Long Dark Hallway Decorating Ideas

Hallway Decor ideas~Hallways often get ignored when it comes to decorating. But there is no reason your hallway can't be beautiful. I'll show you some inspiration for your hallways, especially if your hallways are narrow and dark.

The other day I posted a before and after of my hallway on Instagram and it got me thinking (because I think about random things like hallways). I know I am not the only one that struggles with decorating their hallway.

I've thought about this hallway for so long and it actually took me forever to write this post because who really wants to read about hallways? But you know what, I do.

I struggled with this hallway since the day we moved into this house. I walk through it 1258 times a day. It never felt right to me or cozy.

I guess hallways are meant to be cozy. But you know what I mean

And it's always the smallest spaces that are the hardest to decorate. Our hallway is long, dark and narrow and I more than likely just described your hallway as well.

Hallways are often overlooked and they get ignored often.  I ignored ours for a loooong time.

(This post contains affiliate links, you can see my disclosure here)

When we moved into this house, our hallway was this dark dungeon with dark, dark brown walls. How many times can I say dark? Also, the paint had specks of glitter in it. You can't see it in the picture but, dang, it was all I could see everytime I walked through our hallway.

Almost three years later, it now looks like this (and we are officially glitter free).

But it took me three years to get it to this point. I was just stuck. I had no idea what I wanted to do with this hallway. I spent many hours looking for inspiration and sometimes that is all it takes. All of sudden, things just started clicking.

(And since hallways are such small spaces you can have some fun with them.)

What to do if you have a dark hallway

Lighten up your walls

I knew I needed to paint the walls at some point. I am a huge believer in the power of paint and lately my go to paint scheme is white and bright. I was worried though since this hallway doesn't get a ton of natural sunlight that instead of the hallway looking light and bright it would look dingy.

(That's a secret tip for you too. If any room in your house does not get natural sunlight, if you paint the walls white then your room might look dingy instead of bright like you wanted it to)

There was one wall in our hallway that I had been eyeing.  It was the only wall in our hallway that I was able to reach to paint so I thought I could play around with it. I added board and batten on just that wall (you can see more about my board and batten in my hallway here)

Add A Storm Door

The hallway was in this state for a while. We added a storm door to our front door and whenever I can I have the front door open to get some sunlight in this hallway.

I didn't mind the two different wall colors in this hallway actually at first. I grew tired of it after a while especially of the glitter.

Just painting that one wall made this hallway look so much brighter and open. I knew once I hired painters to finish the rest of the hallway it was going to work in my favor. I was getting there but it never felt finished to me.

Add lighting

I love having a table lamp in a hallway….but I had no table nor any outlets on the one wall. So I got creative and added sconces that are lit by puck lights. You can see more about my DIY Sconces here.

Narrow hallway ideas

Our hallway is narrow and for a while I did have a console table in here. It just felt cramped to me. I found a cute little bench instead and called it a day.

Bench (similar)

It's just enough furniture in here to feel cozy and complete but not too much where you can't walk down the hallway without breaking a toe. And since this hallway is by our front door, a bench just makes sense if you want to sit down to take your shoes off or put them on.

I also saw this inspo pic and highly considered these planters

Image via Our Faux Farmhouse

I love how Holly decorated her hallway. Another great idea if your hallway is narrow.

How to decorate a long hallway

Our hallway is also pretty long and I came to the realization that I need to decorate it in "zones." One zone is where the bench is. I added a plant (I guess that's really a tree) and some other decor items to give it some texture.

The other zone is the gallery wall with the sconces.

Rug

I also attempted a runner in our hallway. I'm not 100% sold on it being here but I'm giving it a few weeks to decided how I feel on it here.. Runners are great for long hallways if they work for your space. Check out this article from Studio McGee to decide if you really need that hallway runner.

Hallway Wall Decor

Adding the grid board and batten to the one wall was such an easy and affordable way to add character to our boring hallway. But I felt like it was still missing something. I didn't want to take away from the board and batten with artwork…or at least that is what I thought.

But then I saw this picture

Image via

And this pic from Emily's kitchen gallery wall…

I took what I loved from each of those pics and did my own version in my hallway.

Rug

(The giant light switch made things interesting too in case you were wondering)

You can see more about how I installed those sconces in this post. I used rechargeable puck lights and I cannot tell you how much I love them.

How do you make a narrow hallway look wider

While painting helped make our hallway feel larger and brighter there are a few other ways you can make your hallway look wider.

Use mirrors

Mirrors are great for making any space look and feel larger and if your hallway is by your front door, it can be used as double duty.

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Add lighting

Lighting is also great to help make a space feel larger. I can't say enough good things about my DIY sconces, especially if are limited on space and do not have a place to put a table lamp.

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Keep the decor to one side

It might sound odd but keeping your wall decor to one side will help your hallway feel wider. If you load up both walls with decor, that's when things will start to feel cramped.

Image via Studio McGee

So if you are ignoring your hallway, here's your chance to make it feel like home

.

Before…

And then after…

(This is the most updated view of my hallway. I just added in a black console table that we have had forever and I can kick myself for not putting in our hallway before. It just fits so well!)

Gah! What a difference some paint and decor can make!

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Hallway decor ideas for your narrow and dark hallways.

You might also like!

DIY Wall Sconce

DIY Board And Batten

Small Mudroom Ideas (On A Budget)

Long Dark Hallway Decorating Ideas

Source: https://www.lanternlanedesigns.com/hallway-decor-for-long-narrow-hallways/

Posted by: arnoldtherstion1975.blogspot.com

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