The hallway is the first thing you see when you come home and the first thing guests see when they arrive, yet it is often the room we style last. It does not need much: something on the wall, a place for keys and post, a little light and one natural touch. Here are ten hallway decor ideas that work in a wide entrance or a narrow corridor. Prices were correct when we published this guide, and each product page always shows the current price.
The short answer
Hang a mirror or one sculptural piece on the wall, give keys and post a bowl on a slim console or shelf, and add a lamp for dark evenings. Keep the floor clear with hooks and baskets, and add one natural touch that copes with low light, such as dried stems or preserved moss.
1. Start with a mirror
A mirror bounces light around a hallway that rarely gets much of its own, makes a narrow space feel wider, and gives you a last look on the way out. Hang it at eye height, or lean a tall one against the wall if you are renting.
2. Put something sculptural on the wall
In a hallway, the wall is often the only space there is. The hanging glass bowl on wood (£48), a hand-blown glass bowl about 27cm tall, can be fitted to the wall or stand on its own wooden stand. With one dried stem or an air plant inside, it looks like a piece of art that happens to be useful. Use fixings suited to your wall.
3. Give keys a home
Keys, sunglasses and post land in the hallway whether you plan for it or not, so give them a bowl. The glass bowl in a carved wooden hand (£48), about 23cm tall, is a conversation piece that does the job; for a smaller console, the mini amber glass bowl (£18) or the artfully misshapen bowl (£14.50) is enough.
4. Choose a slim console or shelf
Even a 25cm deep console or a single floating shelf gives you a surface for a bowl, a lamp and a plant. Our guide to styling a console table covers what to put on it.
5. Add one natural touch
Most hallways are too dim for houseplants to thrive, so choose something that does not need light: dried bunny tails or pampas in a vase, or preserved moss. The hanging vase on wood (£48) holds a single dried stem at eye level, and the glass vase terrarium in dark tung wood (£35) is only about 5cm deep, so it fits the narrowest shelf.
6. Light it properly
A small lamp on the console is the most welcoming thing a hallway can have on a winter evening. Keep candles for rooms where you sit; in a hallway, coats, scarves and bags brush past too easily.
7. Keep the floor clear
Hooks for coats, a basket for shoes and a narrow bench or stool to sit on while you take your boots off stop the hallway turning into a pile. A runner rug adds warmth and protects the floor.
8. Make a narrow hallway feel wider
- Use the walls: a mirror, a wall-mounted piece and hooks, rather than furniture.
- Keep colours light and the floor clear.
- Choose shallow pieces: a floating shelf or a slim console no deeper than about 25cm.
9. Change it with the seasons
Swap the stems and the door wreath rather than the furniture: dried grasses in autumn, a sprig of fir and a wreath in December, tulips in spring. A single stem in the small flower vase on wood (£12) is the easiest change of all.
10. Edit it every week
Hallways collect things. Five minutes at the weekend to clear post, return stray shoes and empty the key bowl keeps the space feeling calm.
Common questions
How can I make my hallway look nice?
Hang a mirror or a sculptural piece, give keys a bowl, add a lamp and one natural touch, and keep the floor clear with hooks and baskets.
What do you put on a hallway console table?
A lamp, a bowl for keys, one vase or terrarium and perhaps a short stack of books, with a mirror or art above.
How do I decorate a narrow hallway?
Use the walls rather than the floor: a mirror, a wall-mounted piece, hooks and a floating shelf, in light colours, so the space feels wider.
What plants survive in a dark hallway?
Very few living plants enjoy a dark hallway. Dried stems and preserved moss look natural all year without any light; if you want something living, keep an air plant by a bright window instead.
Browse our bowls, vases and statement pieces, or see our guides to styling a sideboard and styling shelves.
