So Real Homes: unique ideas for styling corridors and staircases

Sara Carlton from @_saralouisa tells Sian Astley how a tight budget encouraged some creative decorating ideas in their hallways. Find out how they took the building back to its bones to reveal textured walls and original flooring

exposed stone walls in a cottage with lamp and electrical trunking
(Image credit: Matt Gibbs)
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Hallways, corridors and staircases are often overlooked in our home design – considered as mere links between one room and the other. While we spend little time dwelling in these spaces, we use them so much that they are the perfect place for a splash of personality.

Instagrammer Sara Carlton (or @_saralouisa, who you may know for that fabulous pallet bed) has done just this in her stone cottage in Country Durham. What's more, she has done it all on a tight budget, stripping back as much as she has added in, allowing the bones of the home to do the talking.

Here she takes Sian Astley on a walk through her hallways, explaining how cheap tricks and celebrating existing features has created a unique space. From using old magazines as wallpaper to making their own coffee-based wood stain, see how Sara and her partner have put the industrious back in to industrial style.

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