Q: My hallway is a coat and shoe dumping ground. What can I do to turn it into a space that I’m pleased to come home to?
A hallway by Studio Peake drenched in a rich mustard.
Before you even think about how a hallway looks, you have to view it from a practical perspective. The pressure on a hallway is huge — it’s a high-traffic area, with a big need for hallway storage — so it’s important to get that bit right first.
In my house, I have a large vintage cupboard I’ve reconditioned with hooks on the interior — it’s a bit of a shoe pile inside, but it allows me to close the doors and not have to see it. If you don’t have the space, consider a bench with a lift-up lid and baskets inside, which you can sort out periodically, keeping the clutter hidden away.
Then comes the fun part — hallways are a great place to inject a bit of color into, as while people tend to want bedrooms to be calming, you’re in this space for such a brief time, you can be as daring as you like with hallway paint ideas.
In one project, I drenched the hallway in Terre Jaune paint by Argile, which is a bright mustard but has a hint of earthiness, so it isn’t too overpowering. But if you’re nervous about using paint for a space that people tend to brush through with coats and parcels, then grasscloth wallcovering is more forgiving and comes in a wonderful palette.
Suitable for any space, not just your hallway, this stylish ottoman from OKA could house your storage baskets for clearing away your clutter.
Sarah Peake is the founder of London-based Studio Peake, which specializes in innovative, tailored interiors.
Q: What advice do you have for picking the perfect patterned rug for a living room?
The Element II rug by Studio Peake for Christopher Farr.
Choosing a patterned rug can be difficult, especially if you have an existing color scheme that you’re trying to fit it in with. If you feel really stuck, a good rug company could talk you through it — A Rum Fellow or Vanderhurd will tweak colors in existing patterns to complement what you already own.
If that seems too much, pick a pattern that has a lot of blank space in it, like the Element rug I designed for Christopher Farr. It means you can put bolder pieces of furniture on the paler parts and more neutral items on the color, so they really stand out.
Q: When it comes to picture framing, what are the main things I should think about?
Reframing an art piece can give it a new lease of life, as this Studio Peake scheme shows.
This is such a good question! People agonize over what art to buy, but the framing often falls off their radar. Yet it can make or break the art itself. A good place to start is to go to a local framer — it may sound obvious, but they can be such a good adviser and suggest options you’d never have thought of.
They can usually do frames in any color, painting them with sample pots. You just have to be careful not to match the color too much to the art — if your piece is cobalt blue and you pick a cobalt frame, it can look a little… well, high street. Instead, look for a corresponding or complementary tone.
That said, sometimes it’s nice to stay simple, clean, and white, and on smaller pictures I like a much bigger linen mount to make the image seem oversized. A tray frame makes the art look like it’s floating. Or consider a stainless steel frame — thin and crisp for a very modern take.
Also, remember that framing isn’t just for new art — reframing a piece can give it a new lease of life, allowing you to see it differently, or it can make a picture you’ve kept for years for sentimental reasons seem more expensive and current. Timelessness is the key to owning and displaying art, and updating the frame can help you fall in love with the work all over again.
For more inspiring design ideas, why not sign up to Livingetc's newsletter, and they'll land straight in your inbox.