My minimalist hallway makeover | The reveal

[Advertising – this post features gifted items, but all words and opinions are my own]

Today I want to show you the latest part of our house to receive a makeover: the hallway. It’s taken us four years to get around to doing anything with it, but it’s a tricky space and we didn’t want to rush into making any decisions that we might come to regret.

As this is the first thing people see when they enter the house, we wanted to use it to set the tone for the soft, minimalist look we’re aiming for throughout. That said, options for sprucing it up were very limited, as the ‘before’ photos in this post show. The layout of our house means the hallway is long and very narrow, with a slightly wider area at the end. We also had no way of using the staircase to create a statement feature, as it runs at a right-angle to the hallway and is boxed in by the living-room and dining-room walls.

We therefore decided to keep things very simple and started by painting the walls in the same soft white that we’ve used elsewhere in the house (the only room which is a different colour is the grey living room, where we wanted to create a slightly snugger, cosier vibe). This keeps the hallway as bright as possible and also means it feels like an extension of the other rooms rather than a separate corridor.

Once the painting was done, the most important decision of the whole project was the lighting – key to adding interest in a space that’s too narrow for much else. The elegant ‘Miira’ pendant (€329) from Danish brand Nuura proved ideal – it’s elegant and eye-catching, yet compact enough to fit the dimensions. We therefore installed a pair of them along the length of the hallway, suspended low enough to create impact without any risk of people hitting their heads!

There wasn’t room for much furniture, but I did squeeze in a sideboard – not only does it add a bit of useful storage, it also draws the eye through the narrow section to the wider, brighter area at the end. For the moment we’re using IKEA’s ‘VITTSJÖ’ unit (£50), but we hope to replace it with a sturdier steel version by Swedish brand Design Of when funds allow. Both have a slender, lightweight appearance that reveals the wall behind – ideal for small spaces.

The finishing touches were a few well-chosen artworks and accessories, a ‘Miira’ table lamp (€349) to match the pendants, and a grey felt ‘Restore’ basket (£75 – affiliate link) from Muuto for storing post and other bits and bobs. We also added a coat rack near the door. The space turned out to be too narrow for the beautiful Kristina Dam ‘Grid’ coat rack which I’d had my eye on, but I managed to find a similar-looking but more compact House Doctor design (£53) at Nunido.

We opted for the same simple and airy look on the landing above, too, with another ‘Miira’ pendant light and a few carefully chosen prints.

The hallway isn’t totally finished, as it still has a rather ugly 80s-style radiator (we need to replace the radiators throughout the house at some point), but I’m really pleased with the results so far. And I’d love to know what you think, so please do let me know in the comments below…

Nuura kindly gifted lighting for the makeover; all other items were paid for in full. 

All photography by Abi Dare