The word "hallway" has long been included in the everyday life of Russians, since it most clearly reflects the purpose of the space between the entrance door to the house and the rooms. There are also other names for this place: "hall", "front" or simply "corridor". All of these words are of little use for most small Russian apartments.
Hallway in Russian apartments
The hall implies a large space in which guests can easily fit before the event. The front hall was previously called the place where footmen neatly hung hats and coats of gentlemen. A small narrow entrance hall, so often found in apartments, as a rule, immediately passes into the corridor. Therefore, the design of this part of the house needs to be given special attention.
Coming to visit, a person always gets first in the hallway. It should immediately show the mood of residents, their interests and hobbies. In addition to all this, the hallway is of great functional importance, since on its territory are stored things and shoes of residents.
Most often, in Russian apartments, small spaces are allocated for these purposes. The design of the narrow entrance hall provides for an optimal arrangement of all the necessary objects in it and the correspondence of the interior to a certain style.
Recommended interior items for the entrance hall
1. A small bedside table, ottoman or other soft seat for removing shoes.
2. A hanger for seasonal outerwear with several hooks.
3. Place for shoes. It is advisable to equip shelves for storing clean dry boots and a grate for wet rubber boots.
4. A large elongated mirror. The ideal option is to place it on the front door, this option allows you to evaluate your appearance right before going out.
5. A cabinet for storing seasonal outerwear and shoes. Niches with compartment doors are best suited for these purposes.
6. Umbrellas are only relevant in fairly spacious hallways. The modern design of a narrow space may not have this piece of furniture.
7. Chest or cabinet for storing small items, such as mittens, gloves, scarves or keys. Small knitted or crocheted hats can also be stored in drawers.
8. A separate place for bags and shopping bags.
The presence of all these interior items will make the design of the narrow entrance hall in the apartment the most functional and suitable for everyday use.
The square shape of the room is considered ideal, but this is very rare. Therefore, designers often resort to various visual effects of expanding or increasing the height of the hallway.
Techniques for visual changes in the shape of the hallway
In situations where the ceilings in the apartment are high, the effect of a "well" is created in a narrow entrance hall. In such a room, the owners and guests will feel uncomfortable. The correct design of the ceilings in the hallway can change the situation for the better. It is enough to perform simple tricks. To visually reduce the height, you need to paint the upper 30 cm of the wall in the same color as the ceiling, in which case its area will increase. The rest of the hallway space can be used at the request of the owners. The walls will appear a little lower.
The owners of the apartment themselves can design the hallway. Small-sized wallpaper will make it more spacious. To expand the space along the walls, objects with reflective surfaces should be placed, for example, cabinets with mirrors or glossy inserts. To enhance this effect will help matte paint on vertical surfaces. More space seems in spaces with translucent furniture. For example, light texture legs of a chest of drawers or a chair do an excellent job of this.
The design of the hallway, long, narrow, with a small height should have a ceiling with a glossy surface and small lamps. On walls it is best to stick wallpaper with vertical stripes.
Features of the layout of narrow hallways
Before starting repairs in the hallway, you need to pay attention to many small details that, if improperly planned, can cause constant inconvenience to residents.
Entrance and interior doors when opening should not intersect each other. Otherwise, they will collide and leave scratches on each other. It is advisable to order all the doors in one style, this will be a unifying element of the interior.
Wall thickness also matters when ordering doors. In the store, you must definitely ask the consultant to demonstrate how the box will look when assembled.
If possible, it is better to immediately plan a warm floor in the hallway. This will help get rid of puddles under the shoes in the autumn and spring seasons. In winter, it’s nice to get up on the warm floor after returning from the cold. A heated surface minimally helps to dry wet shoes.
Features of the placement and camouflage of sockets, metering devices in a narrow hallway
It might seem that sockets are not needed in the hallway. But this is not so. They are best placed not in the most prominent places. They may be needed to enable shoe drying or a washing vacuum cleaner during cleaning.
Often near the front door in an apartment is an electricity meter, intercom handset and an alarm unit. All these devices can be closed with one decorative niche made of drywall. To do this, it is enough to pre-calculate the location of each of the blocks. Access to devices can be provided through doors.
Recommendations for placing items in a narrow hallway
The narrow long hallway option is the most difficult to place items. Do-it-yourself design of the hall should be done relative to the front door. As a rule, there is more space on one side of it than on the other. On a wide part of the wall, starting from the door, it is better to place a shoe rack, then a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. In this case, the entrance to the apartment will not create a feeling of narrow space.
It is better to leave the narrower part of the wall unfurnished and place a mirror on it. If this is not possible, then under it you can install a small narrow bedside table or table.
It should be borne in mind that the depth of all furniture in a narrow hallway should not be more than 60 cm. The shoe rack and chest of drawers should not protrude more than 45 cm from the wall.
The mistake of many residents who prefer to do the design of the hall with their own hands is to place a wardrobe near the front door. In this situation, the simultaneous arrival of two guests will be very inconvenient for them, since it will be impossible to remove shoes at the same time. The location of the deep cabinet in the middle of the corridor is also erroneous. The large dimensions of this item can cause permanent bruises to residents.
Features of narrow hallway lighting
Arriving at home, we immediately want to be in an atmosphere of warmth and comfort. This environment can be created using lighting. For example, a good solution is the lighting above the cabinet, small bulbs will not be evident, but it will be nice to be in the hallway.
Also, do not forget about the area near the mirror. Women love to paint their lips before going out, so highlighting this part of the space is also necessary. The design of the narrow hallway corridor must necessarily take into account the fact that natural light rarely gets into this part of the apartment. This suggests the need to install local devices. In the cabinet you need to place special lights that turn on by pressing them. This is the only way to find the necessary things.
The design of the narrow hallway involves uniform lighting. When you include all the elements, they should not create shadows from each other. Switches should be placed close to the door, it is convenient when entering the room in the dark.
Country style narrow hallway design
The atmosphere of warmth and hospitality inherent in the apartments of many owners is perfectly revealed in the entrance hall, decorated in the style of country. A simple rustic interior with furniture made from natural materials of light tones becomes a good solution for a narrow space.
The design of the narrow entrance hall can be varied with wallpapers with floral themes. The lower part of the walls is suitable for decorative plaster or natural stone. Artificially aged surfaces will add vintage to such an interior.
The design of the ceilings in the hallway should not contain multi-level structures and modern lighting. It is better for him to use wooden decorative beams in light shades.
Oriental style hallway design
Oriental luxury does not provide for rude forms and gloomy colors. It is always the result of the painstaking work of the designer to fill the space with numerous details pleasing to the eye.
This style is suitable for a narrow hallway, as it is devoid of brutal attributes. Thin twisted legs of the seats and shoe racks can expand the space. Using several mirrors and good lighting will help to make the place at the front door brighter.
The design of the narrow entrance hall in an oriental-style apartment may seem too bright. In this case, you can use only its most suitable parts. For example, to install neutral light furniture in the hallway and complement it with bright elements in the form of a vase, ottoman pillow or mirror frame with characteristic patterns.
French style in the hallway
Restrained shades of furniture, unobtrusive patterns and soft lines are the main features of the French style. Such a hallway is suitable for calm hosts, to whom guests often come. The walls in the room can be painted. Another design option is pasting with white, lilac or light green wallpaper with a small pattern.
The design of the narrow hallway corridor should not contain sharp corners and clear geometric shapes. The best option for a French chest of drawers will be a model on thin legs. This applies to the cabinet and shoe rack.
All the small details of the interior should be saturated with the spirit of luxury and a sense of style.
Narrow entrance hall in a classic style. Distinctive features
The entrance hall in the classical style is a universal option, suitable for many apartments. This is due to the ease of combining this interior with the decor in other rooms and in the kitchen. The design of the narrow entrance hall in a panel house is different in that the walls in such a room can be uneven. This can be advantageously used by constructing a wall cabinet or shelf for storing scarves.
It should be borne in mind that the classic style is characterized by the use of only natural materials and colors. The cabinet can be exclusively made of wood, parquet is required on the floor. The colors in such a hallway are always restrained, for example, beige, brown or chocolate.
Do not save on furniture fittings. The handles of cabinets and hangers should be made of high-quality metals. Over time, they should not wear off the paint. The classic design of the narrow hallway immediately speaks of the status of the owners of the house.
Minimalism style hallway
The name of this style speaks for itself. In such a hall there is no place for unnecessary details and unnecessary decorations. Everything here is concise and functional.
Of the furniture in such a hallway, only a chest of drawers and a closet are provided. A small shoe stand may be present. But the modern design provides for a large number of mirrors in such a space. In a narrow corridor this is especially true.
Thus, even the most inconspicuous hallway can be turned into a pleasant place, using various tricks, techniques and styles.