome wallpaper and plain curtains adorn this long landing with a run of bespoke real bronze windows set within stone mullion openings, allowing light to permeate the space. Windows by Architectural Bronze Casements ABOVE Building a seat below a landing window provides a place to sit and admire the views without taking up space from what may be a narrow floor area. Alternatively, a carefully sized chest or blanket box pushed into the recess will serve the same purpose. Eloise slender ottoman, £630, Neptune

In this restoration of a 1920s listed villa, interior designer Nicky Dobree installed red-lacquered cupboards to form part of the cloakroom storage, acting as the transitioning space between the entrance hall and the living spaces beyond. The black-and-white marble floor creates a dramatic entrance, with each section framed by the black panelled doors and architraves that lead through into each room.

This welcoming hallway by Jeffreys Interiors, features warm colours layered with pattern and texture to set the tone for the rest of the house. To maximise function, a performance fabric by Osborne & Little has been used to upholster the bench cushion. A perfect place to sit and take off muddy boots.

LEFT Offset fresh white with bold use of colour such as these striking green tones for visual interest. Rovzen lamp, £165; Cornelia O’Donovan artwork, from £975; Handwoven jute pouffe, £145, all Birdie Fortescue BELOW This vintage, pink-glass chandelier from Renaissance London is the standout piece on the landing of this historic property, providing a counterpoint to the period features. rail, skirting boards and so on can give a boxy area definition,” says Carslaw. “It is also a good idea to change the internal doors if they are not attractive, which can make a huge difference to the look and feel of a hallway.”

LET IN THE LIGHT

In some halls, the only natural light may come via landing windows or through doorways to other rooms. To maximise light, fit window treatments that stack, fold or roll back well away from the glazing, and consider whether replacing solid doors with fully or partially glazed ones would enhance the overall space.

Hall lighting should be welcoming and lead the eye inwards and may even be necessary during the day. Owen Pacey, founder of Renaissance London, recommends a statement chandelier. “It could be an ornate, rococo-style, gilt piece or a contemporary sputnik globe,” he says. “You can use a chandelier in any space, no matter how big or small – just keep the design in proportion to the area. For example, if your hall is large, pendant lights need to be sized up or used in clusters. In smaller hallways, you can create an impact with an oversized chandelier or, where the ceiling is lower, a flush-style ceiling lamp.”

Staircases should always be well-lit, and have switches at the top and bottom of the stairs. When using ceiling downlights, Carslaw advises buying the type that insets the bulb into the ceiling by about 25mm, with a baffle to soften the light. “I’m not a fan of the airport runway look, so I tend not to use downlighters in rows,” he adds.

The architectural properties of an open staircase can be emphasised by lighting the underside, and low-voltage halogen lights can be installed in the string at either side of a wooden staircase.

ADJOINING ROOMS

As linking spaces, halls and landings need to work well with adjoining rooms when doorways are open. Crosland reassures that this is not normally difficult. “Generally they do work together,” she says. “I just make sure that whatever goes on the floor in each room works with what’s in the hall. The rest, I think, doesn’t really matter, because it’s the floor you see more than anything else.” It does depend on how many rooms are visible from the hall 

ABOVE Tongue-andgroove panelling adds protection, whilst a built-in bench provides useful storage as well as somewhere to sit when putting on or taking off footwear. Tegola Westminster traditional oak wood flooring, £49.99 a square metre, Carpetright RIGHT This bespoke sweeping staircase by Bisca is designed to highlight the Arts and Crafts feel of the home. or landing and, of course, some may prefer to carefully co-ordinate all room colours, whilst others may enjoy a contrast.

One element that is highly visible from a hallway is the staircase, always a key feature in a home. If it is not satisfactory, minor alterations can, says Carslaw, make an enormous difference. “I designed a home where there was an existing double-height staircase. We replaced the 1980s factorymade balusters and handrail with nineteenth-century spindles from a reclamation yard and a new, more suitable, handrail, and it looked like a period staircase. It completely transformed the space, at relatively little cost.” New, off-the-peg and bespoke balusters and handrails are also readily available or, as an alternative, Crosland recommends painting the staircase to refresh the look and add extra colour and interest.

STORAGE SOLUTIONS

In the absence of a separate boot room, lobby or cloakroom, the question is where to store coats and shoes, scarves and hats? “Shoes and coats are always a nightmare if you haven’t got a cloakroom,” says Crosland. “Putting in good-looking coat hooks helps. You need a well-made shoe rack directly below, with doors on the front, then it’s all neat and tidy in one area.”

Storage is best when shaped around what is stored, how much space it requires and how frequently it is accessed. Bespoke, built-in features (as discussed above) are always the most efficient when space is at a premium, but freestanding cupboards, sideboards, tables, benches, dressers and baskets are flexible and can make quite a statement. Umbrella stands, wicker hampers and boot racks are ideal for spacious, country-style halls, whilst in narrower townhouses a row of hooks and a slim shelf above will be neat and useful.

Somewhere to put post and keys (make sure the latter are at a safe distance from the front door) is essential, whether a bowl on a dresser or a shelf on brackets. To display books, pictures or delicate items, a shelf running the length of the hallway above head height can be invaluable and, for times when space is really hard to find, it is even possible to build storage drawers into the treads of a wooden staircase. n