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Hallway Inspiration

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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! 

Collage of 9 hallway images with text overlay stating that the post has 10 hallway decorating ideas

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! 

Hallway with bright yellow art

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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:

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!

Collage of two hallway images - one is plain white with a large chalkboard and one has shiplap on the walls

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!

Collage of 2 hallway images - the left side has a black accent wall with a gallery wall and the right side has a large gallery wall with a pink runner

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!

Collage of two hallway images - the left side has black and white stripes on the walls and the right side has board and batten

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.

Collage of two images of narrow hallways. The left side has floral wallpaper and a pink and blue runner, the right side has dark blue walls and a bright runner

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??

Collage of two images of narrow hallways. The right side has large-scale on one wall and the right side has a bold striped runner

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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. lasercut says

    So many great ideas. I love Kristi’s hallway (making it in the mountains)! But, I love the idea of using the long and narrow rug, too. So many options!!

    Reply

  3. Cass says

    I put a fireplace mantel w an large empty frame sitting on top in our long hallway. Put some faux plants inside the frame and a bunch of silver trays. Round, oblong, rectangle stacked on top of fireplace inside frame. Just leaned the frame and trays against the wall. It’s fun to me but prolly odd to have an old fireplace mantle in ur hallway to most. Lol!

    Reply

  4. agreso says

    Great ideas! We have a narrow hallway with several doors and I always worry that I will overwhelm it but these perspective shots say otherwise. Love it! Pinning to inspire.

    Reply

  5. Carolyn Benedict says

    We have just moved into a new house with a little longer than 25ft long hallway! It opens up to a great room which is beautiful. There is a small entryway with rooms on each side. I don;’t know if the runner we need to have made should start at the front door..or start several feet in? Thanks! Carolyn

    Reply

  6. Sue says

    When you walk in our front door you see a wall and to the right is a coat closet on end of hall. Now this wall is only about 6ft . I cannot fit a bench or table as it is only 4 ft wide with door shut. I would like to make a statement but afraid a color would darken the white wall. I don’t know if I should add lots of frames or 1 large picture or paint?I would love your suggestions
    Thank you

    Reply

    • Amanda Hendrix says

      I think any of those options could be great! You could also try maybe some sort of board and batten treatment with some hooks and a small shelf – it would add function to the space and would look great too!

      Reply

  7. Vicki says

    My hallway is very long, close to 16 ft. I believe, so I purchased two of the same runner and put them end to end to get the length I needed. You can use strong tape on the back where they join if needed. I have a narrow bench in my hallway that serves as a dropping place for my kids’ backpacks/dance bag, and also a row of hooks for jackets. Also, lots of family photos! I would like to change the light fixture to something more interesting. I have a dimmer switch that allows the light to be dimmed at night so the kids can see their way to the bathroom but it’s not so bright that it shines to much in their rooms when doors are open.

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  8. Gina Rodriguez says

    Thanks for sharing these great ideas. I love the gallery wall on the minimal hallway and will try and do something similar in our new house.

    Reply

  9. Linda Chauvin says

    These are all great ideas and I love at least one thing about each one, which is why I’ve done nothing in my long narrow hallway. I also have a bathroom door at the end of the hall, so you see half of the tub, shower curtain and a little window over the tub? Any suggestions ?

    Reply

    • Amanda says

      Hah, girl I’m with you – too many ideas! I would probably start by making sure the view into the bathroom was as pleasant as possible (maybe some fresh paint on the walls, a window treatment, etc.) for when the door is open. If the hallway gets enough light it might be fun to paint the doors (I’m a huge fan of black doors, but our hallway is too dark), or do a DIY moulding treatment if they’re plain doors – basically, with a hall full of doors (like ours is) my instinct is to make the doors as pretty as possible. Then, depending on how much wall space you have you could add some art or do a wall treatment (board & batten is a favorite for the hallway).

      I think for a mini hallway makeover, though, you can’t go wrong with a pretty runner, some nice lighting, and a good color on the walls!

      Reply

  11. Emily, Our house now a home says

    These are all gorgeous ideas! I have a narrow and very long hallway as well, with too many doors in it. I added wainscoting and love the results. People thought I was weird to put so much work into the hallway, but it was worth all of the work!

    Reply

  13. Rachel says

    Great ideas! We have a narrow hallway with several doors and I always worry that I will overwhelm it but these perspective shots say otherwise. Love it! Pinning to inspire.

    Reply

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