What would you do with this hallway?

[MrsPacMan]

I'm lacking in inspiration, flooring, wall colours, knock the cupboard under the stairs out to leave it more open. House renovation has melted my head

Plain, hardwearing flooring first up! New bannisters and spindles for sure. I would leave the cupboard under the stairs but maximise it's usefulness with fitted shelving, hooks, storage for shoes etc. That way you don't have to clutter the main part of the hall with tables/benches/coat racks.
Don't forget to come back and post the 'after' pics!

I like the idea of a wood flooring, but have been told tiles will be a better bet, or carpet to keep the heat in.

Good point about having somewhere to store all the clutter under the stairs!

Def tiles, with a lovely pattern, then use the colours out of them for your colour scheme, nice bench and a radiator cover

Tiles in a hallway? Who told you that? Ugh! Tiles are gorgeous for a Victorian entrance or Stone floors in farmhouse entrances work but that looks like a 1970s stairway. Type 'hallways' in Houzz and you'll get a gazillion ideas (none of them tiles in a 70's house). I don't think you need to change the banister per se but work around it. I think it's a great 'modern' feature.

How much muck are you anticipating being trudged in Mrs? Carpets might be a lot of work to keep stain-free if you have pets and/or people who never remember to take mucky boots off at the door. We have a mixture of stone, wooden floorboards and slate tiles (very old house) the boards are less noisy and a bit warmer but the stone & tiles are easier to keep clean. Ikea is excellent for storage, I have a lot of the wooden shelves with plastic boxes and their shoe racks.

www.houzz.com/uk/photos/2192864/gretchen-traditional-staircase-portland

Are 1970's death-trap staircases back in fashion now

Our house had those bannisters when we viewed. On the way down the path after I was like 'those bannisters would have to go ASAP'. DH was 'they're not bad, what's the problem'.

I'd keep it light and spacey.

That carpet belongs in a museum. Personally I'd carpet it cream unless you've heavy foot fall and replace the bannister.

The stairs are fab. You don't need spindles. under stairs storage is very useful for coats, shoes etc. You could do with a practical (cleanable) welcoming flooring. There's a million flirting options from LVT, wood, laminates etc etc. I personally wouldn't tile your hallway (wouldn't go with staircase) or lay a carpet (gets too mucky). But there's so many other options. It's a decent open hallway that looks busy because of the existing carpet. Rip that out and you'll start to see what you'd like. It'd be interesting to see what the actual stairs are like underneath that carpet. Could be good!

Why are they a death trap?

wont be long before those carpets are back in, along with coloured bathroo suites. Mark my words.

I love the banisters! Assuming they are the originals, don't get rid OP!

I'd keep the cupboard.
Keep banister (why would you change it, it looks good or will be with a bit of love to the rest of the decor)

DO NOT TILE

Flooring in whatever you want in the rest of the house.

I agree what Katy did a fabulous feature! Can't see why they'd be a death trap. Rip out that carpet then post pics pls.

I wouldn't change the bannisters. I find spindle bannisters tastless and out of place in 30s or 70s houses that traditionally have these flat bannisters. I'd go for a deep golden-beige flecked twist carpet, chalky white paintwork on the bannisters and pale smoky blue-grey walls. These sorts of colours.

Why? What's wrong with it?

(kidding)

This has been one of my favorite hallways:

We have tiles on our hall floor (1920s house) . Actually the whole of the ground floor is tiled, apart from the sitting room. It's great. They are so easy to keep clean. It doesn't matter if you get muddy welly prints down the hall, just get the mop out and they're gone. We will never go back to carpet now.

Sorry SnowGlobes I meant the ones in the link you posted not the ones in the op's pic. They're a death trap for mobile babies and toddlers who would be able to crawl under the bottom rail, it looks like the op has an open landing at the top of the stairs so vertical spindles are much safer and will be less likely to be used as a mini ladder by children.

I think that's a fairly typical hallway. I would lay wooden flooring (we have bamboo which is great for a hallway) on the hall, the carpet stairs and landing in a mid tone - not too dark. I would paint all the woodwork, including the bannisters in white, then paint the walls a very pale grey/beige to keep it light. I'd be tempted to swap the radiator if funds would allow, or maybe put a radiator cover over it. Huge 'feature' mirror above radiator. Its hard to see from the photo but if you have space in the hall next to the stairs I'd have a slim console table with lamp on.

Definitely keep the cupboard under the stairs so you can make it clutter free.

I think the banisters are fine, in fact quite nice, unless it's a Victorian or Edwardian house in which case I would put spindles back in.

New carpet on the stairs. Go for something mid colour to hide the dirt. We have a tight loop Berber with a slight stripe, mid grey/dark beige, works well. Sisal doesn't wear well.

For the hallway, tiles are very practical but cold underfoot so are you a shoes off or shoes on household? If shoes off then I'd go with wood, vinyl or laminate.

If shoes on then tiles. You can get tiles that look like wood planks or tiles that look like natural stone, I'd probably choose some like that. Unless it's a Victorian/Edwardian house - if so maybe geometric tiles.

Again for hallway floor go with mid colours, and something with a bit of fleck in it to hide dirt. That's why tiles that replicate stone or wood are good because they have some streaks in them anyway.

I agree about keeping the understairs cupboard - you need it!

Depending on if you have any budget for this, you could swap the big horizontal radiator for a tall vertical one (it could go behind the front door for example) - that would make the hallway seem more spacious and give you space for a hallway table. Looks like you have electric points there so you could have a lamp on the hall table which looks lovely and welcoming in the evening.

I'd also put a big landscape mirror along the wall above the radiator, or the opposite wall. Will make it seem much lighter and wider.

You're all so much more imaginative than I seem to be right now 😁

I like the bannister, but wasn't sure if it was too ridiculous to keep. I think probably a wood floor would be my preference and I'm a shoes off person so that will be warmer I think.

Love the idea of a nice pale grey.

I had never thought of a vertical radiator, or a radiator cover. I love the idea of a radiator cover but not sure if it would "work" with the 1930's bannister etc, would they look out of place?