Inspiration

Landing areas and small-scale bookcases were meant to be together. They sit snugly in nooks and their open fronts mean that they don’t feel too heavy or block-y, which is a plus for a narrow corridor. When space is limited, multi-tasking furniture comes to the fore as it gives you handy shelving on one layer and a decorative surface on the top. If you put one outside of a bedroom, you can fill it with bedtime books to create a nocturnal library – try our 3ft open Chichester bookcase

Lighting can fall by the wayside with dotted spotlights being the go-to source of lighting on a landing. But every part of your home deserves the same level of consideration. Imagine going from an ambiently lit bedroom or bathroom and out into the harsh glare of a spotlight-flooded landing. Passing places are what connect your rooms together, so they should be sympathetic to one another. If rewiring and plastering work isn’t on the cards, then look to lamp light to help improve your landing area’s mood. They’ll act as a decorative feature at the same time as providing a lower level of soothing light. Sometimes sockets can be a restriction, but with lamps like our Hanover cordless lamp, you can bring lamplight to socket-less spots.

Shelf space doesn’t have to be restricted to a bookcase or the odd floating shelf here and there. A popular decorating choice in Shaker interiors was to have a continuous shelf or ledge running around the perimeter of the room, often with peg hooks beneath. By doing this on a section of your landing area, you’ve granted yourself extra display space for the occasional ornament or sparsely spread candles – mix scented with pillar so your home’s fragrance is dispersed throughout your home and so that you have another layer of gentle light.

If the notion of a long stretch of peg hooks isn’t for you, a smaller stretch will still give you the convenience. Too often, hooks are the reserve of hallways, but having them on your landing means that you can hang a dressing gown outside a bedroom door (a novel alternative to having them on the back of a bedroom door and makes walking towards a bedroom feel all the more inviting). If your landing area is a big one, you could give a peg hook to each bedroom for hanging their go-to bag and coat so it’s always in easy reach.

Console tables are another piece of furniture that suits a landing area, because they typically aren’t too deep. Similar to how an open bookcase feels light and airy, a console will too because the visual weight is all in the tabletop. For a more formal arrangement, position one either side of a landing window. Otherwise, use one wherever you have room for displaying anything from mirrors and vases to artwork and lamps.

A feature that has the potential to give a landing area room status, window seats are something to which people and pets are helplessly drawn. Because they’re much less common than your typical sofa, stool and armchair, window seats feel like a bit of a prized possession. There’s a calmness to them, a pensiveness, and an encouragement to pause and perch for a while every day. If deep window sills or a bay that can be turned into a window bench aren’t doable, you can use pieces of furniture and style them into acting the part, like our Rupert footstool or have a bespoke cabinet and fitted cushion made. The other option, when space is on your side, is to put a comfortable armchair and side table in a landing area’s corner. Suddenly, your landing has a reading nook that’s away from the downstairs hustle and bustle, but not quite so segregated as behind your bedroom’s door.