23 ways to lighten up a dark hallway
There's no interiors condundrum quite as tedious as the long, dark hallway. Ubiquitous in flats, maisonettes and townhouses, such hallways can become spaces to enter and exit through as quickly as possible (mind the discarded post and bikes). However there are many ways to optimize these small, narrow and light-deprived spaces. If you're ready to do something more drastic, then internal windows and skylights are an obvious way to inject light. Maximising practicality with benches, tables and coat hooks is also a smart way to transform the space. However, decoration solutions are also abound: whether it's bright paint and wallpaper (gloss paint if you're feeling brave), dark colour schemes (to double-down on mood), stair runners, artwork, creative lighting and mirrors. From the archive, take a look at some of our favourite ways to brighten up your dark hallway space.
1/23The front entrance of the designer Beata Heuman's home is papered in a sea grass wall covering. 'Seagrass is more resistant than paint, which is important in a narrow space. It is also a good back drop for pictures. We have a radiator here, but we also needed a table, so this is the bespoke piece I designed out of necessity.'
Romain Ricard2/23In this Victorian house in London, Maria Speake has cleverly reorganised the layout and made inventive use of the salvaged materials for which her company Retrouvius is known. Farrow & Ball’s soft green ‘Mizzle’ paint provides a backdrop for pocket doors which lead in to the kitchen in Neisha Crosland’s metallic ‘Moorish Circles’ wallpaper. Reclaimed parquet floor transitions in to green carpet on the stairs.
Paul Massey3/23Crimson gloss paint is not for the faint-hearted, but designer Suzanne Sharp has used it to great effect in the west London home of her friends Jos and Annabel White. It might be tricky to apply, but it bounces the light around beautifully.
Yuki Sugiura4/23Matilda Goad has used a navy blue striped runner from The Cloth Shop on the staircase of her London home. The stripes echo the colours of the walls which have been painted pale blue above the dado rail and navy blue below, a clever trick which mimics the effects of wall panelling and gives a sense of increased height to the space.
Paul Massey5/23The artist Bridie Hall added panelling to the walls of the hall in her Victorian house in north London painted in ‘Spanish Brown’ gloss paint by Little Greene, a nice contrast to the bright white of the walls above. Plaster casts of classical architectural features by Peter Hone cover the walls.
Christopher Horwood6/23The hallway of Lucy Williams' house is a study in pink, with Myland's Soho House on the walls and reclaimed quarry tiles on the floor. In a complementary tone, the stairs are painted in Paper & Paints Porphyry Red. The ceiling light is a Beata Heuman piece, whilst the pine wall light – one of Lucy's “absolute faves" – is a vintage find. Providing a stylish focal point is a side table found at Alfie's Antiques, which displays a ceramic vase by Bettina Ceramica.
Owen Gale7/23The hallway of Lucinda Chambers' London house is filled with art, but it is the colour palette on the walls that is most striking. Paint Library’s ‘Bruno’ sits on the bottom, with Farrow & Ball’s ‘Mizzle’ above and a black line to divide them.
8/23With a long expanse of blank wall, hallways are often the perfect part of the house to create a tableau of objects. In this house by Hackett Holland a pair of lamps on a console table frame a mirror.
Michael Sinclair9/23If you really can't lighten the space up, it can be a smart solution to just embrace the darkness and make it glamorous. The hallway of interior designer Pandora Taylor's house is painted in Farrow & Ball's De Nimes, with woodwork in Off Black. A vintage Murano glass pendant hangs from the ceiling, while Pandora found the sconces at TAT London.
Paul Massey10/23In her latest project for a long-standing client, the designer Ann Boyd has pared back the interior of a London house to create light-filled spaces. Here a wall of Crittall windows separates the family room from a hallway in which a large ink-on-gesso artwork by Idris Khan dominates. The wall of glass allows for a free flow of light between spaces. Moleanos limestone was used for the floor. Two wall lights from Ed Butcher match the brass legs of an upholstered bench bought at Alfies Antique Market.
Paul Massey11/23This house in west London has been thoughtfully reconfigured by Todhunter Earle Interiors to accommodate a family with young children, as well as their growing collection of antique ceramics and artworks. In this lower-ground room, which doubles as a spare room for guests, internal windows and a glazed door separate the space from the hallway. This brings as much natural light as possible into an area that would otherwise be quite dark. Walls in warm ‘Buff ’ and woodwork in ‘Milk White’, both from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, contribute to the airy feel, and a sofa bed in a rich yellow brushed linen-cotton from Sofa.com can be converted easily for guests.
STEPHAN JULLIARD12/23Marianne Evennou's small flat in Paris made use of internal windows to add light and create depth of space, whilst on the walls she favours deep, dark and moody ‘Nordic tones.’
Mark Fox13/23At Alfred Bramsen's East London flat, the vintage red kimono that greets you belonged to Alfred's grandmother, while the open shelving holds the couple's eclectic library of books. The crates at the bottom are from Hay, while the basket is an antique from Japan.
Matt Clayton14/23Paint and wallpaper creates interest in Cath Beckett's hallway. The woodwork is painted in a Dulux green (30 GG 72/212), a colour taken from the ‘Rites of Spring’ wallpaper by Whiteworks.
Ngoc Minh Mgo15/23In Harriet Anstruther's Sussex farmhouse, her grandmother's books line the landing to a spare room - a low-effort idea for a casual, comforting feel.
Simon Brown16/23Designer and architect Ben Pentreath created this scaled-up version of Rocque's 1746 map of London for the staircase at his friend and business partner Bridie Hall's Canonbury house.
Simon Upton17/23A linen cupboard is a useful addition to the first-floor hallway of Keith McNally's family home in Notting Hill. The owner of restaurants in New York and now London (most famously Balthazar) used an unusual technique to get the aged look on the walls.
Andreas Von Einsiedel18/23Maximising light and space was essential to show the owner's post-war art and sleek French art deco furniture to their best advantage in this elegant Pimlico flat. In the hall, a drawing by Emile Gilioli leans against a wall.
Luke Edward Hall19/23The hallway of Luke Edward Hall and Duncan Campbell's London flat is painted in Farrow & Ball's fresh 'Folly Green' colour, which brightens a potentially dark space. A colourful antique kilim from the Rug Store in Richmond sits on the floor beside a plaster ionic capital by Peter Hone. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling with framed prints, exhibition posters and maps. Luke and Duncan collect 20th century exhibition posters from the likes of Picasso, Hockney and Calder, with the yellow Matisse one in the hall being a favourite of theirs. For framing, they use Circa 48 on Brecknock Road, which is just a stone's throw from their house. 'It's incredibly reasonable and they can supply just about any frame you wish,' says Luke.
Paul Massey20/23Susan Deliss is an textiles dealer; it only seems right that she have an antique Suzani hanging on the landing outside the main bedroom in her French country home. A motif from this piece of fabric inspired the decoration around the doorway, which was hand painted by Max. Make like Deliss and let pattern take over a space - let it jump off the fabric and onto walls, floors, ceilings and other furnishings.
Alexander James21/23The back door of this Edwardian villa designed by William Smalley is reached through a sleek panelled cloakroom. Half-glazing a front door is an easy way to bring more light into a space.
Simon Brown22/23In this flat by Beata Heuman, the front door opens straight onto a hallway with a playful, striking pink floor inspired by an 18th-century floor Beata saw in Palermo on her honeymoon.
Simon Upton23/23The owner of this 1830s London house wanted it to be restored to its original style, which interior designer Max Rollitt achieved by retaining its idiosyncrasies and, including the original dentilled cornicing in the hallway illuminated by an 'Original Globe' lantern from Jamb (available in two sizes; the smallest measures 57.2 x 40.5cm diameter and costs £2,640).
