Hallway Inspiration

Long, narrow hallways can seem just about impossible to decorate. But, with a little creativity and these hallway decorating ideas, you can add a little decor to your narrow hallway to make it beautiful! 

Generally speaking, hallways are pretty boring. Right?! I feel like they are typically a place that we just ignore and use only as a way to get from point A to point B.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Hallways can be the perfect blank canvas for a lot of visual interest and some bold choices, and they don’t have to be super boring all the time. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what we can do in our home to make our hallway a little less blah. It’s looking a lot better than it used to thanks to our new flooring, but it’s still quite empty and boring.

UPDATE: Check out this post to see how we gave our narrow hallway a little love – it’s looking gorgeous now! 

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I’ve spent a ton of time thinking about our hallway conundrum lately and I wanted to share a few of the tips and tricks I’ve gathered along the way. Here are my top 5 tips for your narrow hallway decor. 

Tips for Decorating a Narrow Hallway

1. Focus on the floor and ceiling. You’ll be amazed at what a huge difference it will make to simply add a runner and swap out the lights for something a little more special. Sometimes tiny changes go a long way, so don’t neglect the importance of these two additions!
2. Add some interest to the walls. A hallway is a fantastic place for a fun and unique wall treatment. It’s a tiny space, which means it’s a tiny commitment and you can feel free to go a little crazier than you normally would! Try some bold wallpaper or some board and batten – this is the perfect opportunity to try out that accent wall treatment you’ve been wondering about!
3. Don’t forget the art! Even if you add a fun treatment to your walls, you’re still going to want to add some art. I think a hallway is a fantastic place to add some family photos, but you could also do a fun, welcoming saying (like I did with our DIY hallway art), or even just a pretty photo.
4. If you have the space, consider a table. A simple narrow table with a pretty lamp and a few other decorative items will help the space feel a lot more intentional and actually decorated. If you don’t have room for a table, consider a floating shelf or something else that gives you room to add some decor – remember, the tiny details make a big difference!
5. Don’t skimp on the personality. Hallways are the perfect blank canvas for a big statement. Go bold with the rug, add a super unique light fixture, or paint the walls a color you don’t have anywhere else. It’s a fun and unexpected surprise, and it’ll make your narrow hallway feel so much more special.

Decor & DIYs for Your Narrow Hallway

If you’re like me and you sometimes struggle with how to take gorgeous inspiration like this and turn it into reality, I went ahead and did the hard work for you. Here are a few of my favorite options for sprucing up a boring hallway!

And, if you prefer to go the DIY route, here are a few fun ideas for you:

• DIY Geometric Art
• Charred Wood Plank Accent Wall
• How to Turn Your Wall Into a Giant Chalkboard
• DIY Family Photo Display
• DIY Paneled Interior Doors

Narrow Hallway Decorating Ideas

And finally, I’ve been scoping out a lot of fun ideas on Pinterest lately for what we could do in this hallway, so I thought it would be fun to round up a few narrow hallway decorating ideas up for you today. Here are 10 gorgeous hallways that all have unique designs, fun elements, and are anything but boring!

Making it in the Mountains // Houseologie

I can’t get over that gorgeous giant chalkboard! We don’t have a blank wall big enough for something like this in our hallway, but the idea could definitely be altered to work up there (for example, see how we did something similar in our garage!). How fun would that be?! I also love the photo display on the other side – to me, hallways are the perfect place to display some family photos, and that’s a great way to do it. And, of course, I love the planked wall that Leigh Anne from Houseologie did in her hall – it’s the perfect way to add some visual interest without making the small space look too busy! And that blanket ladder? I wish our hall was big enough for something like that!

Little House of Four // Designstiles

The combination of that gallery wall and the dark accent wall is absolute perfection to me. We’ve already got a big gallery wall on our staircase (which leads up to this hallway), so it might be a bit much to do one up there too, but I can’t get over how great that looks! And I’m obsessed with that gorgeous red runner from Designstiles. That hallway is a little more similar to what we’re working with (long and narrow!) and I love the addition of the lights above the gallery wall to make it even more of a focal point!

Country Living // Simplicity in the South

Stripes! Who would’ve thought that taking such a tiny and narrow space and adding something so visually impactful would look so amazing?! I love the stripes in this hallway and I love that they even repeated the pattern in the runner. The photos on either side help tone down the craziness of the stripes, and it really makes me want to go crazy and paint stripes all over our hallway! I also love the board & batten that Simplicity in the South did – that’s something Corey and I have been considering for a long time in our hallway upstairs, and I adore how it looks here. I think the bright white trim on the bottom half of the wall is a fantastic way to brighten up a dark hallway, and it adds so much to the area without making it feel overwhelming.

Room for Tuesday // Coco Kelley

Can you even handle that wallpaper? I LOVE how it looks in the hallway, especially paired with the board and batten below! That wallpaper will always and forever be my favorite wallpaper pattern, though, so I might be a little biased! And both of these photos are such a great push for me to get a dang runner for our hallway – they create such an impact, and they’re totally functional! I love the vintage patterns, it’s just going to be a matter of finding one that’s long and narrow enough for our hallway. I imagine I’ll have to find an actual vintage rug – any suggestions??

Studio McGee // Freshome

Studio McGee can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes, so it’s no surprise I love this minimally-designed hallway. The giant mats on those black and white family photos are stunning, and I desperately want to copy that somewhere! I also love the globe lights in the hallway, I really hadn’t thought to do something fun like that in our hallway, so I’m really inspired by that! I love the cool archway accent on the photo from Freshome – such an easy way to add some architectural interest in an otherwise boring room! The super narrow little accent table also looks fantastic in this hall!

Are you feeling as inspired as I am?! Which ideas do you think I should try out first in our hall? Which ones are you going to try? I’d love to hear some of your favorite narrow hallway decorating ideas!

Need more ideas for those hard to decorate spaces in your home? I’ve got you covered.

• How to decorate an awkward corner
• Staircase decorating ideas
• Small laundry room ideas
• Ideas for a small front porch
• Design mistakes that make your home look cluttered
• Affordable powder room makeovers