Jennifer Sheahan: Your hallway should make you smile every time you come home

Hallways give a first impression, tie your living space together, and are fun to design, says the Home of the Year winner

Inside the hall door of Jennifer Sheahan's home in Rathmines. Pictures: Moya Nolan

For a space that’s so important for first impressions, the hallway is usually the last consideration when designing a home — at least it certainly was for me. I do remember thinking at the time that I had saved the best for last because hallways are so much fun to design.

In many ways, it’s a good idea to leave them till last. Hallways can be used to tie spaces together, so if you’re someone who likes to differentiate each room you can use your hallway to bring continuity to your home.

They’re great for storage, so once you’ve designed the rest of your home you will have a good idea of what you need in your hallway.

Plus, they’re transient, so you can have fun with the decor — maybe there’s a strange statue or some wild wallpaper that you’ve wanted to use but haven’t found a room for.

Hallways do play the important role of making the first — and last — impression of your home, so while it’s fine to leave them to the end, that shouldn’t mean they get any less consideration.

Poorly designed hallways are messy, cold, and badly lit — this is not what you want to come home to after a long day at work.

In contrast, a well-designed hallway will give you a lift as soon as you open your front door. Here are my best tips to make you smile every time you come home.

STORAGE

When it comes to designing hallway storage, be realistic. As you research hallway designs you are going to find yourself surrounded by beautiful photos of coat racks with one or two pristine coats, perhaps accompanied by a handbag and a hat, and a pair of clean shoes tucked neatly underneath.

This is not achievable and you know it — you, like me, are going to have about 8-10 coats and jackets, multiple pairs of shoes, hats, scarves, potentially a dog leash or two, and a mixed bag of sunglasses, car keys, and old receipts strewn around the place.

The entrance to Jennifer's renovated artisan cottage. 

Then guests are going to arrive and heap their messy outerwear on top of yours. Design for this reality. Install understairs storage if you can, provide multiple coat hooks, add some baskets or hang nice bags for your smaller paraphernalia, and add more shoe storage than you think you need.

In my small hallway, I found a vertical shoe rack to be a life-saver — shoes look neater and I can fit more of them. If I were doing it again, I would add drawers into my stair risers for additional shoe storage.

Bench seating is also an excellent idea for hallways — you can throw messy shoes and other items in there for quick tidying when the doorbell rings, and you can sit down to tie your shoes or put the dog’s lead on easily.

The hallway in Jennifer's home.

FLOORING

Get patterned flooring. Stop looking at those gorgeous white tiles and listen to me — get patterned flooring. This could be wooden flooring with a grain, decorative tiles, or a patterned rug.

No matter how pure your intentions, the reality is that the first metre or two inside your front door are going to be covered in wet footprints, dried leaves, bits of mud and — inevitably and inexplicably — sand, even if you haven’t been to the beach in years. Patterned flooring in an easy-to-clean material will go a long way towards making all of this largely invisible. This is a non-negotiable — thank me later.

DISTINCTION

No matter how small your hallway is, be intentional about separating the space. Choose different flooring or use a large rug or runner. If you don’t have a separate hallway — for instance, if your front door opens directly into a main room — use furniture to create one.

A narrow shelving unit, a free-standing coat rack, or a console table with some tall plants will go a long way towards providing you with a well-defined space that also gives you some privacy and storage.

LIGHTING

I love lighting so much I could write a book about it. Lighting is crucial to the design of your home, and many beautiful spaces have been turned into fluorescent hellscapes by a million spotlights burning brightly in the ceiling. Lighting sets the mood, and you want to be in a good mood when you come home.

I like to have large mirrors in hallways so I can check myself out before I blithely head off into the world with messy mascara or the wrong shoes. For this function, there needs to be a pretty good level of lighting. If you have lots of daylight streaming into your hallway, embrace it — if you need privacy, choose sheer curtains or blinds. I like to draw the eye upwards to give an impression of spaciousness — I have installed recessed uplights in the upper section of my walls, and wall sconces work well too.

Pendant lights are a great option if you have high ceilings. Finally, a lamp that gives off a warm, cosy glow will provide the perfect welcoming atmosphere.

PERSONALITY

I love when I walk into a home and immediately get a sense of who lives there. I love hallway walls that are crammed full of family photos or funny pictures. I like mismatched holiday souvenirs and kid’s art projects and pets’ toys. Hallways are where you welcome people into your home, so use them as a place to express yourself — just no Live, Love Laugh signs.

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