The hallways of the house are like the main arteries in the body. They circulate around the house connecting all the rooms and thoroughfares right from the front door to the back. They will usually see a lot of foot traffic, especially near entrances and exits, and can often get dirty and muddy around these areas. Foyer floors in particular need to be rugged and hard wearing, but they should also help to create a sense of warmth and welcome.
What to look for in hallway and foyer floors
- Durability and scratch resistance
- Easy cleaning and maintenance
- Visual appeal in main pathways and entrances
The main foyer in a home is going to form the first impression of anyone walking in. For this reason, foyers and entrances are often decorative, designed to enhance that wow factor when someone first walks through the door. But because it is the first place people will walk into, this is also the area which will attract the most dirt and debris from shoes.
Durability and scratch resistance are particularly important in entryways, especially if your entrance is a decorative one. You will also come to appreciate a surface that is easy to keep clean and which requires little maintenance to keep it that way. If you've ever vacuumed (let's assume you have), you'll know how much more dirt accumulates at the front door than anywhere else.
Other factors
A hallway connecting living spaces like the living room and the bedrooms should ideally be quiet to walk on. Echoing or booming footsteps in the night can wake everyone up, and are generally distracting.
Your hallway floors should also help regulate the temperature of the house, and should ideally be chosen to make the most of available light. Hallways are often dark areas with little access to daylight, so bright colours and reflective surfaces can help to carry light further into your home.
Recommendations
Hallway floor surfaces don't necessarily have to be the same as those used throughout the rest of the house. For example, it is perfectly reasonable to have an exposed wooden floorboard hallway that branches off into carpeted rooms. More often than not though, for the sake of consistency people prefer to match their choice of hallway surface to the one they're going to use in the lounge and bedrooms. This usually means carpet or floorboards.
These surfaces are both relatively easy to keep clean and are durable enough to maintain form despite high traffic. Decorative entrances that are suitably durable include parquetry, mosaic, tile and stone, depending on the style of your home.
