Make your hallway more inviting with our vintage-inspired ideas 

Consoles and gilded mirrors? It’s a start, but vintage looks don’t always have to take the form of typical Edwardian compositions 

Hang it All by Charles and Ray Eames, 1953, from€295, virtra.com.

Neatly plucking away clumsy outerwear is the signature duty of any front-hall butler. 

Over centuries, for every home that could include one, working furniture was designed to not only hold bags, coats, hats, boots and gloves in a narrow traffic alley, but to deliver a stylish overture to the rest of the house. Built-in, or free-standing, there’s a wealth of choice in new, old and recommissioned pieces to make an entrance, from curly bentwood romance to mid-century crisp cool. Polite consoles and gilded mirrors? It’s a start, but vintage touches don’t have to end at typical Edwardian compositions that bore many of us.