We have been renting our house for 3 1/2 years now and the only part of the house that we haven’t decorated yet is the hallway & stairs. The main reason for this is because it is such a huge area. The rest of the house I have happily bought a tin of paint and got to work, but the hallway is too big and the ceilings too high to allow me to do that without risking my life balancing on ladders! It is a passing through area where shoes and bags get dumped, we don’t spend great amounts of time in there but on the other hand it is the entrance to the house and first impressions count right? It’s the place where our Children’s friends get dropped off and most of the time the only part of the house that their parents get to see, along with all those other people who show up and never go beyond the front door – friends of friends, salespeople, the DPD guy and so on. But most importantly I want to put my key in the door and step into my little haven, the place I love to be the most.
So up until now that hasn’t been the case, our hallway was very dated with green patterned wallpaper and green carpet throughout. There was absolutely no point in me painting when we were still going to be stuck with a green carpet so we’ve just left it. It is an old Victorian terraced house so the ceilings are high and we have 2 staircases, one goes into the converted loft room, therefore that’s a lot of carpet and a huge expense which we don’t want to be paying when it’s not our house. We’re very lucky in that we have the most lovely landlords so we recently decided to approach this with them and ask them if they would consider replacing the hallway carpet. They agreed with no hesitation…. yeehaaaaaaaaaa!!! So it’s operation go and I’m super excited! If you’re in a similar situation and you’re renting then it’s always worth putting some ideas together and asking. You’ll find lots more advice if you’re renting in my Rental tips for tenants section of the blog.
So what are my plans for the Hallway makeover?
Basically two major changes is all it’s going to take to transform the whole space. First I will have great pleasure ripping up the carpet, green is just not my colour and because there is so much of it there’s no escaping. The floorboards in the hallway are in great condition so my plan is to sand them down and stain them. Then the 1st staircase will have a runner and the rest will be carpeted. The second major job is painting over the green patterned wallpaper. With the house being Victorian it would be a huge, messy job to remove it and I don’t want to risk taking off the wallpaper and having to re-plaster so the decorator has agreed that we can just use it as a lining paper and paint over it, much easier! Like most hallways it doesn’t get much natural light so I’m planning on keeping the decor fairly light and neutral. I will then accessorise with colour and lots of texture to bring the space alive.
Wooden floor with neutral decor. Photo credit www.cabbagesandroses.com
Gorgeous stair runner. Photo credit www.idealhome.co.uk
There isn’t much room for a console as the hallway is quite narrow. There’s a large radiator at the bottom of the stairs which is where I would ideally have liked to have a console so instead I’m going to go for a scaffold board shelf and fix that above the radiator. That way I can place a lamp, some faux flowers or a plant on there along with a few other accessories. I’m also going to hang a large mirror above the shelf to open the space up. I already have a beautiful pendant light in the hallway which I love so that’s a keeper and I would love to source a couple of vintage, wooden cinema chairs to use as seating for the kids to put their shoes on and off.
Perfect hallway seating. Photo credit – www.vintageindustrialstyle.com
I will be doing a before and after post once it’s completed but here’s a quick mood board that I’ve put together.
So what do you think to my hallway makeover plans? You can follow my hallway progress over on my Instagram stories. Can’t wait to show you the final reveal!
Are you working on an Interiors project at the minute that you’re super excited about? If you require any help them check out my Interior styling options here.
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