Dark Hallway - New front door?

Vickicb

Morning all!

My hallway is very dark as it gets no daylight - the front door has a tiny diamond shaped window in it with coloured glass, and original side window is bricked up due to a previous extension. We are planning on painting it a lighter colour and also replacing the panelled stairs with spindles to let some light down from the large window at the top of the stairs but I don't know if that'll be enough - so depressing when I get home on a sunny day and the hallway is dark and cold.

I love the original wooden front door but I think I might need to change it to one that lets in more light. I really don't want UPVC - so where can I get a nice wooden front door at a reasonable price with some nice glass in?

Any other ideas for making it lighter? What about lighting - any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

mattogier

Is it possible to put a "sun pipe" in? essentially this is a polished tube coming down from the roof and can also include an electric light for night time use.

http://www.sunpipe.co.uk/sunpipe/index.php

Also you could put low level LED brick lights along at skirting level to add a subtle shimmer to the floor.

White paint everywhere will help to bounce any light there is too - you can use accent colours in furnishings.

A new glazed front door - perhaps stained glass to provide privacy - would obviously give more but do not stint on price - I know from experience that CHEAP IS NASTY! and don't forget that the glass MUST be burglar proof!

Oh and if you have a pile of coats etc hanging on the wall you need to find a new home for these.

Have fun!

Becles

Would decorating the hall help?

When I moved in, I inherited mahogany coloured ranch style bannisters, mahogony door and brown and orange 70's flower power wallpaper and carpet - nice!

I replaced the bannisters with wood spindles and just clear varnished them. I've put cream wallpaper up, painted the door cream, a biscuit coloured carpet on the stairs and light wood laminate on the hall floor.

The difference with light is amazing and it looks a million times better in there now.

alanobrien

If you change the door get one with an all glass top half and if its wood paint it white. It will make a massive difference, it did in our dark hallway, although our door is White aluminium rather than wood.

milkydrink

Composite (SP?) doors are like UPVC - just fit & forget, but look much more like real wood.

Cream walls, while wood work. Wood or laminate floor in hall (they reflect light & carpets absorbe it), Halogen lighting, Spindals instead of enclosed panels.
Make sure you get as much glass window area in the door as you can.

Norma_Desmond

We've got the same problem, but can't change our door without a lot of hassle (conservation area AND national park!), so we made our hallway even darker.....I know it sounds strange, but our house is Georgian and really lends itself to 'cosy' colours, so we painted the hall a deep moss green which looks fantastic with the right lighting and furniture.
It's a great contrast to the light, sunny living rooms and people have commented on how good it looks.
What sort of age is your house?

Vickicb

Thanks all, I love the sunpipe idea, and I think we could bring light into the hallway downstairs by fitting one of them from the garage roof and then bringing it into the hallway wall at a 90 degree angle. We love the original wooden front door and are loathe to change it really. I think cream and white is the way to go with the paining, and spindles on the stairs. The hallway floor has to stay though, as it's a lovely parquet floor which has been covered by carpet all it's life so is in great condition.