What furniture have you got in your hall?

[mistressploppy]

We've just moved into a Victorian semi with a good-sized hall (about 16ft long and 6ft wide) and I need inspiration for what to put in it. We're really untidy so need storage for coats/shoes etc and somewhere to dump post/keys/general crap.

I like antique 'brown' furniture and am a bit allergic to the distressed white paint shabby look.

Any ideas? What do other people have in hallways? Will pegs on the wall for coats just look messy?

TIA

To hang coats I would recommend big double hooks, mounted on a board/s. Think school style, you will never regret it. If you don't have cupboards then coats hanging are a fact of life. If you have a friend with an "A" in woodwork then that is the ideal solution, and you get to choose your own pegs and the colour of the wood stain. Traditionally the telephone was always in the hall, sitting on a table, that does not always suit nowadays, but a chest of draws works for us. It stores, telephone directories, a few maps, hats, scarves, gloves. Sometimes a vase of flowers on top. We also have a chair, a low table with a twiggy light arrangement. Functional and welcoming. How exciting to be in the planning stage, hope you enjoy it!

Shoes are a pain though, would you have room for an ottoman which could be a seat as well?

oh you lucky thing our Victorian terrace hall stops at the stairs & is only about a metre wide

We have a vestibule, with an inner door, & our coat hooks are in there which at least stops the hall looking quite so untidy. We also have a small pine cupboard with 2 drawers (normal height but only around a foot square) which is meant to be a bathroom cupboard.

Is your understairs enclosed or open?

Ikea used to have \link{http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ikea-Leksvik-hall-coat-rack-/170705103118\Leksvik wall shelf with storage plus hooks} & \link{http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ikea-LEKSVIK-Shoe-Toy-Storage-TV-Bench-and-8-baskets-/110789025281?pt=UK_Storage&hash=item19cb8a5e01\a matching shoe bench}

they've discontinued them but they come up on ebay & gumtree quite often, if you like the look of them

An old kitchen dresser would work quite well for general stowage

We live in a 1930s semi with quite a big hall (and a horrid narrow living room - very weird planning) and have a giant 1930s sideboard in the hall that DH bought for £60 from a charity shop. Fortunately we have a cloakroom for shoes and coats (it's tiny so when you open the door loads of shoes spill out and all the coats poke out at you and you have to shove them in with one hand and shut the door fast with the other).

I like the old fashioned coat stands - the round ones with an umbrella stand and hooks at the top. It does rather require that you have only very stylish coats though, as they are all on display the whole time. Or you can get one of those big unit things - like this one www.sellingantiques.co.uk/antiquedetail.asp?autonumber=96511

Thanks everyone!

Ponders - we have a vestibule too (see floor plan on my profile if you're REALLY interested ) but it's so bastard freezing that I'm reluctant to put the coats out there, especially as DS takes so long to put his on . The understairs is cupboarded in but is only v tiny.

A chest of drawers is a great idea Driftwood . And the coat hooks. I think an open shoe rack thing might be the best idea for us too (DS is only just 2yrs so needs to be able to put away/find his shoes easily)

I love the antique hall stands too emsy but worry that it's quite a big piece of furniture without much hiding space IYSWIM. Maybe I could get a small one though....

I like the sound of a big sideboard - that could solve a lot of problems...

Hummmm I think ours is 50s actually not 30s... It's a bit like this www.salvo.co.uk/fife/furniture-mirrors/1950s-sideboard-x56930x1.html

I keep all sorts of crap in it, like the iron, letters/papers, firelighters, gift wrapping stuff, random bits of cookware that I rarely use (like big casserole dishes)... It's cool for that. And you can hide shoes underneath it if you like, although I don't dare as cat bound to pee in things left in dark spaces...

ours is freezing too, & I only hang dry things there (wet stuff gets dried out first) but you could still keep coats there & bring DS's into the main hall for him to take his time over.

Most of our shoes live in the understairs cupboard (accessed via rear room) but we do have gardening-type clogs, brollies & other random outdoor things in the vestibule. Is yours the same width as the hall, with a centred door? If so you could fit a shallow cupboard and/or a shoe rack/cupboard there, & keep the actual hall for lovely dust-collecting knick-knacks decorative things

lots of nice old pine stuff \link{http://www.antiquepineworkshop.com/dresser-bases.html\here}

something like \link{http://www.antiquepineworkshop.com/dress1501%20%285%29.JPG\this} would work well in the hall (with or without a top on)

Myakka

I've recently moved from a no hallway house to one with a decent hallway and have my eye on a storage bench from Myakka. They have lots of nice looking console tables too and the customer service is meant to be good. Not used them yet though, am hoping they have a good sale in Jan!

We have this for shoe storage, a hall table similar to this and this for coats and bits and bobs. All works well together.
I would also have a bench seat if we could fit one in but not quite enough room!!

Ooh ooh do you have a radiator in the hall? In our last few places we've put coat hooks above the radiator - it means in the morning, your coat is toasty warm before you go outside. Truly lovely.

We have a tall shoe cupboard which seemed like a really good idea but we rarely bother to put our shoes in it and now it is just a place to pop mail. Also have a long low sideboard type thing with baskets to store crap bits and peices and shoes (we seem to have a lot).