Banish those muddy boots – a statement
hallway makes a stylish first impression and
is the perfect place to let your interiors
imagination run wild, says Katrina Burroughs
ENTRANCE
Philip Vile“Ta-dah!” If rooms could talk, that is what our hallways
should say. Now we are entertaining guests again, it’s
time to upgrade unloved lobbies from grubby dumpinggrounds to interiors that showcase our personal style.
It’s not all about visitors’ first impressions — althoughthere is joy in showing off, and let’s lean into that now —
the job of a hallway is to make our spirits soar each timewe arrive home.
Whinnie Williams, presenter of the BBC3 show FlatOut Fabulous and creative director of the wallpaper and
fabric etailer Poodle & Blonde, says the hallway of herVictorian townhouse in Margate gives her a childlike
thrill: “When I was about six my mum took me to ashop and said pick your own wallpaper. I wanted 101
Dalmatians and she said, ‘No I don’t like black and white,it’s horrible.’ I feel like the six-year-old me has gone and
designed a Dalmatian wallpaper, and then done a blackand white hallway for myself.”
Williams’s spotty dog pattern runs from the front doorto the first landing. Paired with glossy black painted stairs,
it creates a vestibular style statement that is also practicalfor the rest of her household. “I’ve got 15 pets now. Inside
it’s two poodles, a cat and a house rabbit who thinks he isa poodle. The rabbit loves to hang out in the hallway.
I repaint the floors and stairs every few months.”A gallery wall — an arrangement of closely hung
pictures — is an alternative way to stamp personality onMain picture A
chequerboard floor, as
seen here by Studio Suss,is a timeless backdrop for
any decorative style.Below Whinnie Williams’s
black and white hallwayin her Margate home.
Below left ThreadneedlePale Lilac paint by Mylands
creates a warm, welcomingfeel in a hallway. Sturdy
wall hooks are essential,while a patterned floor
adds colour and draws theeye down the hall
The Sunday Times Style • 31