LOVE YOUR HALL
Kate Watson-smyth shares her expert tips for creating a beautiful entrance
You must ask and answer these six questions before you start decorating any room if it is to reflect the style and suit the needs of those who use it: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? We all know about the importance of first impressions. The entrance hall is the first thing you see when you step into a house but, conversely, this is the last place you should actually decorate because everything comes in and out this way. Many is the beautifully, and expensively, painted hall I have seen that has been battered and scuffed by incoming furniture and outgoing builders. Not to mention the trashing of the stair carpet.
This is the space that announces the people who live there. But both residents and visitors will only be passing through, so dare to go dramatic. Halls are often dark windowless spaces, so you can embrace that and go big on colour. If there are lots of doors then it’s a good idea to paint the doors and all the woodwork the same colour as the walls, which will make the area look calmer and more spacious. It’s also less distracting to the eye than outlining all the exits in white. Similarly, if you have coloured walls and coloured carpet then don’t paint the woodwork white. Match it to either the walls or the carpet for a seamless look. This will also make the room look bigger, as you won’t be outlining the edges.
To create a light and airy space (as far as is possible in a windowless corridor), think about wallpapering the ceiling or using a strong colour up there and leaving the walls pale. If your hall is narrow, bring the colour down over the top 30cm of the walls to create the illusion that the space is wider. Mirrors hung opposite doors will grab the light and throw it back out. A narrow hall won’t have room for furniture, so pick a gorgeous radiator and consider putting a shelf over it for flowers and mail.
If you don’t have a hall but walk straight into a room, then you need to create a spot for putting down your keys and hanging up your coat so you don’t end up chucking it on the sofa. In fact, whatever the size and shape of your space, storage really is key. There will be bikes. And coats. And shoes. And bags. Make a plan and then make a house rule about returning things to their rightful place. Enforce it.
For a practical yet contemporary finish, try painting the lower half of the walls in gloss and the top in the same colour in matt. If you don’t have a dado rail, another trick is to tile the bottom half of the wall and put a narrow finishing tile along the top. This will allow you to bring in the pattern of a wallpaper in a tougher, scuff-proof material that can be wiped clean.
Underfoot, floorboards or tiles are the best (and easiest to clean) option for the hall. Patterned tiles will add the all-important wow factor when you open the door, while large grey tiles will look like pavement, and who wants to come home to that? If you live in a flat, try patterned carpet – it will hide the dirt and still bring the wow.
However, if you’ve made the decision to carpet your hall, or any room come to that, the choices don’t end there. Let’s assume you have an idea of the colour you would like, the big question remains: what sort of carpet do you need? After all, the requirements for a hardworking hallway are very different from the luxurious, soft feel you might want under your bare feet in the bedroom. Work out what you need before you go anywhere near the shop and the smooth sales talk. So, it’s back to those six questions. Who is using that space the most? What are they doing in there? Will they be in shoes or slippers? When will they be in there? Are they passing through or staying put? Where are you carpeting? That one’s easy. But why are you looking for a carpet? Does the existing one not go with the decor? Your answers will determine the wear and tear to factor in so you can choose the right sort of carpet and work out how you need to budget for it.
QUICK HALL CHECKLIST
• Before you begin, remember to make a note of how you feel when you step through the front door. Now make a note of how you actually want to feel when you step through the door. In other words: welcome, calm and relaxed. And then you need to think about the colours and accessories that make you feel that way.
• What is the first thing you see? If it’s a staircase then paint or carpet it in a colour that makes you happy when you see it – and that probably isn’t an oatmeal twist. Pattern hides dirt, but if it makes you nervous, paint the bannisters instead, as a way of introducing some colour.
• If you have a view through to another room, hang a gorgeous painting there. Or paint that wall or room a joyous colour.
• Storage is crucial. There probably isn’t room for everyone to have all their coats and shoes in the hall. Give everyone two hooks – one for coats and one with a basket for shoes. Put a shelf over the top for a box of hats and gloves.
• Painting an entrance hall white won’t make it lighter, but a pale colour will help to make it feel airy – paint woodwork and doors the same colour as the walls to create a sense of calm.
• Consider making the ceiling the fifth wall: paint it a bold colour or hang a dramatic wallpaper to draw attention away from the narrow space.
• Add texture with tough embossed wallpaper on the lower half of the wall, or gloss paint. You can use a contrasting or matching colour as the different finishes will add interest.
• Mirrors are vital – not just for the last-minute ‘spinach in teeth’ check, but to bounce any available light around.
A QUICK GUIDE TO TYPES, TEXTURES AND COLOURS OF CARPET
• A twist, or cut pile, is the most hardwearing of them all. A twist is made, no surprises here, by twisting the strands of yarn tightly together to make it tougher. It’s more resistant to crushing than a loop, which is why it is good for stairs and places where there is no furniture.
• A Berber, or loop, carpet is perfect for high-traffic or busy areas. Take care if you have pets though – if they pull a loop the whole thing can start to unravel.
• Velvet, or plush, is – as the name suggests – softer and more luxurious underfoot, and is made from a cut pile. This is perfect for a bedroom or dressing room.
• Once you have worked out the type of carpet you need, you get to the fun bit – choosing the colour and design. Now, patterned carpets have had a bad rap over the years, but whether it’s a discreet fleck or a full-on flower explosion, a pattern will cover dirty marks better than plain. However, choosing a pattern may mean you need to buy more to match it across joins or on curving staircases.
• Plain is always classic, so you have to decide if you are going to play it safe with a traditional neutral or if you are going to push your design boat out and go for something more dramatic. After all, you can always change the walls to suit.
• Perhaps you can have a dramatic patterned carpet and keep the walls and window dressings plain (as a change from the more traditional patterned walls and plain carpet).