Reno Diaries: Recreating a period hallway

Part of the joy for me in owning a period home is the possibility you have to try and enhance some period features or recreate an older more original style. Whilst I’m not a lover of vintage or old furnishings and furniture as a rule, it’s possible to strike a beautiful balance between new and old to create an eye-catching finished look.

hallwayinspiration

Image courtesy of House to Home

This is something I hope to achieve with our hallway which is light and airy but suffering a bit with neglect. The hallway is quite typical of a 1930s house, spacious at the front with the stairs leading off it, and then narrowing as you walk down with doors to the living room, dining room and kitchen at the end. We also have a cupboard under the stairs which is the only part of the house to have it’s original door still intact.

We’ve inherited a laminate flooring on the hallway floor, white walls and a grey carpet on the stairs and landing all the way up to the top. There was a bit of repairing done when we moved in and had damp proofing. Since then I finally repainted all the bare plaster over Christmas so it stopped looking quite so much like a building site.

I still have absolutely no idea what colour to eventually paint the walls but we have some thoughts on flooring and carpets. I’d love to replace the laminate with a parquet floor, there’s something so timeless and classic about it, creating a real wow factor. This would then flow through into the living room giving a better sense of space.

parquetflooringhallway

Image courtesy of Pinterest

For the stairs, a runner opening up into a carpet on the landing and then continuing up the second flight of stairs to the top floor. We have a wonderful local flooring company who we’ll definitely be calling on for both the wood and carpets, they’ve fitted our temporary kitchen floor as well as our office and en-suite so we know we’re in good hands.

rogerscarpets

How cute are these sheep that provide wool for AJ Rogers carpets?!

We’ve also started the ambitious staircase restoration project and have learned that little and often is definitely key! The spindles were all chipped and covered in a thick, gloopy gloss paint. Little by little we’re stripping them back so that we can sand and then repaint in a Dulux satin to match all the other wood work. The old newel caps have been replaced with pyramid ones and we’ll stain these and the bannister to match each other.

New newel caps

Last but by no means least, Pete did get around to hanging this mirror on the wall by the front door. Every time I see it it makes me so happy and was the perfect choice and in keeping with our theme.

I’ve since sent the clever guy who made it some pictures of the type of console table we’re after and he says he can make one to match the mirror. Perfect! At the moment that bit of the hallway by the front door is a dumping ground for bags, shoes and doggy stuff which isn’t very welcoming. We also need an electricity socket fitted because we don’t have one there at the moment.

What floor do you have in your hallway? Do you think it’s important to have a welcoming feel?

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23 Comments

  1. June 13, 2015 / 9:09 pm

    It’s going to look amazing, I’m obsessed with home decor on pinterest too x

    • Lins
      June 13, 2015 / 10:19 pm

      I don’t even want to think about how many hours I wile away on Pinterest, it’s so addictive! Thank you for stopping by X

  2. June 13, 2015 / 9:23 pm

    This is fab! Creating the home takes time and it looks like you have some really fab ideas here. It is my dream to one day own a home too. First I need to get well enough work full time 🙂 I look forward to the day we own a home 🙂

    Angela xx

    • Lins
      June 13, 2015 / 10:19 pm

      Thanks Angela for your lovely words. I hope you don’t have to wait too long Xx

  3. Rachel -The L's Mum
    June 15, 2015 / 1:44 pm

    I love the idea of the flooring going into your living room. It;s the same for us and also we have another room off our hallway that our flowing flows into. We have Karndean (Im not sure how you spell it) but I love the look and sound of parquet. Can’t wait to see the finished hallway. Hallways I think really set the tone for your home. 🙂

    • Lins
      June 15, 2015 / 2:14 pm

      Oh I think the flooring company we use also use that Karndean flooring, I’ve heard really good things about it X

  4. martyn
    June 17, 2015 / 2:55 pm

    Wow!! This is amazing! Really quite envious now! Looks stunning. Thanks for linking up with us on the #bigfatlinky hope to see you there this week

    • Lins
      June 17, 2015 / 9:08 pm

      Thanks Martyn, yes I’ll hopefully be linking up again!

  5. Stephanie Robinson
    September 30, 2015 / 6:07 pm

    We don’t have much of a hallway at all – we have a porch, just. It’s about a metre and a half square (if it’s that) and the flooring we have in purely functional – the whole floor is covered in a large piece of doormat flooring. It does mean that our doormat never moves around, and it catches lots of grit/dirt before people get to our wooden floor so it does it’s job.

  6. September 30, 2015 / 8:05 pm

    It will look fab when it;s finished! I have the same shade of grey carpet on my stairs with a white staircase and wooden banister – it needs a bit of TLC now though! #Homeetc

  7. Gemma @ Two Little Misters
    September 30, 2015 / 8:41 pm

    Ooh your inspiration pictures are gorgeous! How lovely to have a nice airy entrance. Parquet floor would be absolutely stunning, I agree. You’ve done well to get back to bare wood on your staircase, paint stripping is so time consuming and messy! It’ll all look lovely when finished x

    • Lins
      October 2, 2015 / 1:02 pm

      Thanks so much Gemma, I definitely know it will all be worth it in the end BUT my goodness, sometimes progress feels slow Xx

  8. September 30, 2015 / 9:06 pm

    I love parquet floor, it’s beautiful and so welcoming. We have the same tiles as the kitchen carry on to the hall and into the downstairs loo, we have a black lab and it’s easier to regularly mop it all at the same time. I can’t wait to see what you do xx

    • Lins
      October 2, 2015 / 1:02 pm

      I love that idea of having the same tiles flowing through – especially with a dog!! I feel like I’m constantly cleaning muddy pawprints. Eek I wish I could step into the future and see the house then! Xx

  9. September 30, 2015 / 11:42 pm

    Ooh those hallway images are very inspirational. I like the look you are going for. And those sheep, so cute! The staircase job looks like a lot of hard work – well done and keep going! Sabrina xx #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      October 2, 2015 / 12:51 pm

      Ah thank you Sabrina, we’ve definitely learned with the staircase that little and often is key. I nearly lost the will one day after I spent 6 hours stripping spindles!! X

  10. October 2, 2015 / 10:01 am

    I love 1930s hallways! You could look for one of those original oak 1930s hall stands – you see them quite a lot at actions. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to solid wood flooring, I’d really recommend Karndean flooring. We have it in our hall and it looks great. x

    • Lins
      October 2, 2015 / 12:50 pm

      Oh I’ve heard of that, I know the floor company we use stock it so I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip lovely Xx

  11. mummyofboygirltwins
    October 6, 2015 / 8:05 pm

    Eeeeek what a big job but going to look amazing! I would select those images too for my hallway as they are stunning 🙂 Good luck and show us when you are done!! Thanks so much for linking up again and sharing. Jess x #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      October 7, 2015 / 10:06 pm

      I definitely will do Jess, it might take a few years 😉 X

  12. Kerry
    October 6, 2015 / 10:15 pm

    The second image is amazing. I would love our hall to look like that. Sadly, we’ve been decorating (failing miserably) ours for the last few months. There are just not enough hours in the day at the moment!! xx #HomeEtc

    • Lins
      October 7, 2015 / 9:37 pm

      Isn’t that the truth Kerry? I wish I could get more done but it’s just not possible. Bit by bit we’ll get there though! Xx

  13. October 9, 2015 / 2:24 pm

    Aargh. We don’t have a proper hallway in our cottage — we have a tiny vestibule that you can’t fit two people in and that’s about it!! 😉 LOVE looking at other people’s hallways — I have hall envy!! Thanks so much for linking up to #HomeEtc

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