I bet there is a fair few of you, who has had some pops of orange in their entry halls the last month or so – all tied in to the season no doubt; with carved pumpkins and whatnot! One of the main purposes of this series though was to see orange coming through in home décor – without the connotations of Autumn, harvest or even Halloween. Orange in its darker tones has an incredible feeling of warmth which is great for entry halls in the cooler months – but also in a lighter more refreshing orange you have a beautiful welcome in summer.
· Orange can even feel quite royal and grand, especially when used in luxurious materials and paired with metallics. This combination also has an ethnic vibe to it – think of Moroccan décor styles or Bollywood movies to get a good mental picture. We take this idea further with our first entry hall design; now it depends largely on the space you have to work with – but this one requires enough to have a pairing of chairs and small side table. Rather than using white, this key look is better achieved painting walls, ceiling and woodwork in a light cream. The perfect set up would be a nice large window to the outside, framed romantically with orange voile, taffeta or silk curtain fabric – don’t forget some nice tassel tiebacks in red or a darker shade or orange.
Exactly opposite the window is the wall where your seating arrangement will be, but first place a large mirror to reflect the light coming in from the window – choose either a classic metallic frame or go for something with an ethnic style. Beneath the mirror sits a glass topped side table and glass vase with fresh flowers – choose yellow or pink and plenty of green for freshness. Finally, two matching chairs styled with upholstery in pink and amber, metallic legs and arms to match your mirror and a chandelier if you can push that budget!
· A pumpkin orange can also work year round on the walls of your entrance hall, it looks especially fab with dark wood and white. So how do you go about using both white and dark wood? – start with the flooring painted a dark brown, almost black; we recommend that you don’t go for a polished finish, with matte being far more homely and welcoming. The dark wood is picked up on again with a statement, country style chair by a focal wall (your orange one!) and by painting the banister of a stairwell the same colour as your floor. Furthermore, your pumpkin wall is dressed up with a collection of nature inspired prints or pressed flowers framed in dark wood.
This won’t be too dark when you paint the remaining walls white, ceiling, stairway, door and window frames also in a crisp white. Finish this look with beautiful floor rugs that compliment your colour scheme and the subtle nature theme running through the space – perhaps a neutral runner with botanical print or a round gold rug.
