The entrance hall is the “face” of the apartment. The first impression of your guests about your home depends on how this small space turns out. There are many nuances in the repair: it is important not only to organize enough storage spaces or hide the shield, but also take care of practicality. After all, the hallway is also the most easily polluted area in the apartment.
In order to avoid mistakes, for which you will later have to pay with your own comfort, study the important points even before starting work.
Choose the wrong flooring
One of the most common omissions is to choose glossy tiles as your flooring. In winter and autumn, a wet zone appears in the hallway, so the surface should not slip. If you want to lay tiles, pay attention to the texture.
How to fix the mistake: in the hallways I try to lay porcelain stoneware, but I always take into account that it does not slip. I also avoid small decorations so that dust does not collect in the seams. Ceramic tiles are also suitable for the entrance area: it, like porcelain stoneware, is easy to keep clean – this is important for the hallway.
Forget about underfloor heating
Many mistakenly believe that a warm floor in the hallway is a waste of money, a rug at the front door is enough. But the problem is not only that it is unpleasant to stand on cold ceramic tiles with bare feet. The warm floor has a second function – it helps to dry shoes faster. Also, the whole room becomes warmer, and for the hallway this plays a role: this room accounts for considerable heat loss due to drafts.
How to fix the mistake: think over the electric floor heating in advance, taking into account the characteristics of the flooring. Tiles and porcelain tiles transmit heat well, but with laminate, parquet and carpet, you will have to spend more money on electricity.
Forget the master switch
Each of us has come across a situation when you are ready to leave the apartment, but you notice that the light is not turned off in one of the rooms. You have to take off your shoes, spend extra time, and if you don’t have it, accept that a little inattention will affect your energy bills.
How to fix the mistake: install a switch that turns off all the lights when you leave the apartment. You no longer have to lace up your shoes again or do a little run around the apartment right in your street shoes.
Consider insufficient lighting
Often, even in compact hallways, large mirrors are installed. It seems that for a small space, one source of overhead light is enough. But practice shows that you can work with the hallway according to the scenario of the kitchen – the more zones are illuminated, the better. The additional backlight renders colors clearly and correctly, and also brightens this dark area.
How to fix the mistake: Design enough of the right light in advance. Buy a mirror with built-in lighting, install lighting inside cabinets.
Neglect a place for an ottoman
This problem is common in small hallways. When every centimeter counts, an ottoman or a couch seems like an unaffordable luxury – you can fasten your boots without them, and nothing will happen to the bag if you put it on the floor. But this is the wrong approach: even such a small omission deprives you of convenience.
How to fix the mistake: try to find a place for a compact ottoman. If this is not possible, organize a bench or couch combined with an open storage system.
Forget about the place for the keys
The concept of “key keeper” today seems old-fashioned, but we must not forget about it. Agree, it is much more convenient if the keys always lie in one place: this issue is especially acute in cases where residents have a lot of sets and all of them are constantly lost within the apartment.
How to fix the mistake: if you do not want to put the key holder on the surface of the cabinet or shoe rack, remember about alternative solutions – for example, the key holder can be hidden inside the hall closet.
Make few outlets
Everyone knows that there should be a lot of outlets in the kitchen or in the bedroom. But the sockets in the hallway are neglected, and in vain: at the planning stage, they don’t remember about the scenario where you need to connect a vacuum cleaner or dryers for shoes in the hallway. You have to pull extension cords and overload the space with wires.
How to fix the mistake: remember that two or three outlets are enough in the corridor or hallway. Since sockets are often used to connect a shoe dryer, the sockets do not need to be raised too high.