8 Nooks and Crannies That Can Wow

Tiny spaces are the perfect places to go a little wild with decorating. With closets, halls, pantries and other nooks, the design risk is minimal, but the impact can be huge. Plus, microdesign can be cost effective too. Have a favorite fabric, but it costs a bazillion dollars a yard? Use just a little bit on the wall at the end of a narrow hallway. Here are eight small places you can deck out with major style.

1. Narrow hallways. This was a boring dead-end narrow hallway in my home until I gave it a jolt of black and white harlequin-checked fabric. The space was recessed enough to allow for a small table, and the framed picture is just large enough to break up the pattern. I simply attached the fabric with spray adhesive and smoothed it on as if it were wallpaper. The fabric’s silky texture looks extra rich up close.


2. Stairwells. A stairwell is the perfect place to add drama. Because it’s not an area you tend to linger in, you probably wouldn’t get tired of an oversize print. In this case vibrant orange orchids line the walls and ceiling of a short staircase. The wall covering adds punch to the otherwise monochrome decor, and from this angle, even functions as an art piece with the framed collection on the facing wall.


3. Pantries. Is there a single day when you don’t open the pantry for something? Why not give the walls some style of their own? There’s a subtle emotional reaction as well — a decorated pantry appears neater and cleaner.


4. Closets. Closets are those forlorn little cubbies we close the door on and forget about. But something we look at multiple times a day should have a little more cheerfulness.

Painting or wallpapering such a tiny area takes very little time yet yields great satisfaction. Plus, it’s a place where you can use a really bold print.


5. Guest bathrooms. Tiny guest bathrooms are terrific places to use intense color. They’re often separated enough from the rest of your rooms that they can make their own statement and have their own color palette. Here periwinkle works to heighten the clean feel of stark white fixtures and moldings. Add crisp white towels that will pop against the dark walls, and guests will come back to your dinner table saying to everyone else, “You have got to see that gorgeous bathroom!”


6. Bookcases. Here a child’s bookcase has been turned into a microdesign statement, just because its back wall has been painted. You can do this with any bookcase, even one in an elegant living room. Before you load it with books and art objects, select a vibrant color or wallpaper pattern that coordinates with your decor. Then you’ll have a dynamic backdrop for your belongings. And you’ll also be less likely to overcrowd your shelves, because you’ll want that gorgeous back wall to show.


7. Recessed ceilings. Here the “cranny” is actually a recessed ceiling. And it’s the perfect place for a pop of canary yellow — and a showstopping pendant — since the room offers little wall space. Ceilings are ideal candidates to express drama and personality when the rest of the space is all modern lines and glass.


8. Gardens. Gardens are one of the safest places to be daring, since they’re removed from the interior color scheme. Here you can paint a wall purple, showcase greenery in a bright red pot or paint your deck turquoise, as I did here in my own backyard. When you inject a burst of color into your garden, you can enjoy it all year, even after flowers stop blooming.

Here’s a little-known tip about using color on outdoor wood surfaces instead of the standard stains: Use a sealant rather than paint. Paint will chip and peel, whereas sealant will protect the wood and “weather the weather.” Ask your paint clerk to add tint as if it’s regular latex paint, and you’ll be good to go.

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