Wall mirror placement for dark hallway
I’m currently decorating my hallway, and am looking for ways to bring more light into what is a dark space. Pictures below show the current hallway, these are all facing north looking from the kitchen:
The main light sources are the west facing front door at the far end of the hall, and the east facing utility area half way along (utility picture below):
I’ve identified the following candidate areas for mirrors (in green):
For the section nearest the kitchen, I’m wondering if a full length mirror like this opposite the utility door may work well. But I wonder if it would appear too obvious? There’s also the complication that I may be adding a sliding door to the lounge area, which would overlap with this space slightly when open.
For the front doorway, I think the previous owners had a large mirror mounted on the west facing wall, but this feels suboptimal because it’s not on the wall opposite the light source. So I’m thinking of combining a smaller decorative mirror like this directly opposite the front door, with a larger, plainer mirror in the original picture. There’s also space to have a further large mirror on the east wall further back, but I feel 3 mirrors would be overkill and not look good?
Comments (8)
5 months agoRelated Discussions
Long, dark bedroom hallway makeover.
Comments (39)Finally finished the hall and the transformation is complete. Kept the doors but painted the architrave and all other woodwork (Farrow & Ball Dimity Eggshell). Walls (F & B Joa's White Modern Emulsion) Carpet is sisal. Window shutters California Shutter Co. Wall up/down-lighters John Lewis, as are the ceramic radiator shelf lights, painted to match wall. LED Panel 'skylights' are magical. Wired to an external Dusk 2 Dawn sensor via a relay (To transpose output to Dawn 2 Dusk) they are activated by two occupancy sensors either end of the hallway and only operate during daylight hours, thus giving the very real effect that it's daylight flooding in. The wall lights are for night time and if it only needs to be subdued lighting, then the remote controlled shelf lights are used. The flickering flame wall sconces either side of the old loft door are for amusement at best, but look nice. Now to find some suitable wall decoration and also fit a curtain and tie-back at the mid-point. That will allow guests who use the end bedrooms some night time privacy when using the bathroom down there. Thanks to all you Houzzers for your input and support!...See MoreOur quite dark hall but quite sick of Beige walls
Comments (24)How about some wallpaper in the hall? Ours is a long dark hallway and we have used wallpaper on one wall which makes it a much more interesting space, we've had so many compliments on it. I also added a couple of plaster corbels as ours is a Victorian house and I wanted to put some features back. I plan to have a runner on the stairs and a photo wall going up the stairs but I haven't got that far yet!...See MoreWhat would you do with the oak panels in my dark hall?
Comments (51)We have the same type of panelling in our hall and it was oak the same as yours with an oak floor. It just started to feel quite dark and drab but we hesitated to to do anything for fear of messing it up. In the end we painted all the panelling in Farrows French grey, left the doors and floors wood and painted the sides of our staircase and the spindles in Farrows clunch but left the newel posts and the bannister rail as wood - looks like a different hallway - I have never regretted painting it...See MoreI need ideas for my dark and gloomy hallway
Comments (50)I absolutely love what you've done, Diana. It's so elegant and stylish, but not fuddy duddy. You've updated it, without spoiling the character and beauty. Way too often, people spoil the most beautiful period houses, trying to be too clever with garish and over the top decor or too many "on trend", fashion features. When really the house needs to just speak for itself. You have a beautiful house....See More- 5 months ago
4 months agoGlazed doors, even in the bedrooms (textured/satinated), that's what worked in our house, be it a shorter landing.
You could work with the dark by painting it a (cool) dark color, such as the image below (something that goes with the decor/style of your home). The image i posted has all doors open, so i bet it is just as dark as yours when closed.
Vintage Chic · More Info
Or keep it very monochrome and simple, try one or two styles of doors max (i'd replace that dark brown one). A sisal runner might look nice, but note it will accentuate the narrow long look. Hang some interesting wall art/photos.
Modern House · More Info
Annandale Residence · More Info
Southshore Condominium, Custom Unit · More InfoAnd you could install a motion detector on those spotlights, perhaps replace them for something brighter.
R E thanked rinked- 4 months ago
Thanks! I hadn’t considered glazed doors, that’s an interesting idea. That might also work quite well to reflect a bit of light if I do go for a sliding door between the hallway and lounge (which may preclude putting a mirror opposite the utility door).
I am planning on going for a monochrome style - paint wise I’m going to more or less keep the existing colour I think (but it will look brighter with a fresh coat), and am going for light / mid tone LVT flooring (following previous advice from @IslaCherry):
For the doors, I really like this style of Mexicano Oak door:
Solid Oak Mexicano Contemporary Internal Door · More Info
Though bearing in mind your earlier comments, I might want to finish it in some kind of satin coating.
As it happens, I had the spotlights fitted when I moved in to replace two bayonet fittings, and I do in fact have the two hallway sections on motion detectors with Philips Hue lights (with colour temperature changing through the day), so good call on that one! They are however as bright as I can get as it stands - I daresay I could get fixed temperature bulbs that were slightly brighter but it wouldn’t be much difference. - 4 months ago
Sonia