Corridors and Entrance Halls – How to Make A Grand First Impression

Corridors and entrance halls form the beginning of your home and hence, make the first impression on a visitor. It is very essential to give an attractive and appealing look to this space when planning interior design. While it is important to create beautiful spaces for corridors, it is also essential to ensure that the place is functional and meets the requirements of this space.

Essential elements of planning entrance halls

There are two aspects, which work in favor of entrance halls in house designs. Firstly, they are small and do not require elaborate decorating. Secondly, you can get away with minimal furnishing. If you the think entrance halls are too small to be designed well you are mistaken. Despite being small, there is a lot you can do with these spaces. Here are some essential elements.

If the corridor or entrance hall continues into the living space, you should plan for it to become homogeneous with the extended spaces. Ceiling, floor and wall colors should flow into the other room, especially if you have a corridor. The other option is to homogenize the space with immediate exteriors, if you have a garden or a porch just outside the main door. The color scheme of the porch or the vibrancy of the garden can be brought into the home with a well planned entry way. Use of greens, yellows and reds are good to create a garden feel. You could also opt in for earthy colors.

The color scheme should make visitors feel welcome. To this effect, some of the best colors are blues and greens. If the space is large, you can go in for bolder and warmer colors such as reds, yellows and deep oranges but refrain from using these colors for smaller spaces. Pastel shades with accessories as highlights are good for the latter.

Lighting

Usually, entryways do get a good amount of natural light. Glass windows, placed on either sides of the main door or a ventilator at the top of the door infuse brightness into the space. In case the corridor does not get light, designers need to put up adequate amount of lighting fixtures. Decorative lights are best for this. You can experiment with roof lighting and wall lighting. Brightly lit entrances seem more welcoming and warm. Also, adequate lighting is very important if there are small change in floor levels, steps and irregularities. Lighting also ensures that people can find door knobs and switches easily.

Functionality

Corridors and entryways need to be planned to be functional as well so that you can optimize on every space in your home. Provide a small table or a low chest of drawers to place letters, magazines, parcels, telephone, scribbling pads and other such things. The drawers can be used to store footwear, socks, umbrellas, raincoats and hats. A long bench can be used in smaller entry ways.

Since this space of the home experiences a lot of footfall and traffic, you should ensure that there is adequate circulation space. Avoid putting in heavy things which force people to maneuver around them to reach the door. However, you can use wall pieces, mirrors and other reflective surfaces to add special depth of field.