Looking for victorian hallway advice/inspiration!

[ElizaCrempog]

I'm really struggling with inspiration for my hallway. In desperation I'm hoping some of you with more vision can help me! The house is Edwardian/Victorian (1912) and the hallway is quite dark with just one window to the side. At this stage I can't afford to re-carpet although it is needed and could do it in a year or so, but the hallway is dingy and grubby and in need of brightening up somehow. Please have a look at the pictures attached and inspire me!

It's not THAT dingy. I think a lot of the issues are stemming from that open box of stuff under the table. Ad the fact that there's a lot of junk on top of it.

Get the stuff out from under the table...put it all away in a cupboard. Get all that stuff from the top of the table and find homes for it.

The lamp's fine but you could add a lovely plant or fresh flowers.

Add some prints or painting to the walls. Warm colours.

In the main photo there's a slight recess in the wall and it's scuffed. Move the table there...it's the natural space for it.

If you can afford to paint, get it redone.

For some reason the picture makes it look brighter than it is! It definitely needs decorating though - I know about the clutter, just hoping for ideas about colour etc!

Would anyone consider painting the staircase/panelling?

Hi OP, I've just redone my not-dissimilar hall. You have a beautiful floor! I think painting the walls, maybe a pale sage green, would smarten it up no end. Then I would consider varnishing the bannister in a darker colour. The panelling is also lovely, I think I would redo that in gloss white and match the skirting boards with that.
I think you do need a table or something in a hallway for keys, post etc but maybe you could put a shelf where the table is?

pin.it/drDIRG7

Pinterest has some fab ideas - see link!

I would paint walls in a pale mushroom shade.
All woodwork, doors, bannister, skirting and panelling white.
Would look fab!

Yes definitely paint the staircase white. It made a huge difference when we did it. I would add in colour through painting the console and adding artwork to the walls.

we've got similar. Too nervous to paint the dark wood, so for years we kept it magnolia to combat the darkness, but last year decided to embrace it, and have gone for a sort of heritage duck eggy blue colour. Pleased with it.

Please dont get rid of the floor or the glass in the door they are priceless. I would paint the banister white and then pick a colour out of floor for the panelling.

@tootiredtospeak would never get rid of either! @DearTeddyRobinson definitely need a table and the phone point is there so would be a pain to move it somewhere else. Good idea about giving it a facelift though.
We uncovered the floor and spent days scraping carpet tape from it, I love the old features and that's why I'm a bit cautious about painting the staircase - except it makes the hall (and the rest of the house SO dark and old fashioned.
Love the idea of mushroom wall and white woodwork though @Maverick66 and @GOODCAT
Find it hard to balance keeping the original features and making it look fresh and bright. Think I'm going to have to be brave!

So, next question...
Gloss or satin for woodwork??

Look on pinterest or instagram for ideas of what you like (I also think instagram is particularly good for working out what you don't like!). You have a lovely hallway with very good bones, the tiled floor is very desirable and the stairs are beautiful. Do you want to keep the stairs as varnished wood or would you be interested in painting them? Sanding and waxing or white washing or painting them a soft white is the 'safe' option and would lighten the space up, or you could paint them a bright or dark colour - one of the blues from the tiles would look good - if you want to be very trendy? You could lift the stair carpet and paint the treads if you can't afford a runner just yet. You could even paint a 'runner' which would look good in photos but will be noisy. Would give you time to play about with options for colours for a real runner though.

The hallway is only dark because of the dark flooring and stairs and the scruffy paint work, you have a side window and glass in the door. You've got just one small ceiling light. So, you could think about wall lights or more of a statement ceiling light (a chandelier style with multiple bulbs might increase the light). Or add more mirrors placed to bounce the light from the side window about. You need to think about wall (and stair) colours, what do you like and what will go with the other rooms? I'd use neutrals, whether that is a taupe or grey that is a lighter version of the colours in the flooring and keep the stairs and floor as the features. But you could also go very dark and dramatic if you'd like that, you don't spent a lot of time in a hallway but on the other hand it needs a lot of painting and can be seen from a lot of rooms so you need to be sure to do that.

The glass in the door doesn't look original and doesn't go with the flooring so feel free to change it to either clear glass or something coloured that goes with the floor. What window treatment do you have on the side window? Have either a beautiful roman blind made with some fabric you love (I'd go blues again) or a simple roller in the same colour as the walls or the window frame. You could paint the window frame to match the stairs if you paint them.

I'm not keen on your french style console table in this room, I think either a modern (by that I mean post ~1920) style console or something traditional and Victorian would go better depending on your style. But as PPs have said just tidying it up will improve things and agree moving it across the hallway will help. And have you thought about a gallery wall up the stairs?

Please don't paint your staircase, it has history in it , and believe me you will one day regret it.
A light green / sage colour would be nice or a bluey grey for the walls.

I would consider embracing the darkness. You aren't ever in the hallway for very long and it will make the other rooms off of it seem much lighter and brighter. And I would do satin for the woodwork. I think gloss looks a bit dated nowdays.

Oh god please don't paint that beautiful wood white, it adds so much texture and warmth as it is!!

I came here to plead with you not to paint that wood too...

Oh crikey...
My friend says this every time I say I'm going to do it! I think I'll try everything else first and see what it's like.
@JaninaDuszejko interesting you picked up on the glass in the door - I've never thought it looked quite right although I'm sure it's the original door as next door has exactly the same. Maybe replace the coloured glass with clear.

I've ~half done~ the hall in this pale bluey/grey. Do you think I could go right through in this without it looking too dreadful? (Have gallons of the stuff as we were going to do the kitchen in it but we didn't in the end).

Another chiming in to say leave the wood alone! Is the door original? It doesn't look right to me.

Hall pic - forgot to attach!

@Knittedfairies I think it is as the house next door (twin semi) has the same, although I can't recall what the glass is like. I'll have a sneaky check next time I'm there!

It’s a lovely shape and sized hall. It’s got a lot going for it.

I think the ceiling light is too small for the space. When I don’t have a poorly toddler on top of me, I’ll try to find some. But something bigger and brighter and maybe with a couple of pendants would be nice.

I would normally have said keep the wood, but having been in similar houses where it’s been painted, I say go for it.

Agree with PP that a pale heritagey duck egg paint on the walls would be lovely with those tiles

Personally I'd be leaving the banister as is. The walls need to go blue to tie in with the tiles.
The current paintwork looks a bit tired and I suspect that's what's causing your me

*negativity towards the space more than the light.

I thought you’d posted pictures of my hall for a second!! We had exactly the same problem - I’ve attached a before and after pic. We added a dado rail, painted above it in Little Greene Aquamarine, changed the wall lights for brass sconces and the light fitting for a chandelier. It’s really brightened it up. I’m half planning to paper underneath the dado at some point, but no rush 🙂