Hall Furniture Guests

During the heyday of Victorian high etiquette, the hall was the area of the house, not dissimilar to a foyer, where guests were greeted by the staff and then either bid to wait or informed that the owners of the home were unavailable. During these days, there was a table for the leaving of calling cards. Today’s halls are a lot less formal and serve more uses than those from the past. Still, the right hall furniture can welcome your callers just the same.

While hall tables have gone out of fashion, you’ll find plenty of antique-lovers have them. Today’s new versions are versatile. Instead of long flat surfaces to display cards, these modern hall tables have slots for mail going in and out, a place for a phone and maybe even a charging station for the plethora of electronic devices that have to recharge somewhere.

Lots of halls have coat trees for hanging coats, jackets, scarves, etc. during chilly inclement weather. Some just use hooks suspended from a mirror hung on a hall wall. This provides a place to check your make up and grab your sweater on the way out. The “hall tree”, the Victorian answer to the umbrella stand with a coat rack attached is no more. Since we’ve got the coats covered, most of today’s hallways have simply got an urn for soggy umbrellas.

Sadly, most of the old-school hall furniture has been supplanted by more modern pieces. Though there is a trend towards making hall furniture at least resemble good antiques. Even sadder is the fact that more and more homes no longer have entry halls. They just seem passé to modern architects. Still, if you are lucky enough to have a hall in your home, remember this. One rule still seems to apply as much today as in the height of Victoria’s reign. Halls are not to be over furnished. Keep furnishings minimal and make sure the area reflects a warm welcome to your visitors.