The Soviet Union has long since fallen, but everyone’s “beloved” Khrushchev houses have safely survived all the political cataclysms and delight their owners with coziness and comfort as much as, of course, they are able to do so. However, the small size of the apartment should not serve as a limiting factor to your imagination. You can thoroughly think through its design and perhaps start with the hallway, especially since this room is a kind of face of your “home.” For inspiration, we offer you 35 real photos of the interior of a hallway in Khrushchev.
Rules for designing small hallways
- In the design of small corridors it is necessary to use light colors, which can be present both on the walls of the room and on the floor covering. Also, in the interior of small hallways, glass and mirror materials are often used against a background of light shades, with the help of which the hallway space visually increases.
- A beneficial solution in the hallways of Khrushchev-era apartments would be to use a minimalist style: fewer decorative elements that burden the room, more functionality.
- It is recommended to equip the space of Khrushchev's hallways with built-in furniture, since it occupies a minimum area and is very functional in use.
Below are photos of a hallway in a Khrushchev-era building using the above techniques for proper room design.
Lighting
When making renovations in an apartment with your own hands, you should not miss the placement of lighting. It is worth considering that the interior of the corridor is quite dark and there are no windows, so it is important to equip the lighting fixtures correctly so that the light from them falls on the entire space of the room.
Various lamps should be used to illuminate the corridor.
And in order to increase the size of the room, you need to arrange them correctly:
- for a hallway with an area of 3.5-4 square meters, you need to use wall lamps, the lighting of which will be directed upward;
- It is advisable to use lighting with one direction for narrow corridors;
- if you use lighting devices with diffused and reflected lighting, this will visually increase the volume of the room;
- It is important that the lighting and lamps harmonize and fit into the overall design of the room with an area of 3.5-4 square meters.
In order to do everything correctly, you can look at the photo with options for the location of lighting devices in the Khrushchev corridor.
Ideas for renovating a hallway in Khrushchev
The entrance area of a room, which does not have a large area or windows, can become gloomy and inconvenient to use without the use of special techniques in interior design. Therefore, you should consider ways to transform a small-sized Khrushchev-era apartment into a full-fledged apartment area, where all the necessary elements will be located.
- In order to increase the space of a small hallway you can:
- Avoid swing doors and decorate the openings with arched structures.
- If arches are not acceptable, the openings can be framed with sliding doors with translucent glass inserts (shock-resistant acrylic glass works well).
- The most time-consuming way is to replace the interior partitions with a built-in wardrobe from floor to ceiling. It will serve as both a storage place and a partition in a narrow room. Volumetric decorative elements should be excluded.
Where to store things
Small furniture in the hallway for storing things.
It was already mentioned above that it is better not to force the corridor with furniture. Things are stored in narrow closed cabinets with sliding doors and, preferably, large frosted mirrors. If there is no such cabinet, then you can make a niche in the wall and place things there, curtaining them with a screen, which is fully consistent with the Japanese style in the interior. Open shelves or cabinets narrow the hallway. The things that people leave in the hallway do not always look neat. An old umbrella, tired shoes, a shabby coat - it’s better to hide all this from prying eyes.
All furniture is placed approximately on the same level. It is better to avoid any stairs.
Wall decoration
The walls should be decorated in warm or cool light colors. There is no need to use dark and colorful shades in the interior, which will narrow the space. If there is a need to combine contrasting colors, then it is better to arrange the color scheme from dark to light in the direction from floor to ceiling.
All dark designs, ornaments and decors should be placed in the middle zone, at the level of human height. The ceiling and ceiling area should always be decorated in light colors with the addition of additional lighting.
The design of the hallway in Khrushchev should begin with the choice of material. The walls in the hallway can be painted. You can use basic colors: white, beige; they go well with gold, yellow, silver, gray, green and woody colors.
To prevent contamination of the walls and an original combination of finishing elements, you can use tiled material or decorative bricks, which are usually laid on the lower part of the wall, in the corners of the room, or with the help of them one relief wall in the corridor is highlighted.
A narrow hallway in a Khrushchev-era building can also be decorated with PVC panels, liquid or vinyl wallpaper, which tolerate wet cleaning well. You should not use plasterboard structures for finishing, as it will only reduce the area of the already small hallway.
How to visually increase space
Light colors will visually expand the hallway.
You can visually increase the space by adding a few tens of centimeters using:
1. Proper wall finishing. They are covered with light wallpaper or painted in bright colors. A monochromatic wall design will help expand the space. Wallpaper with a vertical pattern increases the height of the ceiling.
2. Painting the floor. It should be several tones darker than the wallpaper. It can be wooden or made of laminate or other materials.
3. LED lamps and lamps. No corner in the corridor should remain unlit. The lamps are mounted in the ceiling.
4. Reflective stretch ceiling. Even a small number of lamps placed on it will make the room appear taller;
5. Wall mirror. A large mirror placed opposite the door or on the right side of it will radically transform the room. The main thing is to choose a wall-mounted type of mirror; there should be no bedside tables or dressing table.
When trying to expand the corridor externally, special attention should be paid to color. Wallpaper or painting should not be tacky. We will talk in more detail about the existing styles of corridor design and the secrets of choosing the most suitable option below.
Ceiling finishing
The best solution for finishing ceilings in Khrushchev-era apartments would be a suspended ceiling. It will hide all the unevenness and imperfections on the ceiling. If the ceiling is glossy, the effect will be enhanced: the room will become larger and filled with additional light due to mirror reflection.
A multi-level plasterboard ceiling would also be a good solution. The only disadvantage of this ceiling design is a reduction in height by 8-10 cm, but the use of additional lighting sources: spotlights, hanging sconces or LED strip makes this reduction unnoticeable.
Decor
Room decor in English style.
The minimum number of decorations, paintings, figurines and vases is what a room intended as a hallway requires from the owner. If the picture is one and small, about 40 by 50 cm, maybe smaller. If a vase, then with a natural or national ornament. There is no need to place any amulets, charms or cute hangers for keys if they do not match the surrounding atmosphere.
Original shoe rack in the hallway interior.
Owners of Khrushchev-era apartment buildings face the problem of lack of space every day. The recommendations presented above, if they do not add extra square footage, will visually improve the room, make it more comfortable, cozy and adapted to the needs of the residents.
Arrangement concept
Instead of spending a long time choosing a shoe rack or a mirror for the future interior of the hallway, it is better to first draw up a plan for arranging the room itself. Experienced designers recommend observing:
- Light background;
- Wear-resistant materials;
- Minimum products;
- High quality lighting.
Adherence to these rules does not prevent you from creating classic and modern hallways in Khrushchev. In particular, we are talking about style. Although it must be admitted that the modern direction, in contrast to its classical counterpart, is more characterized by minimizing details.
Hallway: what to pay attention to
Before you rush into all seriousness, you need to study the features of the room, which will help you avoid common mistakes.
- Lack of natural lighting. Windows play an important role in every room. But it is deprived of this charm. When decorating, it is necessary to take into account that direct natural light does not enter the room. This means you need to avoid dark colors and bulky decorations.
- Low ceilings. Don't forget that we are decorating a Khrushchev building. These buildings have narrow and low rooms, which makes the decorating process difficult. It is necessary to remember the tricks that will help visually expand the room and give it more light.
- Quadrature. Khrushchev apartments are small in size; there is no need to try to fit a wardrobe, cabinet, pouf and several other pieces of furniture into such a hallway. Use the little space you have wisely.
A large mirror on the front door will completely transform a narrow room.
These are the pillars on which the foundations of creating a good interior in this case rest. It is also worth considering the direct purpose of the room and following it. Everything here should be not only cozy and colorful, but also comfortable.
Successful arrangement of furniture
The choice of furniture for a narrow corridor in an apartment plays a fundamental role. A hanger for coats, a shelf for hats, a place to store shoes, a chest of drawers, a mirror - all these are items without which it is difficult to imagine a modern living room. At first it may seem that it is simply impossible to place all this in a small room, but we can use hidden reserves.
If the corridor is very small, then you can place a sliding wardrobe, for example, in the living room or replace it with a smaller version.
Ready-made hallways look stylish and modern, but often they are completely unsuitable for a narrow corridor in a Khrushchev-era building. The best option would be to make custom-made furniture in order to profitably use every free cm of space.
To reduce the space occupied by furniture, preference is given to hangers with shelves or mezzanines.
When choosing a shelf for shoes, choose those options that close and do not accumulate dust, while the doors should close tightly.
Consider placing your shoes horizontally, because this way they will take up much less space.
Among the accessories for the corridor you cannot do without - an umbrella holder, a key holder and a clock.
You can decorate the corridor with several photo frames from your latest trips.
Design Ideas for a Corner Corridor
Since the arrangement of a corner hallway is somewhat complex, you should not make hasty decisions. The opinion of a design specialist will help you make the right choice and create the most comfortable atmosphere. And in this example, to save precious centimeters, it is important to install a corner cabinet in the hallway. Corner structures are usually made to order, take up little space and are multifunctional. One “but”, in this case you will have to abandon the shoe rack and wall shelves.
