Hallway decorating

[JoceAndChris]

Aaaagh, mess. But colours, papers, hints, tips for my hallway? ilona!!! It's pretty dark.

Some pics, sorry for the poor quality. The hallway is Palladian with lots of arches and doors underneath (14, last count) - so whatever colour the wood gets painted is going to be very dominant.

This buff colour underneath the wallpaper I've just stripped was painted on in the '40s! (very little decoration took place here between the 40s and 80s)

Stone block effect has been mentioned more than once, but the only paper I've found is £200+ per roll which is at least £100 too much. Plus I think stone on the floor and a stone look on the walls is all too much stone. I don't fancy wood graining the doors either - sorry Nigel - I could never get anything to look as good as you have in your house, and I just don't have the patience.

Plain whitewash is what this hallway had when it was first built - not my taste at all! I'd like something very joyful and welcoming.

I can't achieve overhead lighting as the floor above is concrete poured on reed. So I think we'll have to stick with the current wall light, which is very insufficient.

Furniture - I plan a chaise longue in sumptuous velvet, a demi lune table, and ornate mirror.

All ideas welcome!

 

[ilona73]

hehehehe

Lincrusta would get my vote but it is expensive and depends on how much you want to spend???

http://www.wallpaperdirect.co.uk/products/lincrusta/linenfold/1197



how about a heavily embossed paper on the bottom similar in style to lyncrusta but without the price tag???
something like?

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9255541&fh_reftheme=promo_159030150%2cseeall%2c%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372032%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372137%7d&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372032%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372137%7d%2fspecificationsProductType%3dstandard_paintable_wallpaper&fh_eds=ß&fh_refview=lister&ts=1264018792904&isSearch=false


http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9255538&fh_view_size=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372013%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372032%7d%2fcategories%3c%7b9372139%7d%2f_colourMoodMIF%3e%7ball%7d%2fspecificationsProductType%3dstandard_wallpaper%2ffeaturesBrand%3d1829&fh_refview=lister&ts=1264019007840&isSearch=false

This was just an example

There are all sorts of traditional ones out there that you can paint any colour you like then add a quick drying satin varnish over the top for extra durability against knocks etc...

i know you are wanting a stripe for the top? how about thinking about an alternative with a reflective bronze or gold stripe through it again to bounce light back into the hallway ....???

I assume you are painting the wood??? go for something with a soft sheen to bounce light back into the space... on walls opposite any windows or walls that can catch light from any window... you need to smartly place mirrors... these don't have to big but will help to keep light to a maximum.. even small ones in ornate picture frames will do.. also think about your lighting .. dont be afraid of being bold with if you can add in a few smaller tables with lamps on etc...... afterall your hallway is the first part of your house that greets your visitors!

 

[Nigel Watts]

The hall is a space which is transitional between the exterior and interior. Drawing rooms, bedrooms etc should be lush and cosy, but the hall, especially if it is a rather formal space should be a bit harder and more masculine I think. Stone-effect was very common in the early 19thc, but you have ruled this out. What about something like the back staircase at Sir John Soane's house? I think this was stippled (you can get stipple effect wallpaper). I like using grey for woodwork, as in my basement corridor, but it doesnt have to be this dark. I think I would avoid brown woodwork unless it is grained, because it might end up looking like a cheap substitute for graining:

As for hall furniture, a few hall chairs, perhaps? - the really hard uncomfortable ones with one's crest emblazoned or carved on the back for the footmen to sit on. I have always fancied a pair of these for my hall.

 

[ilona73]

forgot to say nice curtain i like those!! heheh xx Ironwork Scroll perchance? if not something very similar....

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I can't achieve overhead lighting as the floor above is concrete poured on reed.

Lime-ash floor?

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Your hall is lovely! Have you looked at the Farrow and Ball wallpapers, the gold bee motif is very attractive and comes on different background colours. I used it in a client's hallway, below dado, which is very similar to yours. We glazed the paper as she had a couple of toddlers. It seemed to survive.

Everyone seems really busy, I have only got as far as arranging for the electrician to do his quote for the electric shower supply, --- it's sooooo very dismally dark here, no sunshine to kick start me!!!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Gosh, what lovely ideas - and thanks so much for the response!

Everyone seems really busy, I have only got as far as arranging for the electrician to do his quote for the electric shower supply, --- it's sooooo very dismally dark here, no sunshine to kick start me!!!

You've done lots and lots Joss- much more than I did last year. Maybe winter is a time for you to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour! Here, I have to keep moving to keep warm!

Farrow and Ball wallpapers, the gold bee motif

Oh, I've been drooling over that for years! Fancy you picking that one! I had a fantasy of a daughter called Bea and a nursery with that paper - no namby pamby fear of insects in any child of mine - so I'm holding that one back as I haven't completely given up hope yet!

Lime-ash floor?

I really don't know, there's a carpet down currently, pulling up a corner reveals a smooth, hard, grey substance. I'll google to get pics of lime-ash floors and find out what you mean.

forgot to say nice curtain i like those!! heheh xx Ironwork Scroll perchance? if not something very similar....

Spot on - well done!! Yes, good old Laura Ashley, picked up in the sale with 50% off. However, they don't have to stay - I can use them elsewhere - and what I'd really like in the hallway for curtains would be crushed velvet with embroidered silk swags, and then to use that same embroidered silk for Roman blinds in the porch.

Drawing rooms, bedrooms etc should be lush and cosy, but the hall, especially if it is a rather formal space should be a bit harder and more masculine I think

The thing is I get dressed in my hall - crazy I know but that's where my clothes are (in those cupboards, as no space for a wardrobe in the bedroom) For that reason I need a chaise longue to fling my mantua on when matching it to my shawl!

I do like the hard hallway chairs though I won't have any space for them here.

I take your point about the brown woodwork too.

Lincrusta would get my vote but it is expensive and depends on how much you want to spend???

how about a heavily embossed paper on the bottom similar in style to lyncrusta but without the price tag???
something like?

i know you are wanting a stripe for the top? how about thinking about an alternative with a reflective bronze or gold stripe through it again to bounce light back into the hallway ....???

I assume you are painting the wood??? go for something with a soft sheen to bounce light back into the space... on walls opposite any windows or walls that can catch light from any window... you need to smartly place mirrors... these don't have to big but will help to keep light to a maximum.. even small ones in ornate picture frames will do.. also think about your lighting .. dont be afraid of being bold with if you can add in a few smaller tables with lamps on etc...... afterall your hallway is the first part of your house that greets your visitors!

Such interesting ideas and I'm grateful for all the advice about light. Personally I find the papers and paints with sheen and reflective surfaces a bit modern for here, though I agree they look lovely in the right setting and can really maximise light.

I agree the lincrusta is amazing, and there's a panelled one which I'm sure would look great but it's so expensive at £188.50 per roll. I think Lincrusta below the dado, a stripe above, and floral curtains is too busy a look, I'd only envisaged using a paper up to the dado and then plain paint above. The cornice, dado, skirting, architrave and doors should be one colour, I think and the wall paint a different colour. These colours will have to be taken into the porch, and probably down the stairs and into the passageway as well, unless we reinstate the door (which would probably be a good idea both visually and for warmth).

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

 

[JoceAndChris]

This website is very interesting (thanks Gareth!) http://www.skinnerwallpaper.com/

"Malahide" has a Gothic splendour about it - I'll ring and find out how many hundreds of pounds per roll it is. :roll:

 

[Nigel Watts]

This website is very interesting (thanks Gareth!) http://www.skinnerwallpaper.com/

"Malahide" has a Gothic splendour about it - I'll ring and find out how many hundreds of pounds per roll it is. :roll:

Wonderful wallpaper, and a nice example of a hall chair as well!

 

[ilona73]

The lincrusta i have sourced is £91 per roll...you can buy it on Ebay and wallpaper direct and other sources such as this one much cheaper than what you have been quoted and as you only need two rolls maybe its not out of your reach afterall???


As for the soft sheen on the paint i was thinking more like a satin so only very soft not too much and certainly not a gloss

These people do it at £91 a roll

http://www.decoratingwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue.php?nodeid=74&gclid=CI-fvuaQtZ8CFcpb4wodNHnJzg

this one edwardian dado is £91.25 inc VAT

http://www.decoratingwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue.php?nodeid=74&productid=353
View attachment 2

Supplied in Packs, Each Pack Containing (5) Ready Trimmed Panels and a Top Border RD 1953
Each Panel Size is 40 inch High (1016mm) x 24 inchs Wide (610mm)
The Border is Supplied in 8.2meter Lengths

This one is an Art Noveau style
http://www.decoratingwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue.php?nodeid=74&productid=354
View attachment 1

again same price etc....


Anaglypta Lincrusta RD 1959 Saville (Dado Panels)

again same price ..

Maybe you could get round it by thinking that if you go for he lincrusta although its expensive... it will pay for itself int hat you wont need to redecorate it in a few years time just a fresh coat of paint when you fancy a change?

hope this has helped you !! at half the price you thought it was hey i have saved you £180 already! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

ilona, you are splendidly resourceful - SH is in good hands! Thanks so very much for all those links, and the cheaper panelled Lincrusta. That's very exciting!

I phoned the David Skinner company in Ireland, the wife was extremely vague but did say that a paper with one colour is £120 per roll, and Malahide has seven. I'm waiting to hear from the husband. I think I really do have to have a cut off point of £100 per roll, and even that's insane really.

 

[Nigel Watts]

I phoned the David Skinner company in Ireland, the wife was extremely vague but did say that a paper with one colour is £120 per roll, and Malahide has seven. I'm waiting to hear from the husband. I think I really do have to have a cut off point of £100 per roll, and even that's insane really.

Joce there are so many good machine printed papers that we should not be tempting you with such things!

At the risk of compounding the crime, and sounding terribly sniffy, I have my doubts about Mr Skinner's papers. If you are going to blow alot of money on a good paper, do shop around first.

The worrying thing for me is the sight of a screen printing process being used. Nothing wrong with this in principle, but it ain't authentic and doesn't achieve the same texture. This, and the small number of colours used makes his papers look rather flat to my eye. My simple green damask paper from Watts of Westminster has four colours I think, and was printed from blocks. Only an inspection of an actual sample will really be fair, but based on what one can see on the net this is what I mean:

A Skinner paper:

A Watts of Westminster paper (I have no connection with then other than having been a customer once):

I have been holding my tongue over Lincrusta. I am not a fan and would not use it unless I were doing a late Victorian or Edwardian scheme. When I stripped the ten or so layers of wallpaper from my hall walls I found about halfway down something like this:

These are very unappetisingly known as "sanitary papers". According to Watts these were "popular at the turn of the century. Commonly used for practical purposes in hallways and boot rooms due to dense coverage of crazed ground: often heavily lacquered to become wipeable." Not really my cup of tea either, but on balance I think I like this more than the Linscrusta.

Do have a drool over Watts's website, if you can bear it:

http://www.wattsofwestminster.com

I will try to find out what my paper cost. I think it was around £100 a roll, but my memory may be playing tricks on me, and it was a few years ago.

 

[ilona73]

This website is very interesting (thanks Gareth!) http://www.skinnerwallpaper.com/

"Malahide" has a Gothic splendour about it - I'll ring and find out how many hundreds of pounds per roll it is. :roll:

Wonderful wallpaper, and a nice example of a hall chair as well!

If its a gothic style panel you like the lincrusta one on the website i gave you is also £91 a roll .. so a tad under budget.... plus you know it will harden off and just get better with age...skinners i have used in the past but only twice and i didnt find their customer service very good... i had to wait for about 7 weeks in the end for something i was told would be two at most.. which isnt very good when its for a client and you get fobbed off... i wouldnt mind but i never even got an apology... just a "it takes as long as it takes no more no less"

At the end of the day its personal choice its personal to you... all you can do is let your own taste be your guide... the only thing you need to remember is ..."buy cheap you will buy twice" its much better to get what you really want even if it means waiting a bit longer...rather than something you are relatively happy with but not 100% as you can bet your bottom dollar within a couple of years you will be fed up and wish you had held out for what you truly wanted. :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

."buy cheap you will buy twice" its much better to get what you really want even if it means waiting a bit longer...rather than something you are relatively happy with but not 100% as you can bet your bottom dollar within a couple of years you will be fed up and wish you had held out for what you truly wanted. :wink:

I agree with you - though if I waited for what I really wanted - Sezincote, probably, and all that lies therein -I'd wait forever!! So some compromise has to happen.

Gosh, those pesky Georgians, not inventing Lincrusta - that rules that out then. I do know what I like but I'm less sure about historical accuracy! What I don't want to do is spend a lot of money on a paper that's highly anachronistic, and then discover that subsequently and feel I should undo it and put up something more appropriate. If the paper only cost £40 for the whole lot (as in my bedroom), you care far less about the thought of re-doing in the future!

I'm drawn to florals and highly decorated papers as Nigel is, however, that becomes hell when at a later date you can afford to start introducing the soft furnishings! In terms of hierachy, I think the fabric far far more important than the paper, it's what really stands out in the room and the paper then becomes a backdrop. Therefore if you can afford it you should always start with the fabric, match it to the paint and bring in a toning paper - that's just my opinion though and is heavily biased because I love textiles so much.

So, for fabric, if I wanted to use something like this in curtains, blinds,and cushions on the chaise:

I wouldn't put it up alongside anything floral - it would have to be a simple stripe:

The chaise would then have to be in that intense berry red, a crushed velvet, and the rug would have to be completely plain too.

This is very nice too Nigel, and maybe could work with a floral pattern - I'll ring for the price. Your observations on the Skinner paper are interesting.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Joce - I am not sure if Watts keep any stock or if everything is made to order. For my batch there was a minimum order which was close to what I needed for the whole job (two rooms with ten foot ceilings).

I am most interested in your idea of choosing the fabric first and the wallpaper second. I would always have done it the other way round but I am coming round to your point of view. The materials for my living room curtains and upholstery are proving more expensive than my hand printed paper, and if labour were included I am sure the difference would be even greater.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Such an interesting conundrum isn't it? Most period property front rooms must need at least 20 metres of fabric, (fabric requirements for my bay window will be around 25 metres, then say another 8 to cover a sofa, another 2 for cushions etc, and I'll need about 15 metres for the hall) some rooms need a good deal more - and a medium quality fabric is probably around £20 a metre, you can easily spend up to £100 a metre - so fabric can be the biggest cost, and that's without any labour as you say.

Of course there is always Dunelm Mill! And ebay!

In fact, there are rooms of antique curtains in Horncastle, I should go and have a good trawl through.

 

[Flyfisher]

You're starting to scare me now. I thought I'd been quite careful when budgeting for our project and allowing for all the money I would save by doing a lot of the work myself - but all that was mainly for the building work. Now you're talking about £100 rolls of wallpaper and £2000 of fabric for one room without any labour - and I'm nowhere near approaching Nigel's skill-level in that regard, so scant savings there. If I can't keep ahead of budget for the building works it looks like we'll be down to woodchip and beige emulsion for decorating purposes. :shock:

 

[ilona73]

You're starting to scare me now. I thought I'd been quite careful when budgeting for our project and allowing for all the money I would save by doing a lot of the work myself - but all that was mainly for the building work. Now you're talking about £100 rolls of wallpaper and £2000 of fabric for one room without any labour - and I'm nowhere near approaching Nigel's skill-level in that regard, so scant savings there. If I can't keep ahead of budget for the building works it looks like we'll be down to woodchip and beige emulsion for decorating purposes. :shock:

you dont have to buy everything new and pay top dollar... some of the most interesting pieces of fabric etc and furniture is the pre loved items . There are all sorts of resources for fabrics and wallpaper.. its just a case of knowing where to look and how to get the best discounts... And that is what adds to the fun! :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

That's good news; I'll rely on you and Joce to save me from the woodchip when the time comes.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

A couple of hallways, scanned in, from my some of my design briefs 2002/3 , taken before I had a digital camera.

The grand hallway is in a Grade 1 listed, blew the budget with the lantern!!!

The smaller hallway is similar in style to yours Joce, but in a large Townhouse, Grade 2 listed