Designing the hallway: How to create a welcoming entrance area

A well-designed hallway warmly welcomes both your guests and you. Color, light, and furniture play a central role in this. Use mirrors to visually enlarge the space, choose practical and stylish coat racks, and add plants for a fresh ambiance.

Below we explain our ideas and hacks for your home. With our guide, you will find inspiration, tips, and discover new trends. Redesign your hallway with our living ideas!

1. The perfect color

Choosing the perfect color for the hallway affects the overall mood of your home. It determines whether elegance or fresh minimalism plays a role. Light tones such as white or pastel as a background make small hallways appear larger, while dark colors convey warmth.

Pay attention to things like harmonious combinations of wall colors and avoid too many strong colors to create a balanced ambiance on the walls. Complement the tone or the wallpapers with selected decorations such as pictures. This way, you bring a touch of living into the house. Remember: often less is more in the hallway or pass-through rooms!

For the ceiling, the basic rule is: the primary color is white. However, paneling might be considered for a country house style. This should, however, match the flooring or existing doormats.

Additionally, it must also combine well with furniture such as a console, a wardrobe, coat hooks, dressers, shelves, and more.

Here's how to find them: Choose your wall color to make the hallway cozy

Choosing the right color for the hallway can affect the mood of the entire home. Light shades such as white, beige, or pastel make the space appear larger and more open. These hues reflect light optimally and create a welcoming atmosphere.

Darker colors, on the other hand, can convey a sense of warmth and security. They are particularly suitable for larger hallways or areas with plenty of natural light. Consider the atmosphere you want to create and how much light falls into your hallway.

In this way, you achieve the perfect balance between brightness and coziness. Especially without windows, this aspect is important for safety in the stairwell. Things like a gallery, paintings, a sculpture, or a poster as wall decor provide an individual touch.

Which colors match?

Combine light base colors with bold accents as inspiration to create dynamism and interest. A white wall can harmonize excellently with a blue door frame, elegant curtains, a laminate floor, or a green bench.

This creates a visual contrast. It also highlights individual elements. Natural wood tones complement muted colors such as gray or taupe well. They provide a warm, inviting ambiance. Such combinations add depth and character to the room without overwhelming it.

This coordinated color palette gives your hallway a stylish yet cozy atmosphere.

Which color combination does not look good?

Avoid combining too many bold colors in different niches when designing walls. This can quickly appear cluttered and chaotic. Too much color on the walls can make the space feel restless or visually overwhelming. This affects the pleasant atmosphere.

Particularly contrasting color combinations such as red and green should be used sparingly to avoid making the room look restless. A balanced color palette with subtle accents creates a harmonious overall impression. Instead, opt for a strategically placed wall painting.

A bright splash of color using mirrors or a side table, for example, can enliven the room and give it a playful touch. Find a main color. Complement it with a few strategically placed accents. This will achieve a thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing decor. Rugs or runners in the center are also ideal.

2. Create coziness with a sofa

A small sofa or a cozy bench in the hallway provides a practical seating option for putting on shoes and also creates a welcoming atmosphere.

Such furniture is very valuable if you are aiming for maximum comfort. These pieces give the entrance area a homely character and invite you to linger. Make sure that the sofa or armchair fits the size of the hallway and does not block the passage.

A well-placed, compact piece of furniture can, for example, make optimal use of the space without overcrowding it. Choose materials and colors that harmoniously blend into the rest of the decor.

3. Use light correctly

Good lighting is crucial for creating an inviting hallway. Consider it from the beginning of your planning. It works wonders and influences the charm of this area. Ensure that the entire space is evenly illuminated to avoid shadows and dark corners.

Properly placed lamps can set accents and visually enlarge the hallway in the house. Moreover, they are great home accessories that draw attention to highlights and are themselves real eye-catchers.

What you should consider for the hallway

Good lighting is crucial for room design. Ensure not only in the living room, bedroom, children's room, and kitchen, but also in the hallway that the entire area is evenly illuminated. Avoid shadows and dark corners in this way.

Uniform lighting in the hallway ensures safety and creates a welcoming atmosphere. It should be particularly strong in the stairwell.

These lamps are suitable for lighting

For the foyer design in the reception area, ceiling lights and wall lights are particularly suitable as they ensure even illumination of the entire room. Spotlights can be used to specifically highlight certain areas such as artworks or decorative elements, thereby creating interesting accents.

Pendant lights, on one hand, provide functional lighting. On the other hand, they also set stylish accents and give the hallway an elegant touch. Especially in old buildings, such a light creates a unique ambiance. A table lamp on a dresser also looks good. Complement it with some flowers for hallway decoration on both sides.

The combination of these lights creates a welcoming and ideally illuminated atmosphere that enhances the entrance area. However, it is best if some natural daylight also enters the room. For this purpose, corridor doors with window panes are suitable.

Calculate light intensity in the hallway

To calculate the correct brightness for your hallway and other rooms, multiply the square meterage of the room by the recommended number of lumens per square meter (approximately 100 – 150 lumens). This calculation will give you the total amount of light needed.

This makes the hallway sufficiently bright and welcoming. For example, a 10 square meter hallway thus requires between 1,000 and 1,500 lumens. By using this method, you can specifically select the appropriate light sources and ensure optimal lighting.

4. Utilize every corner of the apartment with a table or other furniture

Corner tables, a white shelf against an elegant wallpaper, a dresser, consoles, custom-built ins, or a shoe cabinet are perfect for effectively utilizing unused corners in the hallway and placing them decoratively on the floor.

They provide a practical surface for keys, mail, or decorative items such as vases and picture frames, adding a personal touch to the room. Meanwhile, various pieces of furniture maximize the available space while maintaining order.

In larger hallways, a corner table can even be used as a small work desk. This provides additional functionality. With the right decoration and arrangement, the corner table becomes a charming focal point. It gives the hallway an efficient and stylish appearance.

 

Thus, every corner is optimally utilized with special furniture.

5. Hang magnifying mirrors

Mirrors reflect light. They make the hallway appear larger and brighter. A large wall mirror or several small mirrors can effectively utilize this optical illusion by amplifying the existing light and visually expanding the space.

Strategically placed mirrors capture natural light and distribute it evenly throughout the hallway, creating a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Additionally, mirrors add an elegant touch with a brightening effect and can serve as stylish decorative elements.

By combining different sizes and shapes of mirrors, an interesting and dynamic room design can be achieved that enhances the hallway. Moreover, the piece adds style to the room.

6. Finding the Perfect Wardrobe

With the perfect wooden wardrobe, you combine functionality and design. The piece of furniture provides ample space for jackets and coats while being aesthetically pleasing. Models with additional storage areas for hats, gloves, and scarves are particularly practical.

Creative solutions such as wall hooks at various heights and a dresser for decorative items like a vase, a picture, and photos bring life into the room. A combination of open clothes racks and closed cabinets maximizes storage space and creates a modern look.

Furthermore, a coat stand and a bench with cushions or a chair are a popular mix. Beneath them, a rug looks good on the tiles.

Combining functionality and design

A wardrobe should easily provide ample space and numerous hooks for jackets and coats for your visitors. Everything stored here should therefore have a place for storage.

The furnishing ideas should be aesthetically appealing to make the entrance area inviting. Products with additional storage spaces for hats and scarves are particularly practical. They create order and facilitate daily use.

By combining functionality and design, a modern wardrobe can be both practical and decorative. This makes the hallway an organized and stylish space, positively influencing the first impression upon entering the home.

Creative Solutions

We have more impactful ideas for you! Use wall hooks at various heights and in a unique shape to maintain order while achieving a modern look.

Such a solution maximizes storage space in conjunction with enclosed furniture and offers versatile hanging options for jackets. By cleverly utilizing both elements, a functional and stylish entrance area is created that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing.

Maximize storage space

If you want to maximize storage space in the hallway, you need clever solutions that are both practical and aesthetic. Use multifunctional furniture such as benches with integrated storage or slim console tables with drawers.

Utilize the vertical space with tall shelves or wall hooks to neatly store jackets, bags, and accessories. Shoe cabinets or baskets under the coat rack provide additional space for shoes without cluttering the hallway.

Do you need help with your selection? Feel free to contact our service. We will assist you with the setup and share some tips so that you can look forward to a positive change. Also, feel free to check out our offers in Germany on the website.

You will find interior furniture for the entire family with us. The right cabinet, a desk for the home office, a shoe rack, and wall shelves will arrive at your home within a few days.

By the way: Achieve the aesthetics you desire affordably with our special promotions. Our furniture outlet is particularly popular.