Console in the hallway: ideas in the interior

When deciding on the arrangement of the hallway, everyone hopes to make this difficult space comfortable, functional and beautiful. This is achieved by a competent selection of the necessary furniture. Consoles have long gained popularity in modern interiors, and in the hallway, such an element will help create a cozy atmosphere and become an interesting and creative highlight.

Fashion changes, new, more perfect materials come, some standards of beauty in the interior replace others, but the main forms of furniture "wander" from century to century. The console is a design element that has been around for a long time. The product gained its popularity due to a number of external and functional advantages. Before looking for the positive and negative aspects, you should understand what a console is. Let's look at the pages of history to answer this question.

The word itself "Console" is of French origin. Initially, it was applied to an architectural element that supported a projecting part of a building, such as a balcony, cornice or statue. From the Latin language "con-solidare" is translated as "Support", "strengthen"... Gradually, the word migrated from architecture to the furniture industry, where it began to mean a small narrow table with 2-4 legs, which is placed along the wall and rests on it with one side.

In the XVII - XVIII centuries. during the reign of Louis XIV, consoles became the most demanded product of wood craftsmen in France. This is due to the king's great love for architectural and furniture delights, adherence to classicism as a style in art, the influence of the Italian Baroque. "Greater style", born during the reign of Louis XIV, according to contemporaries, created the impression of "unrestrained luxury and splendor."

Given the historical background, it becomes clear that such furniture as a console could only appear in a rich house, be an element of a truly lush and elegant interior. In such a house, a place for a narrow table was prepared at the partition between two windows or doors or under a window or mirror.

In a modern interior, this piece of furniture has changed somewhat. The variety of styles, materials, dynamism of life itself have done their job, endowing this element of the interior with functional and decorative properties to match the time.

Due to its compactness the console can be installed in a hallway of almost any size. A separate mirror is perfectly complemented by a small narrow table and allows you to place a comb, lipstick, perfume on the countertop. A beautiful vase, statuette, framed photographs will find a place in the hallway if they stand on the console.

Under the wall model, which does not have legs, it is easy to place an ottoman or a couch on wheels that can be easily pulled out and seated. If the design provides for a small box, then the question of where to store the keys, the necessary cosmetics, wallet or documents for the car disappears.

There can be only one drawback of the console in the hallway: too small a room is ready to accommodate only the essentials, which the console is not. The influence of history is obvious: only the rich, provided with everything they need, could afford to equip the hallway with such, in fact, a decorative detail. It's not worth chasing luxury. If your hallway cannot boast of spaciousness, such an element will look stupid there and only clutter up an already small room.

If in the Middle Ages people exchanged messages through letters, then in our time a phone call will convey your thoughts here and now. Placing a phone in the hallway is a great idea in every way. A telephone conversation will not interfere with those who are watching a movie in the living room, will not disturb the child's sleep in the nursery, and will allow to resolve the issue in a calm atmosphere away from the noisy feast in the dining room or in the kitchen.

An ideal place in the hallway for a telephone is a console table. They seem to be made for each other. Be sure to take note of this option. And for a comfortable conversation, an ottoman or a couch under the console will allow you to enjoy the process in the most comfortable conditions.

If the keys are constantly lost and they are never at hand, if you need to open the door urgently, get a special key bowl that fits perfectly on the console. Another storage option is a small drawer under the countertop where you can put all the little things that everyone so often loses.

Console tables, placed under the mirror, can act as a dressing table. You can put your hair in order, make or touch up your makeup, and put on decorations for the holiday using these interior objects in the hallway.

Of course, the console's most prominent features are decorative. First of all, the very design of the table top and legs can give luxury and grace to the room, fill the empty space with a beautiful detail of the interior, and place other decorative elements on the surface of the table top.

The most common model in modern design is the narrow long cantilever. Such furniture does not take up much space, at the same time it perfectly decorates a blank wall, where it is inappropriate to place, for example, a wardrobe or a curbstone. If you put a small stool under the tabletop in one stylistic solution, then the table will acquire a written purpose.

The suspended console in the interior looks very light, airy, almost weightless. Such a model either completely lacks legs, or they are decoratively supported on the wall itself. With such a hinged structure, it is much easier to wet the floor, since it remains free, and the functionality does not change in the meantime. There are very compact models that can fit into small hallways.

The wall console is a classic piece of furniture. The two front legs of the table rest on the floor, while the rest are absent. Their role is played by the wall, on which the blank edge of the tabletop is attached. Such a product can have three or four legs, it all depends on the design and stylistic requirements, but the main thing is that the structure rests exclusively on the wall.

Often, the hallway has not very comfortable shapes. Sometimes in this space there is such a corner where it will not be possible to put the cabinet, the cabinet is not appropriate there, and for an open hanger it is too far from the front door. The corner console will help you solve a difficult task. Due to its shallow depth, such a table will not overload the space, it will help to correctly balance the furniture situation.

In modern society, young people are trying to acquire their own housing as soon as possible, to become independent. For such young people, there is a special layout in the houses.Apartments are very small and compact, often without internal walls, only one large open space.

It's hard to say in what style the console would be completely inappropriate. Modern models are made from various materials, performed in unexpected solutions, customized for any requests:

• Nowadays it is difficult to call the console an element. classicism or baroque style - in the period that it was created and when the popularity of this piece of furniture grew. However, lovers of luxurious classics and pompous baroque are simply by definition obliged to have a console table in the interior of their apartment or country house.

• Classicism it is distinguished by its fundamental nature, sophistication. Console designed in this style is distinguished by straight lines, laconic design. The table top is often made with elements of marquetry (inlay of one type of wood in another), bronze details, carvings. The legs are a reduced copy of the usual fluted columns. The capital and pilasters are made in the form of a cube with heraldic signs carved on it.
• Baroque style is luxury, pomp and full splendor... The lines of the table top have a complex curved shape, the decor is a heap of various gilded curls, in which you can see the silhouettes of angels and fancy flowers. The legs are always curved and also decorated with elaborate carvings.

• Consoles in style modern are distinguished by greater laconism, curvature of forms, they seem to dissolve in the interior due to the smoothness and subtlety of the lines.

• For lovers of strict style high tech Consoles with shiny metal, glass or marble tops that curve with the letter "P" are suitable, rigidly passing into the legs of the table. Geometrically correct shape, modern materials and a minimum of decor are the distinctive features of the style.
• Romantic people who support the style shabby chic in the interior, they will appreciate the light, specially aged console table, on which you can place a vase with flowers and a couple of frames with photographs.

• Industrial style consoles loft - these are welded metal structures in the form of a narrow table, on which there is a table top made of metal, glass or wood.
• An interesting decoration in the house will be a console table. in oriental style. The main decorative elements of such a product will be traditional carving with oriental motifs, painting with multi-colored paints with elements of gilding.

The uniqueness of the console is that the form in which the product is made can be absolutely any. The most common is rectangular. This is due to the fact that strict forms prevail in modern design. Such furniture fits perfectly into any interior, competently fills the space, and has high functionality. With the advent of minimalism in our lives, hi-tech, loft style and functionalism, the rectangular geometry of furniture is firmly entrenched in our understanding of fashionable interiors.

The semicircular console is a softer design solution. Most often it is an add-on model with 3 or 4 legs, although in the modern version, the role of legs can be played by a purely decorative element made of stone, plaster, even from tree branches and embossed logs of exotic wood species. The round shape is more in line with the usual pedestal. It's not exactly a console, but the functionality is similar.

One of the most widespread and elite materials in the furniture industry is solid wood. Consoles are made of natural mahogany, oak, beech, pine, ash and many other species.Such furniture is not cheap, it is not available to everyone, it requires the appropriate decoration of the room for which it is intended. But solid wood products are durable, thanks to special treatment they are moisture resistant, do not depend on temperature changes, they look reliable, respectable, elegant and majestic.

For those who want to save money, but get a product made of wood, manufacturers suggest purchasing veneer furniture. This natural material is also safe for health, it is represented by thin sheets of wood glued together with a special glue. The surface of such plates is decorated in every possible way - it is poured with a special polymer, laminate or laminate, PVC film is glued on top, and covered with a decorated veneer sheet. The price of the product depends on the choice of the coating material and the manufacturer.

Glass consoles - weightless and transparent, fit into any interior and any style. Depending on the model, only the table top can be made of glass, and if you use a thick and impact-resistant material, the legs can also be made of glass. The coating can be matte, with a bronze effect, graphite, transparent, with a pattern in the sandblasting technique. An alternative would be a mirrored console.

Consoles made of natural stone are distinguished by wealth and luxury. Marble, turquoise, granite are majestic and expensive materials. Sometimes a forged wall table can fit well into the interior. The curls of fine twigs are very delicate and ornate.

The solid-colored white console will fit perfectly into a small room, as white color does not give the effect of clutter, visually expands the space... In general, in modern design it is a fashionable color, it can be done literally everything at once. Nobody will blame you if you paint the walls white, all the furniture will be white and all the textile drapery will be selected, respectively, also white.

Fans of bright accents will find it stylish to combine several colors in one piece. For example, white and wenge, white and yellow, deep purple and marsh green, brown and blue. Such a console will look bright, dynamic, literally have its own character.

The main advantage of the consoles is their compactness. A small side table should not overload the room and draw all the attention to itself, it should only complement the conceived design.

The console height ranges from 70 to 110 cm above the floor. It all depends on the functional solution or the stylistic one.

Italy is famous for its famous manufacturers of wooden furniture. It was in this country that the baroque style originated, which in the interior is inherent to use console tables. Antique products are still in use today, and are highly popular and highly priced. Factories Boca Do Lobo, Koket, Mugali, Guaderte, Smania, JNL offer consoles of different styles and materials.

Spanish Designers Factory Trecu offer laconic models in a minimalist style.

Interesting design ideas are embodied in the furniture of the Portuguese factory Muranti. The models are created with a zest. The body and table top of the models are mosaics of different geometric elements. They look fresh and sophisticated.

Dutch Eichholtz creates its furniture in the "luxury" style. Gold-plated, shiny elements, rhinestones, mirrors in combination with monochrome dull colors - this should be a console in this style.

The console, made in eco-style, fits perfectly into the interior of the mixed type.Thanks to poufs, this design expands the functionality and creates a whole furniture ensemble in the hallway.

A very thin and elegant model, made exclusively in a decorative vein, enlivens empty spaces.

The fashionable transforming console solves many problems - it is an element of decor, and in the unfolded state it becomes a full-fledged table.

The console-dressing table is a good find for the wife of half of the inhabitants of an apartment or house.

You can see how to choose a console for the hallway in the next video.