There is really no point in trying to make a small hallway look larger. It is far better to indulge in a little Alice in Wonderland play on scale, colour and pattern. Think of a small hallway as the lining on a Paul Smith suit – a contained bit of eccentricity and over-adornment that serves to enhances the space and calm of the adjoining areas.
Rita Konig is a strong proponent of this approach: she decorated the now-iconic tiny hallway of her Manhattan apartment with black Perroquet wallpaper from Nina Campbell and accessorised with some straw hats, giving a gentle nod to English Country House style.
{image credit Rita Konig}
Taking Rita’s advice on the matter, I went dark with the hallway of my first home and papered it in Cole & Son’s Cow Parsley wallpaper. I made the leap with some trepidation, worried as many people are that the hallway would feel dark and claustrophic, but the second I saw the wallpaper hung I knew it was the right decision. I still think it looks great although now, after a year of indoctrination by Abigail Ahern, I wish I’d painted all of the woodwork and the ceiling dark. I think it would have set off the paper much better, created a more dramatic and indulgent space. (Excuse the lack of styling, this photo was taken just after the decorator left.)
The hallway in my new flat is a less than capacious 3 metres by 1 metre and has five doors leading off it (including our front door which is a vinyl panelled high security steel door for some inexplicable reason). It looks uninteresting, sad and grubby.
I’ve decided to go for paper again and have bought two rolls of Catherine Martin’s Lace design in Aniseed. I first saw this paper on Urban Kaleidoscope and knew immediately it was what I’m looking for. Glamorous, indulgent, over-the-top and black, it is exactly right for the space.
{image credit Urban Kaleidoscope}
Sadly and surprisingly it has now been discontinued and so I had to buy up some of the remaining stock immediately, even though I am on a decorating embargo for reasons relating to plumbing and finances. In the end it cost an eyewatering £180 a roll once customs and shipping from Australia were taken into account but the great thing about a tiny hallway with lots of doors like mine, is that you only need two rolls.
I am going to change the horrible vinyl moulded doors to real wood ones, and paint all the woodwork black – I’m thinking railings by Farrow & Ball at the moment. I want to lacquer the ceiling to bounce the light around (anyone know what to use for this?). We have a mirrored wall at the end of the hall which is excellent for making the place look larger, although it is slightly disorientating the first time you see it.
Unlike houses, flats tend to have one hallway which has to double as both an entrance hall and a landing. It can be a challenge to create somewhere to dump umbrellas and keys and remove muddy shoes, which works equally as a soft, cosy landing to pad through in the evening. I’ve decided to go for carpet, to make the hallway cohesive with the bedrooms rather than the wooden floored sitting room. I’m reasoning that even if it gets muddy, in such a small space it won’t cost much to replace. The carpet will, I think, be a pale lavender-grey as this will work with our upholstered bed. In a flat as small as mine continuity of flooring is crucial, it creates flow and will prevent the separately decorated rooms from jarring.
It’s going to be some time before I can hang the paper unfortunately but I can’t wait and it’s great to have one room fully decorated in my head at least.
Actually -Abigail just mentioned in a post that a car paint sprayer is the best way to get a flawless finish. I’m fairly certain that spraying the walls in layers is the way most people ‘lacquer’ them for decoration nowadays. Obviously if you wanted to use proper lacquering/japanning techniques that’s a far more technical and expensive process and i imagine less people would be inclined to use that method for walls/ceilings. However the depth of colour is meant to be far superior. If you do want to look into that then from all the research i’ve done on it, this guy seems to be the person to contact: http://www.lacquerstudios.com/html/profileandpress/index.html
I believe that Jackie Astier sprayed actual car paint on her ceilings which gives them a wonderful reflective, pearlescent look which you can see here:
http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/interiors/jackie-astier-home
- but if you wanted to do it the cheapest easiest way, then i’d imagine spraying many layers of a normal paint translucent colour, then finishing with a transparent wax and also a varnish, would be the way to go to achieve the depth of colour.
Hope that helps! I’m probably going to be attempting something similar on my ceilings sometime in the summer so i’ll let you know how i get on with that!
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Oh wow that’s so useful thank you Selina! I will have to look into it. I was wondering whether gloss paint or a gloss coating would do it.
Abigail used to take her furniture to the garage but the man would only let her use Vauxhall colours! Hilarious.
My pleasure! I was wondering about gloss paint too. I’m not sure how well that would work with building up layers of translucent colour -but i have seen it mentioned online somewhere as an option for a decent lacquering effect -so might be worth trying on a bit of mdf with a tester pot to see what kind of results it gives? Good luck!
Selina recently posted..Bedroom: dreams… and decisions?
I love the wallpaper you chose! I think the space will look wonderful with a bit of elbow grease. Might I suggest mounting a shallow wall-hung cabinet on the wall across from the radiator? It would give you extra storage and a place to sit a vase of flowers or toss your keys without taking up visual space along the floor. I’ve seen people do it with IKEA cabinets since they’re so inexpensive and come in a range of colors and finishes. Check out Manhattan Nest, those guys just made a floating credenze out of shallow IKEA cabinets in their teeny tiny hallway. Might give you some inspiration!
I’m excited to see the space when it’s all done (or just get a proper tour of your new flat, ahem). I’ll have to see the pale carpet in the space before I make a judgment on it; I know for our house a color that pale would just be a magnet for dirt, especially right in the entry. But that’s just because we’re slobs
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Oh what lovely useful blog comments today! I have actually been looking for a wall hung shelf that is short enough but actually a cabinet is a great idea. I have just checked out that brilliant blog, never heard of it before. I’d never have thought of using a kitchen cabinet. That’s genius! thank you sweetie.
I just wipe my feet on the grotty carpet in the communal area outside the door
PS you can come and actually stay if you like x
This is the particular post that might help! http://manhattan-nest.com/2012/11/13/hallway-part-1/
Erin recently posted..Happy Birthday, Fitz!
I’ve cut out that Rita Konig photo and have it in my stack of papers for a while. I’ve actually purchased some paper from Nina Campbell’s line and plan to do my bedroom.
I love the paper you’ve chosen and can’t wait to see it finished. You must be having so much fun!! xo Teri
P.S. and I owe you an email about all the details of my blog.
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I’ve noticed that there’s a bit of a meme at the moment with wall hung straw hats. I quite like the idea. We have three between us so just enough to make it work. I need a smaller umbrella stand though, that pot is ridiculously large.
You do and please tell me about Vegas too! x
Mmm, inspiring stuff! You’ve got me thinking about my hall…I’m loving your wallpaper…I must stick to my promise of doing son’s bedroom first though…not so exciting!
Thank you! Charlie I was looking at this wallpaper the other day for the kids’ room. I thought it was great. I’ve seen in it in a downstairs cloakroom and it’s brilliant. http://www.paperboywallpaper.co.uk/childrens-wallpaper/ere-be-dragons
That wallpaper is gorgeous, it’s going to look absolutely stunning (it should at that price!!).
Interesting convo about the lacquering. It does look like an expensive thing to do. I want to paint my hallway wall with a gloss – F&B gloss can be painted onto plaster according to their literature as it is water based. I’m thinking that it could be the way forward. If you find any other solutions, let us know
x
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I think I might just do glass paint too. I’m not after something fancy really.
Beautiful wallpaper Annie. I’ve never considered a dark hallway so it would be interesting to see how your project goes. I guess the white lace effect of the paper negates it being too dark, if anything I can already see the dark paint accentuating that white lace. I guess the type of lighting you have in the hallway will play a crucial part to the overall effect. Are you thinking more of a lamp with a softer glow? Can’t wait to see. xx
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Not sure about the light yet. To be honest I rarely put the lights on as the lights from the bedroom are enough to create a cosy atmosphere . There is nothing worse than an overlit hallway, such a shock to the system.
You are keeping busy!
Great choice on the wallpaper. I would probably find a eggshell/gloss to do the ceiling as the spray can route would be a nightmare. I had some hand mixed for my bathroom and have been very happy with it.
It was expensive but worth it. Ask http://www.paintlibrary.co.uk/
I had mine done at John Oliver but they unfortunately closed down. Happy decorating!
Thanks Tina x
I always loved that hallway, especially the bright accents. Your wallpaper is beautiful and definitely F&B for door, my house is small too so we are Farrow&Balling the hell out of it. Can’t wait to see what you do with it!
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Farrow&Balling the hell out of it – ha!
I remember seeing that bathroom/wallpaper on Urban Kaleidoscope and thinking it was SO beautiful. I might be just as excited as you that you got your hands on some rolls. You have outstanding taste, and the wallpaper is going to look so good in your place. Painting out all the woodwork in black is a great idea. Sounds like it’s all coming together quite nicely. Great job, Annie!
PS~In addition to Erin’s comment, thought this might help: http://madebygirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/floating-cabinets-are-done.html
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Thank you sweetie. Maybe that is where that guy got the idea? She has 124 comments, I wish! x
Love the idea of a dark hallway and the wallpaper you picked is gorgeous! I am also thinking about painting our doors black, most of our doors are super crappy but some paint will tide us over until we can switch them out. Can’t wait to see how the hallway will look like after its transformation!
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I’m sure crappy doors must look better black?
The worst offenders are already on the dump, our upstairs floor only has three doors left and one is a recently installed one. Downstairs some of the doors are cheap cardboard (?) doors that are pressed to look like wood, I think the paint treatment and decent hardware will make a big difference. One crappy and pretty dinged up closet door I already painted, not without repairing the dings and adding trim to the bottom of the door to hide that is was cut crooked, and it looks 100 times better
Nina recently posted..week one
Ugh why do people put sh&t in apartments? You should see our laminate floor, it’s too depressing for words.
I have wondered about that so many times with our place
Can’t wait to see the wallpapered hallway! Have a great weekend!
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Annie, Thanks for showing a vignette of my bathroom on your blog. You won’t be disappointed wallpapering your hallway with it. I painted the woodwork including battered doors in an eggshell paint by Porter’s called Aniseed (a black). Never regretted it. A hallway would be perfect for this paper, that way you get to see it often. Also, you should feel so happy that you got those last few rolls as the hand-printed paper has been discontinued – the paper is matt and sort of speckled – sort of like old newspaper print. The design has been taken over by another company and I’ve seen it – it’s not good – it’s shiny and too perfect. So sad. Can’t wait to see the results!
Hi Kate, that’s so lovely of you to take the time to comment. I knew as soon as I saw your bathroom on Abigail’s blog that I wanted that wallpaper. I can’t wait to unroll it given what you’ve said, sounds like it was worth the huge cost of shipping and customs! x
Happy New Year Annie! Here’s a feature close to my heart. I haven’t posted this yet, but when we did our extension we blocked up the family bathroom window to create a new master bedroom and then turned the now windowless room into an en-suite shower room-painted in Farrow & Ball’s Railings. We also have eggshell on the ceiling, as Tina was suggesting, but in a creamy colour- (can’t remember what). We also did an eggshell on the kitchen ceiling-love them a bit shiny. I’ve also put a very dark charcoal grey on the chimney breast (something from B&Q) which gives the same effect without being quite so harsh. Next stop is one wall in the Fired Earth dark grey (my favourite grey) in the spare room and painting all our doors grey-although haven’t decided which one yet-possibly downpipe. Phew-I’ll eat my hat if I actually get it all done
Look forward to seeing your results and I’ll try and post my shower room soon!! xx
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Oh Caroline you’re a mine of information and helpful advice, thank you so much for writing all that! I would love to see your room so yes, write that post! x
I’ll have to sought your advice when we move to our permanent location. I’m utterly rubbish at interior decorating but there’s nothing I love more than flipping through books about them. Your Lilliputian flat actually looks very spacious!
BTW, did you end up posting the package? I guess it would’ve far quicker to just walk 3 desks down! Have you ever been to the Z&V outlet shop on King’s Rd? I’ve nabbed a few bargains at 70-80% off but I guess the trick is to go during the sales.
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How in the world did I miss this lovely post? Sniff. Okay, wiping a tear from my eye to say, WOW! Just gorgeous! What a great choice! Lovelovelove the wall paper, and I think you won’t regret it one but. We have incredibly gloppily plastered walls, which are quite gorgeous actually, but a no-go for wall papering even if I wanted to. However. There’s one wall in my dining room where a reno was done before we moved in. The previous owners put grasscloth on it, and every so often I’m tempted to do something daring like you’ve done. One wall! That’s all! You’ve inspired me, dear!
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Im so looking forward to seeing it up, that wallpaper is just beautiful!
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