The hallway is the first room where visitors enter. This is the “face” and “calling card” of the apartment owner. Difficulty in decorating arises due to the small area of the room, lack of natural light sources or non-standard (elongated) shape.
Private houses, as a rule, do not have these disadvantages. Their layouts include a spacious hall, the dimensions of which do not limit the designer’s design means.
An important element of any hallway is the door. A properly selected door not only provides protection for you and your property, but also decorates the room.
Door materials
Only durable materials are suitable for decorating doorways. Depending on the type of workpiece, the following doors are distinguished:
Metal doors. Most often they are used as entrance doors separating the hallway from the entrance or street.
Among the advantages are a long service life (more than 20 years), high noise insulation properties and the ability to withstand significant loads.
Fiberboard doors. These are budget products with low weight. The frame consists of wood with a fiberboard (fibreboard) lining. The disadvantages of such doors are their fragility.
The door does not react well to changes in humidity, so it is not suitable for bathrooms. For all other cases of zoning an apartment (separating rooms from the hallway), such doors are successfully used.
Wooden doors. The strength of the structure is determined by the properties of the wood. The most valuable and expensive species are oak, mahogany and maple. The advantage of all wooden doors is environmental friendliness and the ability to dampen sounds.
Glass doors. A specific look for decorating a hallway. They perfectly transmit sunlight and do not absorb moisture. But they require greater care in handling - any touch leaves fingerprints and dirt.
Photos of hallway doors are presented below.
Possibility of using coloring compositions
This is the easiest way to transform a door with your own hands, because thanks to the extensive palette of manufacturers, you can choose a shade that will harmoniously fit into any style of the room. If the desired shade is not in stock, it is easy to mix the color and base mass in a certain proportion - this will create the desired color scheme.
Nitropaint
The specificity of the composition is such that it is better to apply it outdoors: the pungent odor, as well as the release of harmful fumes during the entire drying period, make this paint potentially dangerous during finishing work. But after the surface has completely dried, the threat will disappear, resulting in a surface that is very resistant to fading and mechanical stress. The main working tool in this case is the spray gun.
Porch decor
Metal front door decor
Acrylic water-based
The water base eliminates unpleasant odors and creates conditions for rapid drying of the composition. The acrylic filler is responsible for enhanced color fastness; the paint is absolutely safe for both people and animals.
Oily
It is rarely used, since it is inferior in performance to the categories described above, however, oil compositions are excellent for both wooden and metal doors.
Professionals recommend applying paint in several layers using a roller, wide brush, or sprayer. Each new layer is made in a direction that does not coincide with the previous strokes, and you need to wait until it dries completely. Thin brushes, acrylic paints and templates will help you create a unique design on the canvas.
Entrance door decor in a minimalist style
Opening system
The door opening system is selected based on the area and location of the doorways. It can be hinged or sliding.
Hinged doors are the most common designs. The operating principle boils down to rotating the door leaf 180 degrees around the hinges.
When buying these products for the hallway, remember that they take up enough space: there should be no foreign objects that impede access to opening and closing the door.
Door wings can swing both outward and inward. Those that open outwards have the best heat resistance.
An excellent alternative to classic hinged structures are sliding doors and their special type - a sliding door.
Opening is carried out using rollers moving along guide rails. This saves space, but... Since the doors move parallel to the walls, it will not be possible to lean furniture or other objects against them.
Based on the number of leaves, doors are divided into single-leaf and double-leaf. The choice depends on the width of the doorway. Models with 2 doors are suitable for rooms with high traffic, single doors are used to decorate small hallways.
Advantages of filming
If it is not possible to fully ventilate the apartment and dry the structure, you can decorate the inside of the front door with self-adhesive film. This material is actively used in many areas due to the fact that it helps to decorate almost all types of surfaces in a short time. The key advantage of the film is the presence on one side of a sticky layer covered with special paper. By carefully removing the latter, you can easily fix the material on laminate, metal, paint, or wood.
In order to decorate the front door with high quality, you should take care of preparing the canvas in advance. You need to clean it thoroughly, eliminating any bumps and bumps in the process. If chips and cracks are observed, it is recommended to fill them with mastic. Before directly gluing, you should degrease the surface and remove dust from it.
Entrance door decor in Art Nouveau style
The cut pieces of film begin to be fixed on the canvas from the upper left corner, gradually peeling off the backing. A soft spatula or rubber roller will help to press the self-adhesive evenly and remove any bubbles that form.
New Year's decor for the front door
Color solutions
After choosing the material and door opening system, you can move on to the appearance of the products. The design of the doors should fit organically into the overall concept of the hallway.
The color can be combined with the shade of the flooring, furniture, or can contrast with them. Although a modern interior involves many decorative elements and decorations, when decorating an entrance hall and hall, you should take into account their dimensions.
Features of using decorative overlays
Decorative overlays are often used to cover the front door from the inside and outside - thin wooden strips that can be fixed to a canvas made of a variety of materials. A special adhesive composition is responsible for the reliability of installation; moreover, the wood requires special treatment both before and after decorating the entrance area with it.
To preserve the structure and natural aesthetics of wood, it is advisable to cover it with water-repellent agents, in particular, stain. It will protect the material from the effects of negative external factors and destruction, and will emphasize its natural shade. Glossy, semi-matte or matte varnish should be applied on top (in accordance with the style of the interior and personal preferences).
An interesting alternative could be the introduction of MDF overlays already formed in the factory. They are mounted on a frame (if they are used to decorate slopes) or simply with glue, have a wide range of colors, and have an “expensive” appearance.
Autumn front door decor
Swing entrance door decor
Doors in light shades
For compact hallways, plain light-colored doors are appropriate. White, beige or cream tones are universal and suit all decors.
Positive sides:
- They visually enlarge the room and make it easy to perceive. The feeling of narrow, oppressive corridors and passages disappears.
- Contrary to popular belief, dust is less noticeable on light-colored items.
- Suitable for hallway design in a classic or Mediterranean style.
The combination of white wooden canvas and fragile, weightless glass looks interesting.
What to do with a narrow corridor
In hallways where there is enough free space, creating a good interior is quite simple. But what to do if the corridor is narrow, and any thought about placing some kind of furniture in it already drives the apartment owners into despair? The simplest, most economical and smart move is to expand the space visually. Professional designers have plenty of such techniques. They are so simple that every person in the street can master them; take a close look at the photos of projects posted online or on architectural forums.
Techniques for visually expanding the corridor:
- It is better to decorate a narrow corridor in light colors;
- mirrors will help visually make the room wider and more spacious;
- in a hallway of this type there should be as little furniture as possible.
Next, we will examine each of these points in more detail.
Decoration of walls, floors and ceilings
For walls, wallpaper with large patterns or vertical stripes is most suitable. They can make a room appear shorter and wider at the same time. It is better if the decoration has light colors. A light floor is another technique that makes the room larger. You can clearly see this in many photos.
Related article: Long hallway design ideas: accents and interesting solutions
As for the ceiling, it can be done in darker colors. The walls will appear higher. In the photo with examples of the design of narrow corridors you can see that even a black ceiling will look great in a room where the walls and floor have a light finish. An excellent solution would be a glossy stretch ceiling, on which built-in lampshades will look good.
Spotlights along the perimeter of the ceiling in the hallway and the absence of a central lamp will make the room visually lighter, expanding the space.
Mirrors
Placing mirrors and other reflective surfaces in any room makes it appear brighter and more spacious. So why not use this technique in the hallway. In many photos you can see that mirrors can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. But a narrow corridor does not tolerate oval and round mirrors. It is better if they are rectangular. Moreover, both horizontal and vertical canvases are suitable.
The ideal solution would be to place a closet with a large mirrored door. In this case, she will immediately perform a virgin task: a large mirror in the corridor is convenient, and the room itself will look visually larger.
What furniture to choose
If the corridor is narrow, it is better not to use various tables with chairs, bedside tables and other small pieces of furniture. In this case, minimalism is the most optimal solution. It is better to choose a large and at the same time narrow wardrobe for the hallway. If this is not possible, you will have to choose a set for the hallway that will simultaneously fit clothes and shoes.
Furniture selected according to the dimensions of the room will reliably store seasonal clothing and help maintain order.
The main thing is to leave things in visible places as little as possible. It's better to hide them behind cabinet doors. Otherwise, the narrow hallway will create the impression of a heap of household items. In the photo of well-designed small hallways you can see how organically a wardrobe can be placed in the room, in which outerwear, shoes, umbrellas and other accessories will be hidden. Sliding wardrobes can have niches in the form of shelves, so that you do not have to additionally place a table or bedside table in the room.
Related article: Decorating a small hallway: selection of materials
Doors in dark shades
Very often dark doors are used to decorate a hallway. You should approach their purchase with caution: such a door does not always form a single ensemble with the rest of the room.
If you prefer doors in wenge, burgundy or chocolate, then purchase light wallpaper for wall decoration: gray, sand, pistachio.
Positive sides:
- They outline the space well and draw attention to themselves.
- They are practical; dirt is practically invisible on such doors.
- Noble dark door leaves will enliven the interior in a modern style.
But it is worth remembering that dark shades “eat up” the volume of the room. Experts do not recommend using them for small entrance areas.
Doors to the hallway are installed for more than one season. Therefore, it is important to choose the right texture and palette of designs. The most unpleasant thing is when the result of the repair does not justify the time and money spent.
We arrange it correctly
Many people pay a lot of attention to the design of their living room, bedroom or bathroom. But for most, the hallway somehow fades into the background. Although the interior of the corridor in the apartment, in fact, is of great importance for the perception of the entire housing. In the photo you can see that this room can be the decoration of the entire apartment.
When deciding what the hallway will be like, base it on the style of the whole house; the corridor is an integral part of the home.
As soon as we enter a living space, the first thing that catches our eye is the design of the corridor. If it disappoints, then the design of the entire apartment probably leaves much to be desired. And even if this is not the case, the first impression of the guests is already ruined.
And for the apartment owners themselves, a dark, cramped room also has a depressing effect. Few people know that there are affordable and simple ways that can make the design of a corridor in an apartment fashionable and relevant. To do this, it is enough to know a few simple rules that will help you avoid common mistakes made during renovation not only by the apartment owners themselves, but also by designers.
Related article: Design features of a bathroom with a shower (+50 photos)
Corridor design - main mistakes:
- the small corridor is made too dark;
- too much furniture is placed in narrow small hallways;
- There are too many doors leading from the corridor to the rooms; if possible, at least one should be removed;
- When decorating hallways, people often forget about comfort and harmony with other rooms in the apartment.
If you make just one of these mistakes, expensive fashion materials may look completely different from what was originally intended. Next, the most optimal solutions for narrow and small corridors will be proposed. After all, in such hallways it is most difficult to carry out beautiful original renovations.
Photo of doors in the hallway
Common examples of modern cladding
To decorate the entrance area, facing materials such as veneer, plastic, PVC, stone, eco-veneer, and laminate are actively used. Most of the presented types are fixed to the surface under the influence of warm air from a powerful household or construction hair dryer. To maintain the integrity of the coating, you need to act quickly and very carefully, which is why specialized specialists are usually involved in such work. When introducing decorative stone into a composition, they are armed with special adhesives.
Carved decor of the entrance door
Painting the front door
