Ideas for hallway please

[palomadove]

Looking for inspiration.

It's long and narrow, north-facing and badly in need of decoration and modernising. It's a 70s house with the hall being part of an extension. It has a solid wooden floor (which needs sanding and re-sealing).

I'm thinking some sort of "boutique" style wallpaper on one side and paint the other side (which gets more traffic and turns a corner so wallpaper might get quite shabby as kids and dog brush past it).

Any thoughts and especially links for ideas? Many thanks

[Iggly]

If you have wallpaper would that make it feel smaller? Can you paint it white and put up a long thin mirror on it's side about shoulder height? Then have shoe storage cupboards underneath - so you can use the top to put keys etc and shoes can (obv) go in the cupboards.

[lalalonglegs]

Not keen, don't like wallpaper especially only on one wall, especially in a narrow space. Dog won't give a toss which is the low traffic area and it will look pretty manky, pretty quick.

I'd paint it whatever colour you like and use it as a gallery space - get a group of photographs or prints that you really like (at least a dozen), have them all framed with really wide mounts and identical moulding and hang them in together. Failing that, have narrow shelves built all along the low traffic wall, filled with books and broken up with bits and pieces that you like (clocks/photos/vases). Books, in my opinion, never make a place look dark and the shelves only need to be about 20cm deep.

[palomadove]

Thanks, hmmm.

The low traffic area already has a big mirror which stands out about 4 inches and a shoe case, plus a radiator, so doesn't get scuffed. But maybe the wallpaper would make it feel narrower, and we need ways of doing the opposite, opening it up. My main concern is to make it look smarter.

Love the idea of pictures all grouped together.