Clever Ideas for Decorating a Boring Narrow Hallway
6 easy hallway decor ideas you can do yourself to add interest to a boring window-less hall to create the illusion of more space.
Here’s the reality: When we first moved into our house and toured it during the home search process, our upstairs hallway wasn’t exactly on my list of priorities.
I mean… it’s a hallway. It gets us from A to B. Nothing to write home about. (Har har… accidental pun.)
But we walk through our hallway roughly 80 billion times a day (only a sliiiiight exaggeration), so why wouldn’t we give it some love?
If you have a boring hallway in desperate need of some visual interest, here is an easy way to bring it to life.
This is where this not very long hallway started when we first moved in two years ago.
It was devoid of any natural light, had limited wall space, and it didn’t give a great first impression. This dark hallway had a whole lotta womp-womp nada happening. And also a whole lotta beige.
Now, it’s rocking this look after a few small changes.
This was the other side of the little hallway. That dark feel was simply depressing.
Here is how it looks now.
Isn’t it so much better?! Light colors, contrasting doors, a few art prints on the walls, and a runner did wonders. I can’t get over the difference! The paint alone makes this space feel so much more airy and bright.
And it really didn’t take that much of an effort to get it all jazzed up. If you’re suffering from boring-hallway-itis, here’s how to create a well-decorated hallway.
6 Easy Hallway Decor Ideas to Update a Boring Space
1. Add Interesting Lighting
If you’ve never heard of the Magic Light Trick from Nesting With Grace, go do it now! It makes adding wall sconces without electricity so easy when you need to brighten up a dark corner of your home.
As an alternative, it’s a great place for adding a battery operated picture light above art.
Swapping out a boring light fixture with a nicer flush mount helps a bit too. For ceilings 10′ or taller, opt for pendant ceiling lights. It’s a great way to accentuate the height.
2. Add Some Plants
I have a self-proclaimed black thumb, so I go the fake plant route. Adding plants is one of my favorite ways to introduce a pop of bright colors against white walls.
This list of house plants is helpful to find a great option for ones you can put in your hallway that require little to no sunlight at all.
I swiped this artificial fiddle leaf fig from our living room because it felt more at home in this corner. And this artificial potted plant I stuck on my DIY piano stool plant stand looks like the real thing even up close.
If you have the space, incorporate a small hall table or console table in lieu of a plant stand.
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3. Paint Your Doors With Contrast
Ever since we painted all of our interior doors Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron, I haven’t regretted it for one second!
It makes the hallway feel luxe and all of our rooms have so much more visual impact for just the cost of paint.
This narrow hallway has a va-va-voom factor just because of the door color change as a focal point.
4. Hang Large-Scale Art
The larger your art, the less cluttered your hallway will feel.
Ever since we hung up these architectural prints as a gallery wall, it has made this side of our hallway seem pulled together.
Or take advantage of a blank wall by hanging art shelves for a modern look.
For another easy, high impact wall treatment, try leaning a full-length mirror against the wall at the end of the hallway to create the illusion of a larger space.
5. Roll Out a Hallway Runner
We added this runner to add some texture and pattern to the floor space, and it feels so cozy in here now! I put this rug pad underneath to keep it from slipping and sliding on our hardwood floors. So far, so good!
6. Avoid Mid-Tone Paint Colors
Choose a paint color that is very light for a bright, open feel or choose one that is very dark if you want your small hallway to feel cozy.
I like picking either the very top or very bottom colors on paint sample strips for a clean, dramatic effect in a narrow space.
For extra drama, paint the ceiling the same color as the walls to draw the eye upward to visually expand a small space.
Choosing medium shades can sometimes make window-less spaces feel flat.
For our walls this go-round, we painted them Benjamin Moore Classic Gray. It’s a very light warm gray and looks beautiful in all kinds of lighting without any odd purple or green undertones.
Hallway Decor Sources
If you want to know about any of the sources in this space, you can see them all below.
- Wall color: Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
- Door color: Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron
- Wood floors stain: Minwax Provincial
- Runner rug
- Wall sconce
- Semi-flush mount light
- DIY antique brass mirror (tutorial)
- DIY piano stool plant stand (tutorial)
- Vintage Shakespeare book cover art (free printable)
- Matted frames
- Artificial fiddle leaf fig plant
- Handled seagrass basket
- Artificial potted plant
We still plan to deal with our ceiling a bit more in order to remove our attic fan that likely hasn’t been used in decades, but we’ll cross that bridge eventually.
Do y’all have any other hallway decorating ideas you’ve used that you absolutely love? Share ’em below! I want to know!
