Many owners of apartments in a panel house know what a complex and responsible task it is to design a hallway, and especially with a standard layout. It is important to make the corridor not just functional, but also cozy, because the owners of the house and their guests see this room first when entering the home.
A narrow space at the front door is not a “sentence”, but an opportunity to embody ideas.
Next we will talk about possible options for creating an attractive and comfortable interior for the corridor in a modern apartment.
A small part of the narrow corridor, which serves as a hallway, can also be decorated with dignity.
Tips for creating a spacious hallway interior
Owners of small apartments during renovation work are in most cases puzzled by the problem of choosing an interior and decorating a small hallway. Agree, it is quite difficult to do something unique and elegant when there is practically no space to place furniture. However, a modern approach, as well as the availability of the required materials, make it possible to equip even a small room.
Visual reference points for certain household items are necessary - an important point in arranging a corridor.
Techniques and ideas for increasing space in the hallway
If you don’t want to do complex work, we can suggest using a combination of finishing materials, which will make the room visually more spacious. To achieve this goal, experts recommend choosing light-colored finishing materials for walls.
Paintings that will enliven the monotony of the walls in a long room and create color accents on the light spots of the space are appropriate here.
Note! For maximum ease of work, you can give preference to wallpaper. Today, the assortment offers various three-dimensional designs, due to which the effect of depth is created in the room, after which your previous hallway will visually become larger.
It is also necessary to use lighting correctly. In the case of well-placed lighting fixtures, it is possible to create a spacious effect.
In the modern style of interior design, you can choose posters framed in backlit glass, which is very convenient for darker rooms.
We provide complete lighting
Placement of lamps around the perimeter of the room.
As a rule, hallways are dark because they have no windows and are also adjacent to the corridor of plumbing rooms. For this type of room, lighting is hung at different levels from the floor:
- Ceiling lighting in the hallway is represented by one or more built-in lamps. Modern materials, current proportions and an electronic control system will save energy and also illuminate the hallway at night;
- Wall lighting is placed in zones, opposite a hanger or near a mirror. The light from the sconce can be directed or diffused, your choice;
- Decorative lighting in the hallway is provided by LED strips, which are attached along baseboards, arches or ceiling moldings.
Lighting the hallway with several light sources.
Choose the type of lighting before starting repairs in order to install the wires in advance unnoticed and efficiently, at the required level.
Secrets of properly finishing the walls of a long corridor
If a mistake is made in choosing the required materials for finishing, this can cost you quite a lot. In some cases, it is even necessary to remodel the interior, spending large sums of money on replacing impractical materials. It is not advisable to choose dark colors for decorating the corridor because such a technique gives the entrance area a peculiar gloominess. It is best to use special wall panels in light colors for wall decoration. In addition, you can choose an artificial stone, which differs:
- long service life;
- good practicality;
- affordable cost.
It is necessary to divide the corridor into zones using a combination of finishing materials for the floor, walls and ceilings.
For a long corridor, you can try to combine several finishing materials, so you can look online at real photos of the renovation of a corridor in an apartment in a panel house, which will help you choose a design idea for yourself.
It is important to create different levels of lighting on the ceiling and walls.
Design and photo of the hallway after major renovation
When undertaking a major renovation, take into account the degree of transformation of the room. Usually this is a radical modernization without redevelopment, with the exception of widening or moving doorways on a secondary wall (the load-bearing ones are not touched). This will significantly refresh the design of a narrow corridor in a nine-story panel building or a 5-story Khrushchev building. It is quite possible that specialized companies will have to be hired to carry out some work, but they guarantee quality and adherence to technology.
With the help of high-quality finishing materials and interior design rules, you can achieve a significant improvement in the functionality and presentability of this room.
The hallways of panel houses are most often a long corridor or a small passage space with several doorways. They usually start with replacing doors in order to install all the same ones or made in the same stylistic key. This will entail large expenses, but they will not need to be replaced for 10-20 years.
It is necessary to select practical materials that are resistant to frequent cleaning and washing using special substances.
Advice. When choosing a door leaf, pay attention to mirror and glass inserts, which significantly change the appearance of the entire hallway. If there are mirrors in the interior doors, then you can do without a functional attribute of any hallway.
Before choosing facing materials for the interior of the hallway in a panel house, you need to resolve the issue of hidden communications. Open sewer and water pipes are repeatedly useless; they spoil the appearance of the room.
When choosing a specific style, you should adhere to color combinations and surface structure of products that can create a finish at a high aesthetic level.
It is better to change them to plastic ones during the renovation of the kitchen and bathroom, so that the old rusty pipes do not become leaky after the renovation, then hide them:
- In a niche specially designed in the wall;
- Behind hollow baseboards;
- Behind the decorative side.
It is also recommended to replace the electrical wiring and think through the lighting design of the entire apartment and a separate hallway in order to compensate as much as possible for the lack of natural light. At the same time, install built-in lighting in the built-in cabinets; you can add LED strip along the perimeter of the ceiling and along the baseboard along the corridor.
When selecting materials, you need to focus on durable, environmentally friendly samples, without toxic emissions, with high levels of mechanical, chemical strength, and wear resistance.
You can't do without replacing the floor covering. Pre-leveling may be necessary. Modern self-leveling mixtures eliminate many defects, including crudely made DIY screeds. On an ideal surface, you can lay luxury tiles, parquet, laminate or make a self-leveling polymer floor.
After completely replacing the wall cladding, think about the decor.
Instead, all attention can be drawn to original shaped furniture or a mirror in an unusual frame. If you decide to widen the passage to the hallway or zone the hallway using partitions, decide what material is best to make them from:
- Stained glass;
- Drywall;
- Natural wood;
- Composite materials.
This is the minimum that will transform beyond recognition the previous interior of a narrow corridor in a panel house, which serves as a hallway.
See alsoDesign of a three-room apartment in a house of the “p44” type.
Proper arrangement of furniture in a long hallway
If you are the owner of a corridor with a non-standard layout, then the best solution for you will be to individually order furniture. The main thing is to correctly calculate the free area of the room so as not to clutter it with unnecessary things. We recommend paying attention to wardrobes with sliding doors - they help to seriously save space.
If you need to place a wardrobe in such a corridor, you should give preference to a wardrobe with sliding doors.
Hallway design styles
The corridor is usually decorated in the same style as the whole house. There are fortunate exceptions. But it’s better to stick to one general design line. Modern style, Scandinavian, modern, country best decorate a small room. Classic style, hi-tech and others can also advantageously present the house to guests.
Country style in the hallway
Eco-friendly, authentic, good-natured style. It looks especially natural in private homes and dachas. Its main feature is natural materials. Wood with a rough texture, textiles, clay, plaster, and stone are used.
The walls are covered with wooden panels. They can stretch to the ceiling or half the wall. The upper half is finished with wallpaper and plaster. In contrast to light walls, simple furniture in dark shades will fit stylishly. If wooden floor beams are visible on the ceiling, under no circumstances should they be hidden. All lovers of antiquity will be pleased to place a chest of drawers or a hanger with a mark of time.
Photo: mediacache.com
If everything natural is used, the colors should also be close to natural. Furniture is chosen in beige and olive shades. The floor, preferably wooden, is decorated with small rugs or paths. Appropriate decor includes ceramics, wicker items, even everyday items. Also preferably antique.
Wallpaper, curtains, and furniture upholstery are chosen with simple, unpretentious patterns. The country style implies a clear system for arranging furniture in the hallway. It doesn't have to fit perfectly into place. Roughly speaking, it stands the way it was installed. That's the charm of country music. Another touch - textile details can be patchwork.
Photo: originalstyle.com
Hallway in Art Nouveau style
This style is also close to nature. Natural, but more expensive materials are used. Wood, marble, stone. An Art Nouveau style hallway has sharp corners and a clearly symmetrical arrangement of furniture. Lamps and stained glass are used as decoration. This is a characteristic feature of modernity. The wardrobe and interior doors with glass are decorated with stained glass. They often depict plant motifs. But even these paintings do not have sharp lines or many small details.
Photo: mediacache.com
The main accent is created by the furniture. It is simple, not massive, elegant. You can often find benches or chests of drawers with high curly legs. This allows you to make the space more spacious. Tile is a good choice for flooring. Ornate lines and forged elements complement the overall picture.
Photo: encrypted.com
Light, pure colors act as a background. Stained glass windows, lamps, forging can be of bolder colors. But the entire color palette is maintained in pastel, noble colors: beige, olive, burgundy, brown, black. This style requires you to have some extra space. Therefore, it is better to use it with a large quadrature.
Hallway in Scandinavian style
The Scandinavian style hallway always has white walls. They will be complemented by plank floors made of bleached or traditional wood colors. A rug or runner with a simple pattern will add color and comfort. A minimum of furniture and a laconic design give a feeling of lightness. Instead of a bench with upholstery, put a chair. Instead of a massive chest of drawers, there is a small shelf and hooks.
This style is special. It combines the aesthetics of small details with a high degree of practicality. This is usually how small apartments are decorated. Therefore, space is used as efficiently as possible
If in any other case great attention is paid to the choice of cabinet, its color, shape, size, then here the same attention is paid to the hook
As a result, the house is filled with stylish, comfortable decorative elements that do not burden their owner. This is not even a style, but a philosophy of life.
Photo: decoist.com
Maintaining minimalism in a hallway, especially a small one, is not easy. A thoughtful layout will help solve this issue. For all things, even the smallest ones, there is a place. And the person who chooses this style most likely does not like to have a lot of things. This is the key to order. But against the background of white walls there is a lot of decor. Photographs, paintings, posters. As a result, the interior of the corridor looks vibrant and colorful.
Photo: decoist.com
Photo: themakerplace.co.uk
Design of a narrow corridor in a panel house: redevelopment
In this case, maximum attention should be paid to the color scheme of the room. For a narrow room, it is recommended to make light walls and floors, but the shades must be distinctive. For maximum improvement, you can remodel. The best option is to make one whole room out of two rooms, or divide it into zones using a plasterboard partition. But this is despite the fact that you are designing a corridor in a panel three-room apartment of a nine-story building. Also now popular are built-in niches, which were previously storage rooms for us. This is practical and profitable, because quite a lot of space is freed up.
If a narrow and long corridor ends in a dead end, you cannot place a mirror opposite the entrance: this will visually lengthen the space even more.
Choosing a color
Light bright colors of the interior composition give the corridor originality. You shouldn’t be afraid of rich shades in decoration, although they need to be used correctly: no more than two or three different colors in the design of one room.
There are color combination tables that help achieve harmony in the interior color scheme. To ensure that the combination of shades is correct, you can use this tip.
For example, if the corridor is decorated in lilac color, it is better to choose white furniture for it. You can use brown furniture modules in combination with turquoise wall decoration. Various green shades should be used with caution. Green color in a large room gives the space solidity. In a small hallway, finishing elements in pistachio color look better.
Walls are often painted in a soft contrast of two shades. In this case, the lower part and vertical structures are painted or covered with wallpaper of a darker color, and the main part of the surfaces is painted in light colors. It can be a fashionable Scandinavian or Japanese style in black and white. Ceiling beams, wall consoles, doorways are finished in wenge color or covered with stain until almost black colors are achieved, dazzling white walls are framed with black lines (the interior turns out to be strict and sophisticated).
Selection of furniture and its placement
Only the most necessary furniture is selected for the hallway. It must be multifunctional. It is important to avoid cluttering the corridor.
It is worth giving preference to the following options:
- a soft ottoman or stool will allow you to put on your shoes comfortably;
- If you have space, you should install a narrow wardrobe. Outerwear, shoes and many other necessary things are stored in it;
- If it is not possible to install a closet, you need to at least hang hooks. To have somewhere to hang clothes and a bag;
- in order not to clutter the space, you can hang a mezzanine near the ceiling;
- It is also possible to store necessary things in a cabinet or chest of drawers;
- the footwear stand.
If it is not possible to install a closet, then you should at least install a hanger with hooks
Floor decoration
Once the choice of material for the walls has been made, it is worth thinking about choosing the flooring. This is also an important stage in the design of the corridor. You need to choose an easy-to-maintain, practical and durable material. As a rule, it is in the corridor that the floors are most often dirty and washed.
Typically, ceramic tiles are chosen for covering. It is moisture resistant and any dirt can be easily washed off.
For a narrow corridor space in small apartments, it is better to purchase plain tiles in light colors. In this case, the color of the floor should be combined with the walls. In the photo you can see the options for ceramic flooring in the hallway.
The floor of the corridor must be durable and resistant to abrasion.
This color scheme will visually expand the narrow space. But beige or a similar color is very difficult to care for. Therefore, you can consider the option of dividing the corridor into two zones. In this case, you can combine tiles and, for example, linoleum.
Linoleum is an economical alternative to ceramic tiles. Manufacturers offer this type of coating with a variety of patterns, most often imitating tiles or wood.
The color of the floor in the hallway visually changes its size.
If you want the corridor to look solid, then you can choose natural stone. It looks especially impressive if there are areas of masonry on the walls.
In this case, the corridor will look very expensive.
Any carpeting is absolutely not suitable for the interior of the corridor. This is, first of all, impractical. After just a month, the pile will look dirty, even if the room is cleaned daily.
