The corridor is the room where we enter from the hallway, so there is no point in paying attention to it during renovations. Beautiful decoration of the walls in the corridor, even if it is small or narrow, is also possible. The video in this article shows instructions on how to easily decorate the walls in the hallway with your own hands with accessories that you can afford.
Finishing the walls of the corridor building materials such as for example:
- Wallpaper.
- Dye.
- Panels.
- Tile.
- Artificial stone or brick.
And other materials, few people think that with their help you can decorate your walls in a beautiful and original way. Let's look at how and how to beautifully decorate the walls in the corridor using building materials.
Wallpapers and photo wallpapers
Wallpaper itself can be a work of art; its colors and designs allow you to create any style for your corridor. The main criteria for choosing wallpaper for the corridor and hallway are its resistance to mechanical damage and abrasion, since this cannot be avoided in a small or narrow room.
Let's look at the types of wallpaper:
- Paper. This type of wallpaper is unlikely to be suitable for a corridor, since paper also tears and rubs quite easily, and this is not suitable for a narrow room.
- Vinyl. This type of wallpaper is well suited for the corridor, as it is very strong and is not at all afraid of moisture.
- Non-woven wallpaper. Wallpaper made from this material is ideal for the corridor, because it is strong and moisture-resistant, but its cost is quite high.
- Woven. Such wallpaper consists of fabric fibers, which means that caring for such wallpaper will be quite labor-intensive, and besides, they are very expensive.
- Fiberglass. This unusual type of wallpaper is well suited for painting; it is strong, but will not please you with a large selection of patterns.
- Metallized. The quality of such wallpaper is suitable for decorating corridor walls, but their colors are dark, and this can be a disadvantage.
- Liquid. It's pretty the new kind wallpaper that is suitable for corridor walls if they are additionally treated with moisture-resistant agents.
Photo wallpaper is an additional decorative finishing material, they serve more to decorate the room. Photo canvases may vary in their quality characteristics, but with a special coating, such canvases can withstand difficulties and wet cleaning.
Advice! When choosing wallpaper or photo wallpaper, pay attention to the icons on the packaging; it indicates how resistant and moisture-loving the canvas is.
Dye
Paint is best option for corridor walls, since it withstands mechanical and some chemical influences, it will not lose color saturation, and a large assortment of colors and shades will help create the uniqueness of the interior.
Using paint in the hallway, we can combine different colors and shades, and also, having the ability, we can decorate the walls with bright drawings. Paint is often used to decorate the walls of kindergarten corridors, as it is quite resistant to damage and such walls are easy to wash, observing hygiene standards.
Almost all types of paints are suitable for decorating the walls of the corridor (see How to paint the walls in the corridor yourself), you only need to know about them that they can not allow air to pass through and take a long time to dry, they can be matte and glossy, as well as with a variety of textures.
Advice! You can consult a sales consultant about the quality of paints or find out information by studying the data on the packaging.
Panels
When choosing any panels for decorating a corridor, you must remember that this finishing material, when installed, takes up several centimeters of the room’s area. So if you have a fairly narrow or small corridor, is it worth choosing panels for its walls (see: Decorating the corridor with panels: doing it right). If your corridor is spacious enough, then panels made of any material will elevate it and help emphasize the stylistic direction of its interior.
Let's look at the most used types of panels and what they are made from:
- Wooden panels. They are made from valuable wood, are very aesthetically pleasing and very expensive. For their durability, they require care and specialized products.
- MDF panels. This material is made from pressed wood chips and looks like wooden panels, but they are much cheaper and easier to maintain.
- Fibreboard panels They are created from pressed wood fibers and other elements. They are well suited for decorating corridor walls.
- Chipboard panels Such panels are created from pressed sawdust using chemicals, so they are not suitable for residential premises, but for the corridor they are just what you need.
- Cork panels. Made from cork wood, therefore environmentally friendly. The disadvantages of such panels are their high cost and little choice drawing.
- Plastic panels. They are considered the cheapest, but are not recommended for residential premises, since they do not allow air to pass through at all, but they have big choice colors and designs.
- Mirror panels. Rather, these are mirrors in the form of panels from which you can create patterns and compositions, since they can be of any shape.
There are also other types of panels, such as acoustic - for greater sound insulation or gypsum - to create a certain style in the interior.
Tile
Tiles are rarely used for corridor walls; more often they can be seen in the kitchen or bathroom. For the corridor, these can be inserts on the walls made of tiles and, most often, mirror ones.
But let's still look at the types of wall tiles:
- Ceramic. The most popular finishing material for walls. It has a reasonable price and a large assortment. This tile is resistant to damage and moisture.
- Porcelain. A very aesthetic finishing material, strong, resistant to various influences and moisture-loving.
- Porcelain stoneware. A very strong and stable finishing material that can imitate various natural materials, such as stone or marble.
- Mirror. A fairly resistant finishing material to minor impacts, it is most often used as decorative element in finishing.
There are also other types of tiles, such as: majolica - made from sandy clay, teraglia - from valuable clay rocks with flux and sand, or cotto - matte tiles made from valuable clay.
We decorate the corridor walls with additional decor
If you are not going to do repairs in the corridor, but want to decorate the walls, then the following can help with this:
- Photo wallpaper.
- Paints.
- Stickers.
- Paintings.
- Panel.
- Mirrors.
- Watch.
And everything that comes to your mind. We talked about photo wallpapers earlier; they are easy to install, so you can easily do it yourself without help, of course, if the photo canvas is not very large in size. Family members or friends will help you cover the entire wall with photo wallpaper.
A large variety of paints for painting on various surfaces, will help you express your creativity. In this case, you will know for sure that no one has such a corridor design, since this is an expression of your inner world.
In stores you can find a wide variety of stickers of different quality, texture and, of course, colors and designs. Nowadays, the quality characteristics of such decorations allow them to be glued to any surface and serve for a long time.
For lovers of the classics, paintings and mirrors with a suitable image and shape are always suitable. But these accessories can be found not only in classically decorated interiors. A wide variety of mirror shapes and designs, as well as modern images, can suit even cutting-edge styles.
Decorating walls in a small or narrow corridor is also not a problem. Lamps, clocks or framed photographs of family members will look good in any hallway.
In conclusion
Now you know that decorating the walls of the corridor is not at all difficult. You just need to turn on your imagination and not be afraid of experiments.
Kitchen combined with hallway - original version redevelopment, which allows you to solve several problems at once: increase the functionality of the premises, “carve out” a few additional square meters, radically change the interior and, of course, realize your creative ideas.
In this article we have collected only useful information, which will help you implement the most daring ideas for remodeling the kitchen-corridor area.
Preparatory stage
It would seem that what’s so difficult about combining a kitchen and a corridor? However, there are a number of nuances that need to be taken into account at the preparation stage:
- Develop several options combining the kitchen with the hallway and choose the most optimal one in terms of the functionality of both rooms, the availability of free space and compliance with basic safety requirements (sanitary and hygienic, fire safety, etc.).
- Make sure that this type of redevelopment will not affect load-bearing walls, and obtain appropriate permission if necessary.
- Think through all the details design of your kitchen combined with the hallway: from color range walls and furniture selection to the number of lamps and decor.
If you plan to combine the kitchen with the hallway on your own, then you will need to make a list of the necessary building materials and purchase them. Another option is to leave all issues to be resolved by specialists by contacting a company that designs and creates interiors. As a rule, such companies offer several projects with photos of similar interior solutions, which will greatly facilitate your choice.
For reference: The area of kitchens in apartments of old buildings ranges from 4 to 11-12 sq.m. In modern new buildings and private houses, the kitchen space accounts for 11-12 sq.m. - not so much, considering that furniture and household kitchen appliances sometimes they can occupy more than half of this area.
Both in a private house and in a city apartment this is not uncommon, while a catering unit combined with a hallway is not so common.
This is explained by the fact that the implementation of such a redevelopment project is influenced by many factors - from the transfer of communications to compliance with SNiPs. Here's what experienced architects and designers say:
- The likelihood of combining a gasified kitchen with a hallway is very low. In accordance with safety requirements, the premises in which there are gas appliances, must be isolated from other rooms using dense partitions with doors. Open arches and doorways are not permitted.
- If the redevelopment project involves the complete or partial destruction of a load-bearing wall, then the housing inspectorate will approve it only under one condition: there should be no residential or gas supply premises on the ground floor in the area where the combined kitchen is located. At the same time, there should not be a toilet or bathroom on the top floor above your future kitchen.
Important! The project for redevelopment and transfer of communications must be agreed upon with the BTI and the architecture department. Otherwise, violators will face a hefty fine, as well as the cost of restoring the layout to its original form.
- Communications liner - important stage development of a kitchen project combined with an entrance hall in any small apartment. Consider ergonomic and reliable options for connecting sewer pipes, water supply, and electrical wiring. Don’t forget about the hood: it will not be superfluous even if the combined kitchen-hallway area is equipped with a window.
- In accordance with safety requirements, the width of passages in the combined “kitchen-corridor” area, furnished with furniture, must be at least 1 meter. The optimal width is 1.2 m.
Advantages and disadvantages of kitchens combined with hallways
Like any other layout option, combining a corridor with a kitchen (as well as a hall or living room) has its pros and cons.
Undoubted The advantages of the combined zone are:
- Demolition of walls adjacent to the corridor frees up additional space that can be optimized to suit your needs.
- The new space eliminates the feeling of cramping, and it will also be much easier to bring food from the hallway into the kitchen, take out the trash, etc.
Disadvantages include:
- Difficulties in obtaining all necessary permits in case of transfer of communications.
- The need for well-thought-out zoning, with which you can separate the cooking area from the corridor and block access to the kitchen from dust and dirt entering the house through the front door.
- The smell of cooking food spreads quickly throughout the house.
Partitions, as well as special moisture- and dust-absorbing mats that are placed near front door outside and inside. As for odors, the solution to this problem is to install a high-quality hood and purchase furniture with tightly closing doors.
Design options
When designing the interior of a kitchen combined with a hallway, use the following recommendations from professional designers:
- The distance from the kitchen-hallway area to the far wall of the adjacent room or furniture in it should be at least 1.5 m.
- The optimal width of the tabletop for this type of room is 70-80 cm.
- The built-in hob should be located next to the inner wall at a distance of 10-15 cm from the edge of the countertop.
- The recommended distance from the edge of the countertop to the sink is at least 5 cm.
These tips can be used both to create a kitchen combined with a hallway in a private house, and for combined “corridor-kitchen” areas in a small apartment.
To visually separate the kitchen and hallway space from each other, zoning is used. It can be done using partitions, various finishing materials, pieces of furniture, household appliances etc.
For example, a partition can be permanent (made of brick or plasterboard) or movable (in the form of a dense screen mounted on guide rails that are fixed to the ceiling and floor).
If you want to zone a room using decoration, then the hallway should be decorated in muted colors, and the kitchen interior should be bright and light - such shades will make the room visually more spacious and create a positive atmosphere in it.
Floor in the kitchen area can be made from floor tiles, and in the corridor - from laminate, and vice versa. Also ideal for zoning stretch ceiling, visually delimiting the space, and a lighting system.
Note: choosing flooring in the combined area, give preference to practical and moisture-resistant materials. They must withstand heavy loads and frequent wet cleaning.
A kitchen together with a long and narrow hallway does not leave many design options, however, even in this case, you can find the optimal solution.
The most popular types of layouts are L-shaped, two-row and single-row.
In the first case, all kitchen furniture and accessories are located along adjacent (not opposite) walls, which leaves enough space for maneuver.
With a two-row layout, also called English word“galley” (“galley”), furniture, stove, sink, refrigerator and wardrobe are arranged along opposite walls.
If the rule for the width of the passage is observed (1-1.2 m), then two people will be able to pass each other, but there will not be enough space for a dining room.
Single row layout is used in long corridors: all furniture - both kitchen and dressing room - along with large household appliances, a stove and a sink are lined up along one wall, leaving the opposite wall free.
Choosing furniture
The issue of selecting furniture for a kitchen combined with a corridor needs to be approached thoughtfully. Since most of the load on the room will come from the cooking process, the number of wardrobes and shoe cabinets should be reasonable.
To organize a hallway, a set consisting of a tightly closing chest of drawers and a wardrobe with sliding doors, as well as a shoe cabinet, will be sufficient. Optimal depth sections for the hallway - no more than 40 cm.
They will help to visually enlarge the corridor large mirrors and well placed lamps.
To protect food and dishes from street dust, purchase a mini-kitchen: a set of hanging cabinets and floor cabinets with hinged doors. If the layout of the apartment allows, use niche kitchens - they are convenient and compact.
Three-tier sets have also proven themselves well, making it possible to fill the entire space along the wall from floor to ceiling and find a place for almost all kitchen utensils. A bulky dining table can easily be replaced by a compact bar counter.
Remember: light shades of furniture make kitchen interior visually light and airy, creating the impression of large space.
Lighting Secrets
Lighting plays an important role in creating a thoughtful interior of a kitchen combined with a hallway.
As a rule, the corridor is devoid of any windows, and the light sources in this room are a pendant chandelier, wall lamps or floor lamps. If a couple of not very powerful sconces or lamps built into the furniture are enough for the hallway, then combining it with the kitchen requires brighter light.
Three classic options will help ensure this:
- Hanging chandelier for the kitchen. It is mounted in the center of the room, creating the necessary level of illumination of the entire space.
- Spotlights. They are placed directly in the cooking zone - so that during cutting of food and other manipulations working space it was well lit.
- Sconce. This lamp can be placed on the border with the hallway or near the door to the adjacent room.
When choosing lighting fixtures, pay attention to the quality of the materials from which they are made. Lamps must be protected from high humidity and be resistant to steam and grease.
The combined zone that will result from the redevelopment will radically transform your home and make it more comfortable and modern. We wish you creative inspiration and success in realizing your dreams!
Twenty partitions on forty square meters do not add space at all. Why not remove a few of them, making the apartment more modern and spacious? What makes you suffer the most from attacks of claustrophobia is the 6-meter kitchenette, which can be combined with a corridor or hallway, turning, if not into a comfortable kitchen-dining room, then at least into cozy corner. A kitchen and a hallway in one room is a bold decision, but how convenient is it? And is it possible to combine these two rooms with different functional orientations?
Purely practical considerations usually force one to think about eliminating or reducing the hallway. For example, the desire to expand the living room or increase the number of rooms in the apartment.
A bold decision both in terms of placement and room design
Arguments for the transfer
If there is not enough space in a small apartment, some areas have to be made multifunctional. By combining the hallway with the kitchen, the whole room will be freed up for other purposes. For example, here you can arrange a bedroom, office or dining room.
With only 24 sq. meters (the area of the entire apartment), you have to be creative:
If the hallway is large, part of it can be used as a kitchen area, which in turn can be combined with the living room, creating a studio space. And leave a smaller part for the hallway area.
Spectacular micro-loft:
If you want light, air and space, the hallway can be removed completely. Entering the apartment, you immediately find yourself in a spacious kitchen-living room. The sight of a large open space has a positive effect on your mood and perception of your living space. A small apartment, divided by walls into dull little rooms, often depresses the owners. The same modest footage, but “without borders” is perceived in a completely different way.
Freedom territory on 44 squares:
This option is suitable for bachelors, students and young families. Families with children should avoid this technique.
In a loft space, this solution looks especially organic
An amazing view from the window that you want to admire. In most apartments, especially those from older housing stock, the corridors and hallways are cramped and dark. It is unlikely that anyone likes to rest their nose against a blank wall every now and then. It is much more pleasant to admire the opening prospect and the view from the window.
Free layout accepts any quirks
In the architecture of domestic apartments, a lot of attention is paid to corridors. As a rule, they take up a significant portion of the footage, but are completely non-functional. To get rid of them, significantly expanding usable area rooms, minimal redevelopment will be required. The hallway area can be designated conditionally, for example, separating the hallway from the kitchen-living room with a partition with a spacious closet. At the same time, a view of the living room with windows can open directly from the entrance area; this will fill the interior with light and air, making it lighter and freer.
Arguments against merger
Apartments without an entrance hall look amazing in Hollywood films or in the interiors of the sultry Mediterranean. In harsh domestic realities such a decision may not be comfortable for several reasons.
Always try on beautiful pictures from magazines to domestic and personal realities
A long autumn, a long winter, heavy rainfall, the deplorable condition of roads and sidewalks - a long season of cold and dirt. There’s nothing you can do, you have to stock up on several options for bulky outerwear, hats, more than one pair of shoes, and also always have brushes and umbrellas on hand. All of these “weather essentials” need to be stored somewhere. Yes, and immediately bringing dirt to the kitchen is not The best decision, but in a combined space this cannot be avoided even by the most scrupulous neat people.
IN real life Rarely is everything so neat
If there are many tenants in the apartment, it is better not to rush into cutting down the hallway. When making a decision, consider the size of your family—current and planned. That is, when calculating the optimal area of the entrance area or hallway, start from how many people simultaneously and regularly change their shoes and clothes in the apartment. You need to allocate at least one and a half meters to the hallway. For a family with two children and 3 sq. m will not be enough.
At least small hallway there should still be
It is better to make a storage system at the entrance with a reserve - at the rate of two or three pairs of shoes and two or three pieces of outerwear per person. An overloaded hanger looks untidy. In addition, searching for your jacket or coat in a pile of clothes is inconvenient and unpleasant. For a large family, this is another argument in favor of a full-fledged separate hallway.
The view of “boots and coats” from the kitchen and living room is not the most attractive prospect. Dreaming of a gorgeous view and limitless perspective from the threshold, don’t be too lazy to imagine what it will be like for you to cook and dine with a view of the dirty shoes and outerwear. Do you want to contemplate the front door while sitting at the table? This is neither bad nor good, it depends solely on individual preferences.
“Soul wide open” - interior for extroverts
Another important role of the hallway is to protect personal space from strangers. In a single studio space or in a kitchen-hallway, you will have to let strangers into the holy of holies.
We do everything according to the law - we save ourselves from problems in the future
Legal and technical details
Having decided on such an adventure, you should not forget about compliance with the law, which is important when carrying out any redevelopment. First, make sure that this is technically possible at all, then collect the necessary package of documents and coordinate the planned work. Only after this, start implementing your plans. Those who not only want to demolish the partition between two rooms, but plan to move the kitchen into the hallway, should especially adhere to this plan.
Combination of kitchen with hallway and living room
A single studio space that visually zones only LED lights
The kitchen can only be moved to non-residential and utility rooms. These include:
- corridor;
- pantry;
- wardrobe.
You can combine the kitchen with a spacious living room by moving all the kitchen equipment (sink and stove) into the hallway.
- Before you start construction work, think through the layout in detail and evaluate the technical capabilities for implementing the project - is it possible to supply water, sewerage and connect the hood.
- Coordinate the transfer of equipment. It's better to give preference electric stove. Transfer gas pipes- This is a dangerous and difficult task. Replacement gas stove Electrical installation is not possible in all homes.
- In accordance with sanitary standards, there should be enough in the kitchen natural light and there must be the possibility of ventilation. Therefore, moving the kitchen to a room where there is no natural light is prohibited. If there is no window in the corridor, free flow of light through the adjacent room is allowed.
Daylight into the kitchen comes from the next room
- If the kitchen also serves as a corridor, take care of the safety of passage - for this it is recommended to use a tabletop with a width of not 60 cm (standard depth), but 70-80 cm, install the sink 50 mm from the edge, and the hob 100-150 mm, that is closer to the wall. This measure allows you to minimize the risk of accidentally knocking over pots and pans with hot contents.
- Please note that according to fire safety standards, the passage must be at least 1 m, and, of course, no flammable materials. From an ergonomic point of view, it is better to place the kitchen-corridor no closer than 1.5 m from the opposite wall (or a row of cabinets); this is safe and comfortable for the cooking process.
The width of the passage must be at least one meter
Combination options + layout and design
We talked about technical capabilities and legal subtleties. It's time to get acquainted with design ideas for combining the kitchen with the hallway. The most often pursued goal of such a radical solution is to arrange a kitchen-living room in the corridor, and in place former kitchen arrange a modest bedroom. That is, turn a one-room apartment into an extraordinary “kopeck piece”, a “kopeck piece” into a “three ruble”, and so on. There are several methods of redevelopment; let’s look at the most popular and simple ones.
It is easier to realize your plans in a private house than in an apartment
Option one: moving the kitchen to the next room
If you want to get something like a studio kitchen, and between it and next room located bearing wall, don't give up. Thus, a kitchen in the hallway, the interior design of which is bold, implies a transfer kitchen equipment into the corridor. It, in turn, can be combined with a spare room. And in place of the former kitchen, make a bedroom bordering the bathroom, which is also very convenient.
Kitchen moved to the site of the former corridor
Advice. When moving the kitchen, be sure to calculate the distance from the riser and ventilation. Since such pipes must run downhill, this can be critical over long distances. You may have to raise the floor level or install a special pump. The easiest way, close to ideal, is when the new location for the kitchen borders on a riser.
If you are worried that the hood may not cope and kitchen odors will spread throughout the apartment, you can protect work area from the rest of the room using a glass partition. This solution will give the room airiness and lightness. A partition with frosted glass will hide the work area from prying eyes.
Advice. When using a stylish partition made of fabric stretched over a frame, you should remember one thing: such material will absorb kitchen odors, and frequent hot fumes in the room will lead to the formation of unattractive stains.
Sliding glass partition in the kitchen
Option two: moving the kitchen to a room with a distant riser
If you do not want to greatly complicate the task associated with the transfer of communications, or the non-residential area in your apartment is too far from the riser, you can leave the kitchen in its native territory or as close as possible to its original location. Just push it as far as possible towards the living room. Build into the resulting niche kitchen furniture.
Thus, according to the plan, the stove and sink remain in their rightful squares, and in fact, the rest of the former kitchen can be used as a living room. This option is easy to implement, because all communications are in place.
Visualization of the solution on the plan: in place of the kitchen there is now a bedroom
Option three: division and merger
A simple and practical solution that involves demolishing the partition between the kitchen and the hallway. As an option, an arch can be installed in the resulting opening. We divide the kitchen space into two unequal parts. On the smaller one, we will equip a kitchen niche, installing standard cabinets along three walls, leaving minimal space for passage.
If the partition is removed, then you can use the space of the corridor by building in, for example, a refrigerator and other equipment. It is better to do this in columns or cabinets.
The result is a convenient two-row layout
The owners of this apartment needed a guest bathroom, so they gave up part of the kitchen for it.
There used to be a storage room here
Option four: two-row walk-through kitchen
With this layout, furniture and appliances are placed along both sides of the passage corridor. In English, a walk-through kitchen is called a “galley,” which translated means “galley,” that is, a place on a ship intended for cooking.
It is necessary to equip a galley in conditions of severe shortage of free space on the ship. Its characteristic features: as a rule, one cook works here; There is no dining area; it is located in another room. It’s easy to fit a “working triangle” into this layout; for example, the sink and countertop can be placed against one wall, and hob- opposite between them. The disadvantage of this solution is that two cooks cannot separate in a narrow kitchen.
To implement such a solution, a wide corridor is needed
Layout option
The presence of windows greatly facilitates the situation
Two cooks can definitely get along in such an area - there are even two stoves for them
Option five: walk-through kitchen in one row
If you have a long but narrow corridor, all the necessary equipment and furniture can be placed against one wall. In particularly successful cases, you can even make room for a small dining table or bar counter. A mobile folding table will also help out.
Important! If the front door opens directly into the entrance, make sure that there is a high-quality rug at the entrance (it’s better to put several), which will collect dirt from outdoor shoes and prevent it from being carried to where you cook and eat.
The result is a long narrow single-row kitchen + convenient workplace
The built-in kitchen looks slender, organic and unobtrusive
Single-row walk-through kitchen in English style
The dining room is located two steps from the kitchen.
What to consider when combining a kitchen with a hallway
- The corridor is the closest room to the front door: take care of functional rugs that retain dirt as much as possible before entering the apartment.
- The isolated hallway serves as a kind of buffer between the “street” and living rooms. Take care of additional soundproofing of the entrance door and the wall that borders the closed vestibule or landing.
- By equipping your floors with a “warm floor” system, you will increase comfort by eliminating the need to lay unhygienic carpets in the kitchen;
- take care of a powerful hood so that clothes and things left at the entrance are not saturated with kitchen odors;
- It is recommended to equip all cabinet and built-in furniture in the hallway with tight doors to prevent the penetration of odors;
- When decorating walls, use colors and textures that can visually mask the inevitable kitchen stains, especially in work areas.
Why not “settle” the kitchen under the stairs right in the hall country house?
Given the initially modest area of the apartment, you won’t be able to roam around much. But why not make the impossible possible by simply approaching the project responsibly. Carefully consider the location of the headset. Make wall cabinets under the ceiling, leaving no room for dust, but increasing their usable area. Make a choice in favor of compact built-in appliances. By choosing an extraordinary, bold design, confidently move towards your goal.
Here we will look at how to design any narrow corridor - serving as a hallway or connecting parts of a house/apartment. Often there are also hallways in the shape of a small square, from which one or two narrow corridors (from 90 to 120 cm) branch off, leading to the kitchen on one side and the living area on the other side.
Such a hallway and the corridors extending from it should be designed in the same way, and the choice of color and material should be based on the corridors.
We will consider the issues of planning narrow and small hallways in a separate article; today we will only deal with the design.
The first and most important thing you need to know about any narrow rooms, – a so-called tunnel effect occurs in them, when it seems that the space above your head is narrower than in the lower half of the room. This effect is clearly visible in the photo on the right.
Sometimes this is also called “the walls seem to close in above your head.” True, such a pronounced tunnel effect occurs only in rather long and dark narrow corridors. But even if your hallway is short, the steps you take to prevent the tunnel effect will be helpful.
Lighting. A narrow corridor MUST be well lit.
If the corridor is short (up to 300 cm), then you can get by with one ceiling lamp in the center of the ceiling.
If the corridor is narrow and long (more than 350 cm), then two and sometimes three lamps are needed. The length of the ceiling is divided into three or four equal parts, lamps are attached to the boundaries of the parts, as in the figures below:
Corridor 350-500 cm long:
Corridor 500-600 cm long:
Corridor 600-1000 cm long:
Resist the temptation to place lamps on the walls. Yes, it looks beautiful when on a long wall equal distance Nicely designed lamps are placed. But, firstly, in a narrow corridor they will interfere, and secondly, by attracting attention to themselves, they will make the corridor visually even narrower. Mentally remove these lamps from the photo on the right - and you will understand what I am talking about.
The same applies to paintings and other wall decor. The narrower the corridor, the less sense there is in such decor: firstly, they simply cannot be seen in a narrow space, and secondly, they can get in the way. However, if you have a lot of beautiful family photos, where you are smiling and where there is a good positive background (sea, forest, beautiful cities, etc.), then you can hang them on the walls of the corridor - not to look at them, but to so that they create for you positive attitude. Walking past them many times every day, you will catch a positive message like “we are great, everything is fine with us, and it will be even better.” However, if you do not need such support, then it is best to leave the walls of the narrow corridor empty.
(In Western design, which I often refer to, they really like to hang pictures in narrow corridors - here I don’t agree with them
Wall color and material. Briefly about textures - use smooth textures in narrow corridors - any corrugation will become dirty and very quickly lose its new look (whether we like it or not, we always touch the walls in the corridor).
Of course, for a narrow corridor, all the same colors are recommended as for other small spaces - White color, light neutral colors (cream, beige, vanilla, very light gray), light cool colors (blue, turquoise, mint, cool green shades); Light blue and light lilac are not recommended - although they are cold, they do not give the effect of expanding the space and at the same time they are very dependent on lighting.
Universal advice for narrow spaces: avoid contrast. Compare two pictures:
The corridor in the photo on the left is expensive and impressive, but it will be inconvenient to use - contrasting bright light, dark doors, golden decorative panels on the walls - all this further fragments the small space. The corridor in the photo on the right is smaller and cheaper, but it looks nicer and better simply due to the lack of sharp contrast.
A good technique is to combine wallpaper horizontally with molding in the middle. If you make the lower half of the walls darker and the upper half very light or white, the tunnel effect will completely disappear. In this case, the lower part of the walls is covered with darker, durable, washable wallpaper, the upper part is covered with very light, and best of all, white wallpaper (also washable and durable), the joint is covered with wooden molding to match the door frames (in fact, you can simply use door casing) or just white. This is very practical, because when walking along the corridor, we often touch the walls - with our hands, sides, street clothes. If there is molding, the wallpaper will retain its new look much longer. When choosing this method, remember the universal advice - the contrast should not be very high, the ideal color ratio is “milk / coffee with milk”.
If your cat sharpens its claws on the walls, then I immediately recommend that you avoid wallpaper on the lower part of the walls in the hallway and corridor, because washable wallpaper has a structure that is very attractive to cats - they click pleasantly when the cat tears at them, and they are thick - cat does not injure claws on concrete walls. Consider the following ways to decorate walls in a narrow hallway/hallway.
- You can use Venetian plaster with a smooth texture - it is easy to clean and unattractive to cats.
- Can be sheathed bottom part corridor with clapboard and paint it in any color you like, and cover the top with wallpaper for painting or simply paint it light or white. The lining must be well varnished so that it becomes very smooth and shiny - then the cat will not be interested in it and it will be easy to wash.
- You can cover the lower part of the walls not with clapboard, but with laminate.
There is no need to lay out the lower part of the walls with ceramic tiles - it looks terrible. Personally, I also do not recommend wall panels made of plastic or PVC - they are often used in government offices and look both official and cheap in a bad way.
Floor. If you have an entrance hall with corridors extending from it leading to the kitchen and rooms, you can do this:
– lay out the hallway, the corridor leading to the kitchen, and the kitchen itself with one type of tile (highly recommended in small apartments with small children or pets), and in the corridor leading to the rooms, put the same flooring as in the rooms
– tile only the hallway, and use the same floor covering in both corridors, kitchen and rooms (it is also recommended small apartments)
– put the same floor everywhere, including the hallway, corridors and kitchen (high-quality parquet or parquet board, quality linoleum)
– lay out the hallway with one type of tile, use the same flooring for the corridors as in the rooms, and use a different type of tile in the kitchen (recommended only if emergency– if the kitchen design urgently requires a different tile)
Whichever method you choose, you may find the following tips useful:
– do not use smooth glossy coatings – they are very easy to slip on; use coatings with at least a little corrugation - 0.5-1.5 mm is already enough and almost does not make cleaning difficult
– do not use a very dark (black, dark purple, dark blue, dark green, etc.) floor – every speck of dust is visible on it, and the corridors are the most accessible place in the apartment; besides, in a narrow corridor, a very dark floor looks somehow rude and pretentious
– light colors wood or light/medium speckled tiles – perfect option for an apartment with narrow corridors
– if you have a horizontal combination with a darker lower half of the walls, you can safely lay a light floor, even if the lower wallpaper is darker than the floor
Doors, baseboards and furniture. If your hallway is a narrow corridor, make sure that all doors in the apartment (preferably including the entrance) and baseboards are the same color. This is, in principle, suitable for city apartments, and if the hallway is small, it will be very good if the furniture in the hallway is the same color as the doors. This method solves two problems at once - firstly, due to the minimal spread of colors, the hallway begins to appear larger, and secondly, the apartment does not break up into several small spaces (entrance hall, corridors, kitchen, rooms), but becomes unified.
Mirrors. If your narrow hallway gets light from a kitchen window or room window, it makes sense to hang a mirror where it will reflect the window as much as possible. As a rule, this is the very beginning of the corridor.
There is not the slightest decorative sense in hanging a mirror on one of the walls of the corridor in its depths (that is, not at the beginning and not at the end). I mean - if you need a mirror there for utilitarian reasons (to look into it), then this is absolutely ok, but if you plan to hang a mirror there so that it visually expands the narrow space of the corridor - it will not do this, because there will be reflect the opposite wall
Apr 18, 2017 Sergey
The hallway is a kind of face of the house: it is it that creates the first impression of it among visitors. Therefore, it is important that the decor of this area is attractive. But in the pursuit of beauty, it is important not to forget about the purpose of the room, which imposes certain restrictions on the use of materials. To avoid constant repairs, the selected decor should have the following properties:
- Wear resistance. Including resistance to abrasion and mechanical damage.
- Durability. It is optimal for the manufacturer to guarantee at least 5-7 years of coating service life.
- Easy to care for. Considering that hallway walls are often subject to contamination, the material must at least withstand wet cleaning. It is optimal if it can be cleaned with a brush and use some detergents.
- Maintainability. It is important that the coating can be restored. Then, if a defect appears, it can be repaired, which is much cheaper and easier than replacing the entire finish.
- Safety. The material must be safe for the health of others. In addition, it must be taken into account fire safety. Do not use flammable or toxic coatings in the room where it is located. This can cost lives in a fire.
The color of the coating and its texture can be very different. They are selected based on the characteristics of a particular hallway. By combining materials, shades and textures, you can achieve the best result. Bright hues, dark ones, on the contrary, narrow. Skillful use of patterns on the surface, lighting design and proper installation of mirrors enhance the effect.
The best materials for hallway walls
In the hallway, various materials can be used to decorate the walls. We have selected those that are optimally suited for this. Let's look at each in more detail.
1. Decorative plaster
It features an exceptional variety of textures and shades. Thanks to the fillers added to the composition, the finished coating can be smooth, embossed or patterned, small or large. Plaster makes it possible to achieve unusual decorative effects; in addition, it has a number of advantages:
- Strength, high wear resistance and long service life.
- Good breathability. Plastered walls can breathe.
- Safety. The coating does not emit toxic substances and does not burn.
- Easy care. Most materials can withstand wet cleaning.
Among the disadvantages, the difficulty of applying the material, especially some of its varieties, should be noted. Only a master can properly plaster the walls, which, of course, increases the cost of finishing. The price of the material may also be high. But this is more than compensated by the durability and practicality of this type of finish. Another minus - decorative plaster It can be very difficult to apply to complex architectural elements.
2. Paint
A practical and quite economical way. A wide range of colors allows you to choose any desired shade. You can combine two or three colors, make an ornament or design. Paints make it possible to obtain special decorative effects. Some of their varieties are capable of changing color when the viewing angle or lighting changes, imitating the most different materials, cast metal, etc.
Paints easily apply to surfaces, even those that have complex shapes and hard-to-reach places. Minor repairs Painting walls will not be difficult; it will be enough to repaint the damaged area. Advantages and disadvantages different types colors are presented in the table.
| Advantages | Flaws | |
|---|---|---|
| Latex | High abrasion resistance, vapor permeability. The coating washes well. | Old coating is difficult to remove. Constant exposure to moisture can cause peeling. |
| Water-based | Easy to lay down, lack of unpleasant odor, dry quickly. The cost is low. | Some varieties become dirty after drying and are washed off with water. Limited use. |
| Acrylic | They dry quickly, are economical to use, wear-resistant, safe, and durable. | Difficulty in choosing colors and shades. If you mix them yourself, they cannot be repeated. |
| Silicone | High strength, durability, vapor permeability, ultraviolet resistance. They have water- and dirt-repellent properties. | High consumption and high cost of material. |
Among the general disadvantages of using paint, the need for careful surface preparation should be noted. The walls must be smooth, otherwise the slightest defect will be clearly visible.
3. Wallpaper
Classic finishing method. The range of wallpapers is very wide: you can choose suitable option from a variety of colors and textures. , their cost is relatively low. When choosing, you need to remember that not all types of wallpaper are suitable for the hallway. You can choose from these varieties:
- Washable vinyl wallpaper. They hide the unevenness of the base well, are easy to clean, and adhere well. Can imitate a variety of textures. The cost is low. Among the disadvantages, you need to be aware of low vapor permeability and the possibility of damage to the decorative vinyl layer. If there are pets in the house, it is better to choose something else.
- Non-woven wallpaper. Durable, moisture resistant. They easily withstand staining, which makes it possible to repair them or simply repaint them when the design gets boring. They are very easy to glue, especially the meter wide varieties. Of the minuses, it should be noted the necessity.
- Glass wallpaper. Panels made using glass fibers. Are different high strength, wear resistance, immunity to moisture. Such wallpaper is not afraid of mechanical damage. They are completely safe, vapor permeable, and can withstand numerous colors and exposure to solvents. In addition, they additionally reinforce the walls. Disadvantage: the need for careful preparation of the base.
- Quartz wallpaper. They are a coating applied to a non-woven base made of quartz sand. The material is very wear-resistant, not subject to mechanical stress, and is easy to clean and wash. Multiple dyeing possible latex paint, allowing you to update the coverage as needed. The disadvantages include the rather high cost.
- Liquid wallpaper. They form a monolithic, very durable coating, which has high wear resistance and good sound insulation properties. The material is quite elastic; when the building shrinks, it does not form cracks. Easily tolerates repeated staining and wet cleaning. If necessary, the coating can be easily repaired. Of the minuses, it is worth noting the rather high cost.
- Cork and bamboo wallpaper. Completely natural and very beautiful coatings. They have good sound and thermal insulation characteristics. Quite resistant to various mechanical damage and easy to maintain. The disadvantages include difficulty in application. A leveled base and a special adhesive composition are required.
High-quality imitation natural stone. Available in the form of tiles or flexible plates. The latter are especially convenient for designing curved surfaces. For interior decoration, a composite is usually used, the basis for the production of which is gypsum. Artificial stone is quite easy to lay, it goes well with. Among the advantages of the coating it is worth noting:
- Good wear resistance and high resistance to mechanical damage.
- Durability. At correct installation fake diamond can last for more than a decade.
- High moisture resistance. The material does not allow water to pass to the base.
- Easy to care for. The coating washes well and does not absorb dirt.
- Security, including fire. The material is not flammable.
The disadvantage is the high cost, especially its flexible varieties. For this reason, cladding is often used to decorate parts of a room: door openings, corners, and the lower half of the walls.
5. Ceramic tiles
A practical way hallway decoration. The choice of tiles is very wide. The manufacturer offers materials with a variety of colors and textures. Imitations of expensive finishing materials are available: leather, natural stone, valuable wood. Among the significant advantages of ceramics it is worth noting:
- Durability and high resistance to all kinds of damage.
- Durability, the coating can last at least two decades.
- Moisture resistant, which makes maintenance much easier. The tiles are easy to clean, and even aggressive detergents can be used.
- Good compatibility with other finishing materials. For example, you can tile only the lower third of the wall, which is most vulnerable to dirt.
The disadvantages of the coating include not the easiest installation. The tiles are laid by specialists who have the skills to lay the material.
6. PVC panels
Wall plastic panels well suited for hallway decor. Their choice is very rich: a wide range of colors, with a variety of textures, patterns and decor. Among the significant advantages of PVC panels, the following are noted:
- Low cost. Perhaps this is the most budget-friendly way to decorate.
- There is no need to level the walls before installation.
- Easy care. The panels wash well.
The material has a lot of disadvantages. First of all, it is unstable to mechanical damage. After an impact, dents or even holes remain on the surface. During installation, a certain amount of free space is “eaten up”, since it is necessary to assemble the sheathing. The panels do not tolerate UV radiation. They fade quickly in the sun.
7. MDF panels
A good alternative to wood paneling. The basis of the material is an MDF board, which is painted, veneered or laminated. The result is a high-quality imitation of leather, wood, stone, fabric, etc. The main advantages of MDF panels are:
- Environmental Safety. The material is harmless to others.
- Durability and high resistance to various mechanical damage.
- Durability. At correct operation the panels last for more than a decade.
- Easy to care for. The panels are easy to wash and clean.
Among the disadvantages of the material, it is worth noting its fairly large weight, as well as the need to arrange lathing to secure it. The panels are flammable, which is also considered their disadvantage.
8. Composite 3D panels
They have a very attractive original appearance. They are made from various materials: glass, wood, plasterboard, pressed boards. Depending on the raw materials, their properties and costs vary somewhat. However, there are also general advantages:
- Quick and fairly simple installation.
- The ability to mask base defects; for this reason, complex preparation is not necessary.
- Maintainability. If necessary, the fragment that has become unusable is replaced.
- Possibility of simulating various materials.
- Wear resistance and strength.
- Easy care.
The downside of the material is its fairly high cost.
9. Laminate
This is good for decorating hallway walls. Considering that the flooring material was created, it has excellent performance characteristics. Its advantages include:
- Strength and wear resistance.
- Attractive appearance, various colors and surface textures.
- Uncomplicated and quick installation material.
- There is no need to prepare the base before installation.
Among the disadvantages, it is worth considering the high hygroscopicity of the material. It cannot be used in rooms with high humidity, because it deforms under the influence of moisture.
10. Fresco
Painting by wet plaster very beautiful. However, only an artist can do it independently, so a special finishing material is produced that imitates such a pattern. The basis of the fresco can be synthetic or non-woven. It is possible to include marble chips and plaster, which gives the decor a very realistic look. The fresco is used as decoration and can occupy a fragment of one or several walls.
Most often, frescoes are produced that imitate an aged wall, but other options are also possible, for example with the texture of silk or velor. The material is durable, abrasion-resistant and has a very attractive appearance. Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting the high cost and quite complex installation. It is better to entrust it to specialists.
What to consider when choosing a finish?
Hallway - The room is utilitarian. Before you start choosing its decor, it is worth determining the desired functionality of the room. This could be placement closed systems storage, an exhibition of family photographs, children's drawings or souvenirs brought from vacations or something else. Depending on this, the design is selected. In addition to functionality, you need to consider:
- Size and shape of the room.
- General style of home decoration.
- The presence of small children and pets, which can ruin some types of finishes.