You are lucky to have nice spacious hall, and the neutral ivory is a great base. i think you now need to think about PROPORTION and COLOUR. By proportion I mean the size, and number, of items on view. Currently the space looks cluttered with lots of small things. Try removing the pictures, lamps etc and reassessing the space. Maybe just two, large pictures? If you have (or buy) pictures that you love, pick out a vibrant colour from them and use that for new, more modern lampshades, a new rug and cushion for the chair. You could even paint the wooden desk the same colour. Have fun!

Sounds good, I have just bought the large picture you see but maybe I can find another one with maybe more colour in it? What colour do you think would look good?

Mirrors and sparkly things. You need to refract any existing light around the space

I agree with Cathy Phillips & Co, she has picked out great points about colour and proportion if you change those things she suggested it will look fab. Mirrors are a must too. Might also want to consider painting the skirting for a better effect ...

Hi there Meadowside!

This is a great space! You are right about warming it up though. There are two ways to go:

A. Embrace the dark side and go really dark (charcoal, dark slate blue, dark grey green) but add mirrors and lots of bronze / antique gold lighting fixtures.

B. Choose some warm scheme colours that relate to the rest of the rooms that lead off this hallway - you want your home to flow rather than be a combination of independent rooms, so choose two or three great colours and fill the space with yummy things.

Think about these ideas:

1. Definitely a huge, huge mirror possibly over the radiator (with a gorgeous pendant light in front of it!).

2. Do you need extra space for storing items that spill out elsewhere? Line a wall with shoes / all your handbags on multiple hooks / Pottery / Glasses / collection of anything interesting (group objects together in multiples - repetition is always a winner).

3. Books. These instantly make a space warmer and friendlier - add a long shelf above head height or a full wall.

4. Treat it like a real room, not just an annoying corridor. Make it special, as you would your sitting room.

5. Groups of pictures to make one large display - link them by colour or content or paint the frames / mounts the same colour.

6. Paint your own huge modern art canvas in your scheme colours.

7. Make it into a mini office area with a long console desk - but again treat it as well as you would a main room rather than an after-thought.

8. Piano??

9. Full length mural - there are some really fun ones nowadays.

10. Quality fake flowers / plants / trees (emphasis on the word QUALITY!).

11. Picture Gallery.

12. Get an art student to paint a fun mural.

See www.mendinghouses.com for blog tips & tricks and eBooks about interior design / property or to email me for more advice - I'd be happy to help.

Mmm great space to work with! I personally, would ditch the wall lights and small lamp and introduce scale (as another suggested earlier). I would replace wall lights with one large freestanding lamp, arrange a selection of artworks on the shelf system, could use all the same frames, different sizes, or mix up frame styles. A large mirror would work too! A small lamp on the desk arrangement would balance the light arrangement out too!

Thanks everyone for all your comments! Wish you all lived around the corner so you could be hands on!! Ha, think you are right about wall lights, will ditch them, maybe look for larger prints to cover the walls, the one with shelf is very narrow, so not a lot of space to put things on, but will definatly take on all your surgestions.

You are welcome :). Where abouts are you?

Hi,

You could get an electrician to swap the wall lights over to dedicated picture lights. This would show off your artwork and create a cosy atmosphere too. Also, you could swap the wall light switch over to a PIR in the ceiling. This would mean that the lights would come on on their own as you went along the hallway. Personally, I am a fan of dark hallway colours, especially if you have natural light during the day and great artificial light in the evenings/night time. This can be offset with mirrors and bright pictures/accessories. Here is part of our hallway at home:

General Lighting Pictures · More Info

Hi Mendhouse, I'm in Devon.

Lovely area and think it just needs a bit of definition. How about painting radiator cover and the white picture frames above a good rich dense colour, and replace the rug with one to tone. I can see a lovely blue in the room beyond? Small patterned silk cushion on chair a final luxury touch.