Interiors

Space savers: nine ideas to make the most of your hallway

Best in Class: From hall stands to boot rooms, here’s how to improve its storage

Hall stand and bootroom storage from West Elm

Alanna Gallagher's face
Alanna Gallagher
Sat Jan 12 2019 - 00:00

1. Hall stand from West Elm

No hall closet? No problem. A simple off-the-peg solution that will amp up your hall storage by 20 sq feet can be purchased in the West Elm January sale. This industrial storage hallstand has mango wood cubbies set in a blackened steel frame.

It includes five hooks for coats and even tucks in a cushioned bench into its compact design that allows you to comfortably change from outdoor to indoor footwear.

The rise in the number of dogs in city environments is one of the reasons many homeowners now choose to do this. It has been reduced from about €773 to about €310, ex delivery from the firm's UK division. westelm.co.uk

Leon On Me clothes rack from Umage

2.Lean on Me clothes rack

If you don't have the space for any built-in cabinetry but need to get coats off the banister, Umage's Lean on Me clothes rack, designed to lean at an angle away from the wall at its base is specially designed for a narrow hall and takes up very little valuable floor space. It comes in black or white colour options and costs about €249, ex delivery from the Copenhagen-based company. umage.com

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Stainless steel Korbo baskets

3. Stainless steel Korbo baskets

“A lot of period houses were not designed with storage in mind,” says Philippa Buckley of Studio 44 who does a lot of retrofitting of such properties and is a whizz at shoehorning storage cupboards into what appear to be secret spaces.

While nothing beats her style of built-in cabinetry a quick fix for harried homeowners are these hanging, hand-woven stainless steel Korbo baskets from Nordic House.

They come in two sizes, the small, 16-litre capacity, costs about €100, the large, 24-litre capacity, costs about €127, ex delivery.

Hall table from Ventura Design

4. Ventura Design’s Taylor console table

Baskets can be a great way to corral scarves, hats, gloves, sunglasses, dog leads, poop bags and anything else you need for an Irish winter walk. These can be set onto low shelves on console tables or hung on hooks, one for each member of the household.

Ikea's Fladis baskets, made of sea grass, come in two sizes and cost €12 and €20. Ventura Design's Taylor console table is another smart option for it has a low shelf where you can place baskets. It costs from €850 to €2,100 depending on the size of your hall with effects like dry brushing and gilding additional extras. ikea.com/ie/en/; ventura.ie

This Tetouan design from Kersaint Cobb’s Morocco runner collection is a hard-wearing sisal weave

5. Kersaint Cobb’s Morocco runner

Many homeowners have opted for wooden flooring at hall level but wood on its own, especially at this time of the year, can feel a bit bare underfoot.

A runner is a smart compromise as it is easier to keep clean than wall-to-wall carpet. It will dim down sound and will feel far nicer underfoot as members of the household change from outdoor to indoor footwear.

This Tetouan design from Kersaint Cobb's Morocco runner collection is a hard-wearing sisal weave that you can brush mud off and is priced from about €75 per linear metre, ex delivery. kersaintcobb.co.uk

Brittany unit from Noa and Nani

6. Brittany unit from Noa and Nani

If your home has a country aesthetic then this freestanding Brittany unit from UK-based Noa and Nani can create an instant mini boot room in your front hall.

The off white storage unit boasts a multitude featuring six double hooks to hang jackets and coats on, a handy shoe storage drawer under its bench where you can hide dirty boots and trainers.

The bench itself can be a place for schoolbags and rucksacks to live – off the floor. It costs about €110, ex delivery. noaandnani.co.uk/

Sliding doors from Doorware

7. Sliding doors from Doorware

Sliding doors make it easier to maximise storage space and offer ease of accessibility. In a villa-style home a utility or cloakroom upstairs can declutter a hall in nanoseconds. Galway city-based Doorware stocks a range of sliding pocket doors worth investigating. Pictured is the Syntesis from its Eclisse range. A single costs €550, while double doors, pictured, cost €1,100, and includes delivery but not fitting. doorware.ie

Hall and bootroom storage from The Organised Store

8. Hall and bootroom storage, The Organised Store

At this time of the year The Organised Store in Dundrum Town Centre is stuffed to the gills with shoppers who are hoping that an investment in storage will transform their lives .

Owner Olive Donovan has seen a 30 per cent increase in the sale of drawer organisers, baskets and clear storage boxes, a boost, she thinks from Marie Kondo’s new Netflix show on tidying.

This Elfa set-up is designed to maximize the use of vertical wall space. The back walls include shelving, gliding doors for leads, gloves etc and gliding shoe racks that hold up to 15 pairs. It costs €722.

The wall to the fore of the shot includes pegboards and narrow shelves, perfect for phones and keys, out of reach of the front door to minimise theft, as well as hooks for schoolbags. It costs about €189. organisedstore.ie

Boot room storage. This design is by Hampshire-based Lewis Alderson but any good kitchen cabinet company could build something similar

9. Boot room

If you have the space and a side entrance a proper boot room is something you won’t regret. Position it inside the back door and include a rack to hang all coats school bags and sports bags and a bench for family members to sit on while removing outdoor shoes that they can store under the bench.

Additional extras like gum shields, shin guards, helmets and gloves can live in the baskets set on the overhead shelf. This design is by Hampshire-based Lewis Alderson but any good kitchen cabinet company could build something similar. lewisalderson.com