Many townspeople, along with the apartment of the old layout, got a narrow hallway. Often it is absent, and instead there are two corridors diverging from the front door at a right angle.
The main design task is to maximize the space in all possible ways and free up passages. Only after this a few square meters are transformed into a very cozy apartment.
Brief overview of the article
Five rules
You can correctly design your hallway by following these rules:
- Place the closet together with the mezzanine. Place large shelves and drawers at the top and fill them with seasonal items that are rarely worn.
- Lower the entire closet to the floor, leaving an open space at the bottom for shoes.
- Use the remaining space on the wall between the cabinets for open hangers.
- Place the mirror on the wall opposite the cabinet. It can be narrow, but it must be high.
- To fulfill the first four rules, you will have to make custom-made furniture. This will cost more, but it will save the centimeters necessary for placing things.
The width of the hallway does not matter; all of the listed things should be placed in it, if there is at least a minimum opportunity for this.
Wallpaper color and texture
The ideal option for small rooms is a light palette, both warm and cold shades. Here you have plenty to choose from: cream, white, blue, light rose, peach, light yellow, gray, ivory, light mint. And, of course, all variations of white will help to visually expand the space.
If the room is small, avoid wallpaper that is too dark
When choosing a color palette, focus on the level of illumination in the room. So, if it is filled with plenty of natural or natural light, you can safely use cool shades, and if the lighting is insufficient, give preference to warm tones. All soft shades of yellow are perfect for darkened rooms. Such wallpaper will be even more impressive if you paste it not only on the walls, but also on the ceiling.
Dark or rich bright colors are not prohibited in small rooms, but it is better not to get carried away with them: they can be used in small wallpaper decor, but no more.
As for texture, it is important to remember four simple rules:
- Wallpaper with a shiny surface, for example, glossy or silk-screened, visually pushes the walls apart and increases the distance between them.
- Textured wallpaper with volumetric changes and play of shadows makes the room deeper and more spacious.
- Wallpaper with a reflective surface creates a mirror effect, thereby increasing the amount of light, which helps to visually expand the room.
- Matte wallpaper, decorated with a textured pattern, visually narrows the room, so their use is undesirable.
Wardrobe-mezzanine
Whatever the hallway in the apartment is, it has an entrance door. Consequently, there is also a place to place a mezzanine.
It was in “Khrushchev” buildings and small-sized apartments that mezzanines began to be used. This is not a decoration, but an opportunity to make the most of free space and create basic comfort.
Today, the most common color scheme for the hallway is light colors, and the mezzanine color should be in harmony with the ceiling and open walls.
Occupying the entire wall area from floor to ceiling, a narrow closet in a miniature corridor is better than any small sets that fill only part of the free space.
Small hallway lighting
Low-hanging lampshades “lower” the ceiling and steal the passage space - it is better to remove them. It is better to place the main emphasis of lighting on the walls or at the level of the ceiling cornice. In a narrow but long hallway, you can get by with combined lighting with economical lamps and spot diodes.
A good place for lamps is above the entrance and interior doors. This part of the walls is usually empty, it is proposed to install:
- sconce with a large flat shade;
- innovation spot;
- rotating lamp with play of colors;
- low-power spotlight with a beam of directional light (shoot the beam along the ceiling of a narrow corridor).
Note!
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It is advisable to design the perimeter of the upper plane as a “floating ceiling”. As an option, use a regular tension fabric, stretching a diode strip around the perimeter. It is not necessary to place spotlights on top of the stretched fabric; side lighting for small areas will be quite sufficient.
One of the unusual ways to illuminate a hallway remains the “moon path”. Illuminated glass slabs are installed into the tiled flooring; they turn on under the weight of a person when they step on them.
Space for shoes
If you managed to place a narrow closet in the hallway, then closer to the front door a nightstand will fit into which you can hide your shoes.
A low cabinet will also serve as a bench, since it is much more convenient to put on and take off shoes while sitting, rather than grabbing the walls with your hands and getting them dirty.
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Ideal flooring
In a hallway of any size, the floor must withstand a large number of wet cleaning cycles. Saving on flooring material will cost too much in the future. Cheap linoleum or laminate will require replacement in almost six months. Preference should be given to materials with high quality characteristics. Tiles, waterproof parquet, industrial linoleum are easy to maintain, resistant to moderate mechanical damage, and are highly durable. In addition, they can always be decorated with fluffy rugs.
The color of the floor and baseboard is matched to the doors and furniture elements (console, shoe cabinet, mezzanine storage areas, hanging shelves). If the floor and doors are combined, then furniture can be chosen in contrasting shades, and vice versa.
When developing a design project for a small narrow corridor, it is important to first visualize several design options. This will help not only to avoid common mistakes, but also to create a truly creative, extraordinary interior that will delight you with its comfort every day.
Hangers
In a small corridor, in order to save space, hooks should be installed in the open space. In addition to gaining space, there are two more advantages of this arrangement of hangers:
- a closet with just hooks in the middle visually expands the space;
- You can hang wet clothes on hooks that are not hidden by doors.
It is not necessary to leave a large space between the cabinet doors. It is enough to place 2-3 hooks at a distance of up to half a meter from each other.
Mirror
In order for a person to fully see himself in the mirror, its height must be at least a meter. 30 cm is enough in width. In the narrowest corridor there will always be such a small space.
Looking at a photo of a narrow hallway, you can see how much a mirror attached to one of the walls visually expands the space.
A mirror is a necessary element in the hallway. In the worst case scenario, it can be placed on one of the interior doors of the cabinet.
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Lighting a dark corridor
A small narrow hallway, as a rule, does not have a window. The lack of natural light is compensated by several types of lamps. Recommended use:
- ceiling soffits;
- sconce on the wall near the mirror;
- central chandelier on the ceiling;
- LED lighting for baseboards and ceiling borders.
A large number of artificial light sources should be regulated by the power and color of the bulbs. For overhead lights, it is advisable to choose a natural yellow color. LED backlight can be pink, blue, green or lilac. When all the lamps are turned on at the same time, the rainbow combination will not only create light that is pleasing to the eye, but will also fill the space with volume.
Closet
The largest piece of furniture in the hallway is the wardrobe. Opening doors further conceal the space. The solution may be to place a wardrobe in a narrow hallway.
One circumstance must be taken into account - sliding doors should not extend beyond the perimeter of the furniture. Otherwise, there will be no space savings.
Design advantages
Finding the right furniture for a small space is quite difficult. A sliding wardrobe has a number of advantages over traditional hallway furniture:
- diversity of species;
- sliding doors;
- possibility of installing mezzanines.
If there is a niche in your hallway, you can place a built-in wardrobe in it.
Built-in wardrobe
Made from natural wood and equipped with properly positioned lighting, such a piece of furniture visually increases the size of the hallway space.
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Choosing wallpaper for a small room: wallpaper with a pattern
Of course, light and plain wallpaper will greatly visually expand the space of the room, but at the same time give it a very boring and conservative look.
The use of patterns and ornaments on wallpaper will add a more colorful and positive mood to the interior, but not all of them are suitable for small rooms.
For a small room, photo wallpaper is not the best option: in extreme cases, it is permissible to hang photo wallpaper with a small pattern
How to choose patterned wallpaper for small rooms:
- Firstly, wallpaper with a small, non-contrasting pattern can completely replace plain wallpaper, while a large pattern, even with a slight contrast, can significantly spoil the decision to visually increase the volume of the room. The correct option for using wallpaper with a large pattern in a non-contrasting color would be to paste it on one wall of the room, against which low furniture such as a sofa or bed is placed. For example, using wallpaper with a floral print will look spectacular in the bedroom at the head of the bed.
- Secondly, for small rooms, wallpaper with a rare contrasting pattern of small or medium size is suitable, which will enliven the interior of the room and will not reduce the space. For example, in children's bedrooms, wallpaper with small images of cars for boys, or characters from the animated series “My Little Pony” for girls will look effective. But you should completely abandon the use of large contrasting patterns on wallpaper, as they can eat up a large volume of the room.
- Thirdly, you should not consider decorating small rooms with wallpaper with high contrast and pattern density. Even a room with a small amount of furniture will visually seem too cluttered and uncomfortable. Therefore, you should either completely abandon this type of wallpaper. or allocate only one wall of the room for them.
Concluding our discussion about the use of wallpaper from drawings to decorate small rooms, it is worth mentioning once again that it is worth focusing on light shades of color, which visually increase the space of small rooms.
Corner cupboard
The L-shaped design is convenient to use for a room of any size, including in a narrow corridor.
In accordance with the size of the hallway, the closet can have one long side and the other short side.
Design of a small hallway with zoning
Today it is customary to destroy walls and partitions in order to expand the area of the hallway. Thoughtful zoning will help to use the available space more efficiently without transforming the walls.
Note! It is worth abandoning swing interior doors, which occupy part of the passages, in favor of sliding structures. If no one uses the living room for sleeping or as a study, it is better to remove the doors that swing open into the hallway.
If the hallway is not planned at all, but there are two corridors, the narrow hallway in the apartment can be separated using zoning. Corridors are generally not used functionally like hallways. But it’s easy to cut off part of the passage using an arched structure made of decorative plywood or laminated chipboard. This will split the narrow corridor in two.
Then the part of the room near the front door will be easier to transform into a more spacious room. Here you can apply all the methods of visually expanding the hallway, and closets for seasonal clothes will remain outside it. Along a narrow corridor, designers recommend decorating a dressing room in the form of built-in wardrobes behind sliding doors. Some clothes can be left on a hanger behind the front door, and shoes can also be placed there on a multi-level shelf, if there is such space.
For more interesting ideas for decorating narrow hallways, look at the photo of the designer’s selection.
Which style to choose
No matter how ardent a fan of the classic style you are, it will not be suitable for a long, narrow hallway. Classic design requires the presence of massive, bulky things in the design that simply cannot fit in a small area.
But the minimalist style is perfect for a narrow corridor.
Pay special attention to the handles. They tend to cling to clothing. The so-called handle doors “recessed” into the body are very convenient. In a narrow hallway you won't get caught on them.
Decorating a narrow corridor
If your apartment has a long, small hallway, when decorating it you should pay careful attention to the finishing materials in order to make the room functional and create a cozy atmosphere. What to give preference to?
Interior design of a long and narrow hallway
Wall colors
If you are faced with the task of visually expanding the corridor, pay attention to light colors - they cope with this problem perfectly. It doesn’t matter what you choose - paint or wallpaper - the effect of increasing space is guaranteed in any case. What colors should you pay attention to first?
Color combination in a narrow corridor
1. Shades of white. Cream, milky, champagne or snow-white - this range will add light and comfort to a cramped room. Warm soft beige tones will also cope with this task.
Long narrow hallway in white colors
White-beige elongated hallway
Since a light finish is not the most practical solution for a “dirty” hallway area, give preference to easy-to-clean materials, such as washable wallpaper or paint.
Small long hallway in light colors
2. Gray. Light gray shades are ideal for the corridors of apartments in the Scandinavian style or minimalism: this solution looks restrained and calm, and if desired, it can be easily complemented with color accents - textiles and decor - in any range.
Narrow hallway in gray tones
Gray long hallway with bright accents
3. Powdery. A soft pastel pink shade is an excellent choice for a small and cramped hallway: this delicate color will create a warm, homely atmosphere in the apartment right from the doorstep.
Long narrow corridor in powdery tones
Long narrow hallway in pink
4. Fresh tones. Cool pale blue and mint are perfect for a long, narrow and dark corridor: these shades seem to emit light on their own. This design is appropriate for the Provence and Romantic styles, as well as for minimalism and environmentally friendly Scandinavian design.
Long narrow hallway in light blue tones
Mint color in the design of a long narrow hallway
5. Warm pastel. Peach or vanilla yellow - in a narrow hallway devoid of natural light, these colors will create a feeling of warm sunshine. This range is ideal for the boho style: it harmoniously combines with ethnic decor and prints.
Pastel yellow elongated hallway
Long narrow corridor in peach shades
6. Bright accents. Decorating in rich colors for narrow and long corridors is also suitable, but only if you use it in doses. Highlight only one wall with a bright color or colorful print, and leave the rest with light neutrals.
Accent wall in an elongated hallway
Choosing a floor covering
The corridor is a passage area into which we enter directly from the street, so the design of the floor here should be as practical and easy to maintain as possible. An excellent option is tile, but it can be quite cold: stepping on it without shoes is not always comfortable. As an option, use linoleum: it is easy to clean, but also easy to damage due to carelessness.
Large tiles on the floor in a narrow hallway, photo by Alexander Volodin
Floor tiles in the design of a long narrow hallway
Linoleum with imitation parquet on the floor of a narrow long corridor
The ideal combination of practicality, comfort and aesthetics is laminate: it is quite wear-resistant and suitable for rooms in any style. Choose a material of class 32 or 33 - the most durable and durable, as well as moisture-proof, so that water from your shoes after rain or snow does not harm the coating. And if you add a warm floor to the hallway, then the shoes, like the laminate, will dry faster.
Laminate flooring in a long narrow hallway
When laying flooring in a narrow hallway, avoid the appearance of longitudinal lines: let the pattern be monochromatic or form transverse stripes and diagonals. Also, do not forget that the material should be non-slip - if in doubt, it is better to lay a rug in the most vulnerable places (for example, right at the threshold).
Herringbone floor in a long narrow hallway
Doormat in a long narrow hallway
Ceiling decoration
Long and narrow corridors are, as a rule, an attribute of Khrushchev apartments: in addition to such a layout, they usually have low ceilings. In order not to make them even lower, it is better to abandon bulky structures made of plasterboard, voluminous stucco molding and too dark finishes. A good alternative would be a matte stretch ceiling or a suspended ceiling with transverse panels (or beams).
Matte plain ceiling in a long narrow corridor
Cross panels in the ceiling design of a long hallway
The best color for low ceilings in an elongated hallway is white: tension structures, paint or regular plaster in this shade are suitable.
Minimalistic white ceiling in a long narrow hallway
Lighting in a long corridor
The main thing to remember: in a long corridor, one chandelier in the center is not enough. To ensure that the space is fully illuminated, it is necessary to place several lamps along the entire room. Massive options with a large number of decorative elements (pendants, chains, forged decorations) will clutter up an already cramped hallway, so give preference to spotlights or other compact models.
Spotlights in the design of a narrow long hallway
Laconic ceiling lamps in a long narrow corridor
In addition to the main light, pay attention to functional lighting: as a rule, the area near the mirror needs it. Hang a couple of sconces around it or add lighting in a circle. Lighting will also be useful in the storage area (for example, directly in the closet) and in dark niches.
Sconces around the mirror in the design of a narrow hallway
Illumination in niches in a small hallway
Background
It is recommended to paint the walls with discreet, plain paint. Their color should serve as a background for the furniture set.
Size
For normal passage along the corridor, a width of 80 cm is sufficient. The rest of the space can be filled with the necessary furniture.
Naturally, the more space you can allocate for furnishings, the better. However, if you have even a quarter of a meter left, then this territory must be used effectively.
Modular open-type hallway
This option is the cheapest, since such furniture requires less material and work. The advantage is that you can immediately see what is on the shelves and it’s easy to get things out. This is also the narrowest option, because if there are doors, a couple of centimeters are automatically added.
Minuses
- The downside is that your things can be seen by everyone who comes to visit.
- Also, the contents of the shelves become more covered with dust compared to a closed cabinet.
The photo below shows several options for hallways, they are all small and functional. The caveat is that such modular furniture allows you to hang several jackets that you often wear, but does not allow you to store them. You will need to look for another place for winter outerwear in the summer (place it in a closet in the room, for example).
- You choose the number of shelves and hooks depending on your needs, the volume of things, and design.
- With such furniture you can use different baskets for things , decorate some shelves with decorative things (a vase or a clock, for example).
Another tip: if you are buying a narrow open-type hallway, then it is better to choose one with a built-in seat . It is unlikely that you will have any space left to put it separately, and this small piece of furniture is simply necessary to comfortably take off and put on shoes, or to wait for someone who is getting ready for a long time.
Ready-made hallway diagrams
- In these two hallways, there are hooks for outerwear in the center, and shelves around them.
- Thanks to this design, the lower shelves serve as a seat (even when jackets are hanging, you can sit down and lean your back on them).
- Such hallways can be of different heights, but it is optimal to make them up to the ceiling (preferably narrower, but higher).
On the upper shelves, which are difficult to reach, you can store things that are not needed at the moment (for example, you can change the contents of the shelves among themselves, depending on the time of year, in summer - hats and gloves on top, in winter - hats and summer bags).
Here the number of shelves is much smaller; only what is used almost every day can fit. Baskets allow you to conveniently get things out (without having to climb elbow-deep into the closet looking for what you need).
For comfort, you can choose a soft seat. But remember about its functionality - shoes must fit under it. If soft seats are not provided for in the design, you can put some cushions on them yourself.
Economy DIY option
You can even make an open hallway with your own hands: take measurements and put together boards, or use pallets. This is not as difficult as it seems, and it also allows you to save at least half of the purchase price.
ATTENTION: When calculating the height of the shelves and hanging hooks, consider the following factors: if you wear high boots, then they should fit, the coat should not drag on the floor.
You can also make a stylish hanging rack yourself. Here is a detailed master class on “do-it-yourself floor hanger”!
Another great economical option is to install a chest of drawers or an old wardrobe. How to update and paint a cabinet - in this article!
Modular furniture
If the corridor is very narrow and it is impossible to place even a small closet in it, you will have to use open forms for storing clothes and shoes.
It makes no sense to make furniture to order - it will be expensive and there is no guarantee that it will be possible to arrange it effectively.
When purchasing modular furniture, choose models without legs that sit flush to the floor. This will make cleaning the room easier.
In specialized stores there is a wide range of narrow bedside tables for shoes, open hangers with shelves and small key holders.
Large families accumulate hefty bunches of keys. At the most inopportune moment they get lost and it takes a lot of time to find them. They need to be kept in one place, and key holders are best for this.
What should the floor be like in a small room?
It is advisable to lay the floor homogeneous, without hills or joints. A small area paved with ceramic tiles, elevated above other areas, is a terrible mistake. This is very inconvenient and gives the impression of a bad entrance to a public toilet. In addition, the junction of tiles with laminate or linoleum looks tasteless and deliberate.
Photo of a narrow hallway
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