Buoyed by finishing off our art nouveau guest room makeover, I’m now getting ready to tackle another space: the hallway. The wheels are in motion; I’ve picked out paint and flooring samples, pinned inspirational hallways on Pinterest and have even started filling the holes in the walls. In spite of all my research, I’m still at a standstill with the design of the space, so I thought I’d turn to my lovely readers for advice…
I love Scandi style interiors like this and this ‘Driftwood’ flooring looks so natural
While it seems like a relatively small area to decorate, the hallway is actually a much more complicated space than you’d think. It has to work as a complete area, while also tying in with rooms downstairs and upstairs. I don’t want it to exist in isolation from the rest of the house, I want it to join both floors of the house together and for the interior decor to flow beautifully. But how?
If only this was my living room – love the wide boards of the Nordic Oak flooring
One way is to stick to the Scandi style I tend to favour. Most of the images I save on Pinterest are of mid-century design and minimalist homes, so I think that the Scandinavian style ties both of these styles together. The essence of the look is bright white spaces with muted neutral paint colours, and plenty of clean, pale wood flooring. I want to keep accessories to a minimum and focus on the texture of the wood as the main focus. 
This Winter Oak colour is a slightly warmer hue than my white-washed bedroom.
But I don’t want to spend all my decorating budget of solid wood flooring, which is why I’ve turned to high quality laminate flooring as a thrifty alternative. It gives the same look and feel as real natural wood but at a fraction of the price. I used it in my living room and if I pick a similar oak colour it will help to link the hallway to the living room seamlessly, creating less of a ‘break’ between rooms, helping the hallway to feel more spacious. 
This white-washed flooring is called ‘Wembury Coconut Oak’ and I love how it looks in bedrooms
I really love how well the white-washed laminate flooring turned out in my bedroom. We’ve lived with it for a good 6 months now, and it’s stayed in perfect condition. Some of the best features of laminate flooring are that it’s hard-wearing, scratch resistant and so easy to keep clean. However, I think that a very pale white wood would be too clinical in the hallway. It looks great in the bedroom because we’ve gone for an entirely monochromatic interior, but I want to go for a warmer Scandi style in the hallway.
The Midnight Silver colour works well with the dark painted floorboards in my art nouveau bedroom
Other than a coloured feature wall (yet to be decided!), the rest of the walls, ceilings and woodwork will be pure white, so I’m thinking about bringing in some artwork to decorate the walls of the hallway. It’s a great space for art, as it has the tallest walls in the house, but it does mean that I need to consider the colour of the frames when picking flooring. Most of the pieces I already own are in black, white or pale oak frames, so I think that the paler hues of flooring will look best alongside the frames.
I ordered a catalogue and some laminate flooring samples from Woodpecker Flooring to see the product for myself. It looks great quality and the samples allowed me to compare the colour to the existing flooring in the living room, and the wooden frames I’m planning to hang. I also want to sand and stain the treads of the staircase in a similar warm oak colour to finish off the space so it’s great to use the samples to envisage this effect.
The sandy hue of Wembury Coastal Oak is a winner!
Have a look at the ‘before’ photos of my hallway in my blog post about renovating staircases to get an idea of the space I’m working with, and please leave me your advice or ideas in the comments section below – I’d love to hear your tips for getting a Scandi style in a small space (and on a budget!) And if you’re thinking about trying laminate flooring in your own home, be sure to order some samples from Woodpecker Flooring. It made the whole process of choosing the colour (and being happy with the wood texture/finish) so much easier when I was holding the samples in my hands and comparing them ‘in real life’ rather than on a screen!
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