In Soviet times, people perceived a niche in the wall as one big drawback. Its size was too small for the construction of a room, so it was not used in any way. Today, a niche in the wall is no longer perceived as a huge flaw that cannot be changed. She is played out by the most in various ways, and plays like decorative role, and functional.

The strange corners and openings that exist in many apartments are quite difficult to beat. The problem becomes significantly more complicated if there are doorways, windows or stairs next to the niche. There is no need to despair, since such a small space can be used for its intended purpose, giving it extra practicality and functionality.

The niches found in the corridors can be divided into:

• Horizontal (they are longitudinal openings in the wall);
• Vertical.

It is also worth talking about the use of horizontal niches.

There are a lot of options on how to use a niche in the hallway. The main thing is to follow the rule: the niche should not be overloaded with accessories and decorative items.

Horizontal niches are similar to ordinary shelves and, often, they are not a defect in the layout of the apartment. As a rule, they are intentionally created by designers, allowing them to play an exclusively decorative role in the interior of the corridor. A wide variety of decorative elements are placed on the surface of the niche: figurines, hourglasses, photo frames, small lamps, scented candles.

Several techniques for arranging vertical niches:

• A small chest of drawers installed in a wall opening will help fill empty space and can be used as a surface for storing keys, bags, hats or cosmetics. To give the hallway a romantic atmosphere, you can place lamps next to the chest of drawers. An ottoman, a small sofa or an armchair will help fill a niche in the wall.
• A shoe cabinet will add practicality and functionality to a small wall opening.
• A four-legged console table with a mirror will serve well. It can be used as a dressing table, or to store necessary perfume items on the surface.

Using one of the methods, you can rationally use unused space.

Corridor wall niche lighting

At correct location lighting, a niche can become an excellent decorative element in the corridor. In vertical wall openings, the most popular lighting is halogen lamps. If a niche is developed by a designer, then in the process of its design, the location of the lamps is marked. As a rule, they are located in paired planes. For example, these could be lamps located in the upper left and right corners.

Before installing the lighting system, you need to take care of the availability of electrical parts without resorting to dismantling the wall.

For lighting horizontal niches in the hallway, the most relevant are LED strips, since they require less electricity to operate.

Except spotlights And LED lamps, is no less popular diffuse light. To create it, a powerful incandescent lamp is used. It is placed in the upper part of the niche and covered with frosted or colored glass.

Using a niche in the corridor

In Khrushchev and Brezhnevka buildings, wall openings are often empty, since it is quite difficult to find a use for them. A corridor is not a kitchen, in the opening of which you can place household appliances. You can’t put flowers in the corridor, because there is no sunlight will have a negative impact on them.

In order for a niche in the hallway to be functional and practical, it should be used as a place to store things.

The most rational solution for a corridor is to place a wardrobe in a vertical wall opening. It will look advantageous against the background of the hallway, rather than the walls that are boring to everyone.

Advantages of a built-in cabinet:

1. Before creating built-in furniture, the specialist carefully takes measurements of the vertical niche. The wardrobe is completely adjacent to the walls and ceiling, without forming voids. Otherwise, there is a possibility of accumulation in open places dirt and dust.
2. Built-in furniture looks solid and elegant in the wall opening, allowing you to store warm winter clothes in it.
3. The cost of the cabinet is much cheaper than conventional cabinet furniture. This is due to the fact that when installing it, the need for some parts: the back and side walls is completely eliminated.
4. If you equip a niche with a wardrobe, you have an excellent opportunity to think about its filling yourself: drawers for gloves and scarves, nets for shoes, shelves for hats, hangers for outerwear and trousers.
5. When arranging a niche with a wardrobe, there is no chance of it moving or tipping over during operation.
6. A cabinet installed in a wall opening allows you to save free space.

Like any other furniture, a built-in wardrobe has several disadvantages. You will have to work hard during the assembly process. It will be quite difficult for non-professionals to assemble it. The wardrobe cannot be moved to another place, and mounting hardware tends to damage walls.

Installing a door in a niche in the hallway with your own hands: subtleties and possible nuances

Sliding doors are installed not only in closets. They are successfully mounted in a deep vertical niche, preventing the possibility of visually seeing what is inside. Such partitions allow you to use a niche not only as a dressing room. For example, you can place a pantry behind the doors. The pantry will be very convenient in small apartments. You can store household appliances in it, ironing board, dryer and other things.

You can decorate the doorway in any way you like:

• Installation of drywall as doors. Subsequently, the doors of the makeshift storage room can be painted, covered with photo wallpaper, covered with tiles, or natural stone can be used as decoration.
• Use as sliding doors valuable species wood, chipboard or MDF. Natural wood in itself is original decor, but on doors made of chipboard or MDF you can apply photo printing or a floral pattern.
• Plastic panels will be an excellent option for pantry doors.

Sliding doors are convenient because there is no need to rack your brains to create them yourself. You need to take measurements of the opening, place an order and wait until the goods arrive at their destination.

I would like to note that the ordered sliding doors, come to the customer almost ready-made, which makes installation easy and convenient.

The doors are installed as follows: installation of the upper and lower guides, installation of the doors on the rails, adjustment of the doors. As you can see, a niche in the corridor is not such a big drawback. It can be easily played out and decorated various items interior

Types of niches in the hallway: how to arrange them (video)

Any person who is more or less knowledgeable in construction work, so go for it.

You will succeed!

Today, for many owners of small-sized housing, it is considered topical issue, associated with the correct arrangement of a niche in the hallway, because this idea is an excellent alternative to huge cabinets. Also this is original decorative option, which, thanks to the play of tones, brings harmony to the room.

Except decorative properties, the design can be used to adjust the perception of the room's area.

An extraordinary design of a niche will give you the opportunity to abandon boring cabinets. Instead of purchasing cabinets for a niche in the hallway, the structure can be equipped with shelves for outdoor accessories and shoes.

To highlight such a decorative element, you can make spot lighting around its perimeter, arranged inside. For more elongated options, small ceiling lighting fixtures are suitable.

The versatility of a niche in the hallway

Owners of their own homes who do not like ordinary cabinets and numerous shelving in the hallway may prefer a built-in wardrobe in the hallway niche. Advantages of such a solution:

• significant space savings;
• creating a place to keep the necessary things;
• saving money on purchasing expensive pieces of furniture.

Niches made of plasterboard in the hallway can be complemented by shelves made of glass or natural wood, and the design is very similar to the finished rack.

If you want a niche to decorate the corridor, then it is not necessary to adhere to certain geometric shapes.

Using your ideas, create an original ornament, complement it with exclusive lighting, applying several shades to the details of the niche using special paint.

By designing a niche in the hallway, you can successfully emphasize the taste preferences of the homeowners. If you correctly adhere to the nuances during the construction process, the design will visually expand the room.

Thanks to the characteristics of plasterboard, it is possible to build like classic structures rectangular shape, as well as various arched models of complex shapes, the photo of a niche in the hallway in the presented catalog confirms this.

At the same time, the style of the niche must certainly be combined with the design of the corridor, only then the design will become its unsurpassed decor. Otherwise, it will be inappropriate in the interior space and will spoil the pleasant impression of the interior.

Creating a niche in the hallway

Small hallway in a plasterboard niche - great solution for a small house. It will save precious meters, add zest to the style, and hide wall defects.

Features of arranging a niche in the hallway yourself:

• Creation of project documentation.
• Marking.
• Installation of the frame, as well as attaching drywall.

Step by step arrangement of this structure

The master will not need a complex project, but without a drawing it is difficult to count on good result. It is enough to make a drawing indicating the dimensions of the niche in the wall in the hallway.

During marking, the drawing must be transferred to the wall surface. The markings should clearly show the places for fixing the frame.

If there are unevenness on the wall, you cannot do without special tape for maximum tight fit of the profile to the wall surface. The profiles are fixed with screws along the entire perimeter of the wall.

Conclusion

The principle of installing a niche in the wall in the hallway is suitable for all rooms. By placing the structure horizontally, you can visually increase the space of the room.

The vertical method of arrangement will make it possible to show the height of the ceiling surface. If the ceiling has several levels, then the niche should also have complex shape. In the created recess you can place things, shoes, and outdoor accessories.

If you arrange a similar niche in the hall, then it can be used to arrange equipment and decoration elements.

When equipped kitchen space With a similar design, it can be used to install a washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, and even a refrigerator.

When designing the structure, focus on the shade of the walls. At the same time, designers do not advise highlighting niches with contrasting palettes, so as not to spoil the overall impression.

Photo of a niche in the hallway

The possibilities for designing modern design compositions are almost limitless today. One of the most popular techniques today to decorate and diversify the design of living spaces is to create a niche in the wall.

In modern new buildings, niches are already found in the standard layout, that is, they are developed at the design stage of the house. If there are no such structures in the apartment, then you can create niches in the interior yourself.

These designs not only decorate the house and make it individual and unique, but also increase functionality space.

A decorative wall made of plasterboard with shelves will fit perfectly into any stylistic concept, and with its help it is convenient to hide any flaws on the wall canvases.

Recess structures can be horizontal or vertical, depending on the layout.

It is better to decorate wall canvases that are short in length with horizontal niches that will visually elongate the walls. Such recesses are used as a niche for a TV.

But on long walls it is recommended to place vertical structures, which will increase the height of the ceilings. The recesses can look like arches; such niches give the room individuality and are most often used for decorative purposes.

IN modern design interiors are increasingly using special niches in the wall, which give the room a special appeal and individuality.

What is a niche in the wall

A wall niche is a recess in the wall, which plays a decorative or functional role and allows you to create original architectural compositions. Today, such niches are often created at the design stage, as they are extremely popular. However, almost anyone who wants to decorate their apartment can make special recesses.

Niche in the wall and its advantages

A niche in the wall gives us extra space, for example, with a wall thickness of 25 centimeters, you can gain an extra 20 centimeters of depth. And if such depth is not enough for you and you want to put something large in a niche, you can build a protruding shelf, then even video and audio equipment will fit there.

How to make a niche in the wall

You can make a niche in any wall, but to interfere with load-bearing walls Engineering permission and consent of the relevant authority will be required.

Making a niche in a load-bearing wall is much more difficult, and here plasterboard partitions are easily amenable to any intervention and can be easily changed even independently, but this will require correct calculations and a special tool. Therefore, it is best to turn to the services of professionals who will quickly create a beautiful niche of the desired shape for you. After you make a niche, you need to take care of sound insulation by finishing the back wall with insulating material, or put cabinets in this place in the next room.

Wall niche design

Modern niches are no longer just a recess in the wall intended for vases and figurines, but a harmonious space with an individual color scheme and lighting system.

Designers identify two ways to design a niche- using a contrasting or similar shade. It is not recommended to paint recesses in dark colors, since the niche will become like a “black hole”.

It is better to prefer calm pastel shades or bright colors. It is also worth paying attention to the shape of the niche. Horizontal is suitable for rooms with low and long furniture, such as a bed or nightstand. Also, a horizontal niche can visually lengthen a short wall. A vertical niche will look good next to a window, door, bulky chest of drawers or closet.

Niche in the wall: what can be placed in it

Usually located in niches decorative elements, vases, figurines, bookshelves, or massive parts of cabinets and other furniture are hidden, household appliances and electronics. In some apartments there are natural niches, for example, recesses in the kitchen and bathroom, necessary for ventilation system, recesses near the fireplace and radiator, protruding parts of the walls frame houses with pillars they also form natural niches.

In the niches you can place small shelves for decorative items , paintings, photographs, vases, and even place a library there. They are also perfect for placing cosmetics and other small items; such a niche is ideal for the bathroom.

Niche for large items

In addition to decorative ones, there are also functional ones, which are made specifically to accommodate various large items of equipment or furniture. They can accommodate a TV, stereo system, washing machine and furniture.

Chest of drawers, sofa, wardrobe, rack, placed in a niche, allows you to save a lot free space rooms and brings order to the interior. Particularly popular are cabinets built into the wall, which save as much space as possible. Household appliances placed in a niche, for example, a washing machine or refrigerator, will be practically invisible.

Small recesses can serve as bookcase or shelves for dishes. Decorative niches are usually located in the most noticeable places where the eye lingers. Big advantage such recesses is that you can often modify them by repainting, gluing, sheathing and adding various elements.

Making a niche in the wall

You can emphasize the relief of the wall by combining different textures. Metal is often used in the design of niches, decorative stone glass or wood. At the same time, the stone is ideal for public rooms - dining room, living room, hallway, and is not suitable for bedrooms and children's rooms, as it makes the space heavier.

Lighting for niches in the wall

Most modern decorative niches today are equipped with lighting, which can be located on top or on the side.

In the evening they can be used as a source of dim lighting. The number of niches located in one room may vary. If you make several recesses in the wall, they must be “rhythmic”, that is, they must be located at a specific distance with a certain frequency, and their design must match.

In those rooms where the niche is structural element, it is most often used from the practical side: some for a pantry, some for a built-in wardrobe or a washing machine. And few people think about the importance of a niche in home design.
But in vain! Finishing a niche in the wall can become the main decoration of the interior and help free up the space of the room from unnecessary furniture.
In our article we will talk about how to arrange a niche with your own hands, and how you can decorate it.

The main purpose of a niche is to emphasize the style chosen for interior decoration. Therefore, not only its decor matters, but also its configuration.
So:

• The Asian style is characterized by the use of pointed and arched forms. Such a niche can be finished to match the walls and decorated with lamps.
  As one of the options, its design may contain national patterns and designs.

• Turning to the Rococo and Empire styles, we will see niches decorated with intricate stucco moldings and patterns, paintings and flowerpots draped with fabric. Modern niches came into use from the minimalist style.
  They can replace the most bulky furniture - shelving, cabinets and bookshelves, as in the photo below.

• In addition to all that has been said, a beautifully decorated niche is a fashionable way to decorate walls. It is especially beautiful when it has an unusual geometry, good lighting and original finishing.
• In planning standard apartments, a niche is provided extremely rarely, and, nevertheless, it can be equipped during the process of repair or redevelopment.
  It will not be possible to use load-bearing walls to construct a niche; a recess can only be made in a brick interior partition. Is it worth it?
• In this case, you have two options to get what you want. In the first of them, you will have to sacrifice ten centimeters of room area to make an invoice decorative partition onto an existing wall.

• In the example we have given, such a partition is made in conjunction with a plasterboard ceiling so that a kind of niche is created on it. Despite the fact that a small part of the premises was taken for plasterboard construction, the room looks spacious.
• Spot lighting of curved lines and the landscape on photo wallpaper also play a big role in this. The line of the niche creates the impression of an exit from the walls of the room to the street.
• Very often, an overhead partition is made on an external wall with windows. Nisha, in in this case, the window itself serves, and the width of its window sill can allow you to arrange a bed there, or even desk.
  First of all, it depends on the parameters of the room.

• If you need a purely decorative effect, you can draw a niche on the wall. But here we cannot do without an artist.
  The perimeter of the drawn niche can be decorated with a polyurethane frame. Such frames are sold ready for installation, they are attached to the wall with glue, and, in principle, they can be decorated like an ordinary niche.
• Arranging a false niche can be simply necessary in tight spaces. And where there is no natural light, such a niche is simply necessary - it can imitate a window.
  This design technique cannot be overestimated in cases where we are talking about basements and attics.

• Such a niche is often made in the form of a glass frame. A glass sticker depicting a city landscape, sky, or treetops gives an excellent effect.
  It turns out extraordinarily beautiful if you make a colored stained glass window in a niche. Its internal lighting will give the full feeling of a street window.

• Since we're talking about fake niches, let's mention one more option. This is an overhead niche made of polyurethane.
  This product, like all polyurethane stucco moldings, is cast in molds at the factory, and has white. Decorating such a niche will consist only of painting it.

• To create a niche, you can use any ledge, corridor branch, column or rack - and now the disadvantages of the room’s layout turn into its advantages. You just have to act according to the scenario dictated by the geometry of the walls or ceiling.
• When their surfaces are perfectly smooth, the niche can be given any shape that a person’s imagination is capable of. An overhead partition with a niche will facilitate the convenient arrangement of wires and communications.

In this part of the article, we have given many arguments for the fact that a niche can not only serve as decoration, but also be useful from a practical point of view. Next we will talk about how and what to make it from.

Making a niche

Hole a niche in a brick, and even more so in concrete wall, a labor-intensive and thankless task. If you are just building a house or deciding how to plan a studio room, you can plan for a niche in advance.
So:

• And make it as deep as necessary for the function that you define for it - for example: the location of a bed or household appliances. By the way, a niche in the bathroom will save you from the need to hang shelves on the walls.

• When a recess is made along the entire height of the room, and furniture or equipment is supposed to be placed on the floor, do it yourself this work simpler. It’s a completely different matter if the niche has to withstand a certain load - a competent calculation is needed here, and it would be best to turn to specialists for help.

• A single niche is otherwise called stationary. If there are several niches in one row, they are called rhythmic.
  With this arrangement, the interior opposite wall should be balanced with similar objects, for example: paintings, panels, photographs in frames.
• Eat certain rules location of niches. On the wall where it stands low furniture: sofa, nightstand, bed - a long horizontal recess will look best.
  A vertical and narrow niche will fit perfectly near a door or window opening or a tall cabinet.

Tools and materials for work

We will consider the option of creating an overhead partition with a niche, so you won’t need a chisel or hammer drill. You will need the following tools: a screwdriver; metal scissors necessary for cutting the profile; drill; stationery knife; building level.
So:

• To cut chamfers and process sections, you cannot do without a roughing and edging plane. If the design of the partition is full of curved lines, cutting a sheet of drywall with a knife will not be very convenient - it is better to use a special thickness planer.

• To install the frame you will need two types aluminum profile: guide and rack. Sheathing the frame can be done either with plasterboard or with a gypsum fiber sheet.
  What is the difference between them, you will find out further.
• GCR, or gypsum board as it is also called, is a gypsum core enclosed in a cardboard shell. GVL is made from higher grade gypsum and mixed with dissolved cellulose.
• Thus, the result is not a layered material, but a material of homogeneous composition, made by semi-dry pressing. It is more resistant to fire, humidity and shock loads, so gypsum fiber board structures are more durable.
• Naturally, its price is an order of magnitude higher, but for the installation of partitions with working niches, gypsum fiber sheets are more often used.
• Just like gypsum board, gypsum plasterboard is divided into several types: there are regular option, moisture-resistant, small-format GVLV, and superfloor. We will leave the last option for the floor, and the three previous ones can be used for the walls and ceiling.
  Two moisture-resistant options are used only in wet rooms, and ordinary sheets are suitable for rooms: gypsum board or gypsum fiber board - each of them has its own advantages.
• Which one will be more convenient to work with depends on what kind of design needs to be made and the conditions of its operation. Giprok is plastic when soaked, and when dried, it regains its strength.
• Thanks to these qualities, it is indispensable when creating curved and convex structures. So, if your partition is shaped like the one in the photo at the beginning of our article, you only need to take drywall.
• It is worth making a choice in its favor even in the case when the walls will be decorated with wallpaper. Otherwise, it is more convenient to work with gypsum fiber sheets.
  Thanks to their homogeneous structure, they are easy to cut, either lengthwise or crosswise, and there is less chance of damaging the sheet.

For fasteners you will need two types of screws and connectors called “crabs”. If the structure will smoothly transition to the ceiling, direct and anchor suspensions will be needed.
Well, choose materials for finishing, you will depend on which decor option you choose.

Installation and finishing

The installation of the profile usually begins after finishing the rough finishing. This is if the partition with a niche is independent, dividing the room into zones.
In the case when it is purely decorative, an invoice, you will have to work carefully after finishing.

So:

• As in any business, work begins with markings along the entire perimeter of the future structure. To do this, use a level and a regular pencil or dye thread.
  Next, they begin to install the guide profile, and then the rack profile.
• If you watch a video on this topic, it will give you a much better idea of ​​how and what to do than the most detailed instructions.
• On an independent partition, one side is immediately sheathed with sheets of plasterboard, and soft insulation is placed in the cells of the frame - here it will play the role of sound insulation. It is not used in an overhead partition.
  Although, if this outer wall, then why not.
• If you need to hide communications inside, now is the time to bookmark them. Conclusions for lamps must be made in advance, even before rough finishing.
  After laying the wires and cables, cover the inside of the partition with a second layer of gypsum board.
• So, in general outline, the process of installing a partition with a niche looks like. And then it begins interior decoration the entire room, or the niche itself.
  And we will present, as an example, several options for decorating them that are worthy of your attention.
• The finishing of plasterboard niches can have many variations, but first its surface must be carefully puttied, sanded to perfect smoothness, and covered with a primer.

• When the surface is prepared in this way, the result will be guaranteed to be of high quality. One of the most popular finishing options is to paint the niche to match the rest of the wall surface.
  To create an accent on a niche in the wall, with a monochromatic finish, lighting is required.

• Niches decorated with decorative plaster are an unusual way to decorate the interior, but for this you will have to invite a specialist, and his work will not be cheap. After all, to achieve volume and completeness of the design, it is necessary to apply at least five layers of plaster.
  And the drawing will be guaranteed to be exclusive, because it is impossible to repeat it exactly twice.

• How budget option can be used to decorate a niche self-adhesive film with a drawing. A polyurethane frame can be used not only to decorate a false niche, but also to make a real recess corresponding to its size.
  The niche slopes can be finished to match the color of the frame or wall.

• Relief finishing of a plasterboard niche can be done using the most different materials: textured wallpaper for painting, fabric coverings, volumetric panels, bamboo and stucco. In the picture above, the recesses on the walls are decorated with linkrust.
  This is a type of wallpaper with deep relief and a completely different sticker technology.

• ABOUT decorative plaster We have already said, but the effects that can be obtained are so diverse that it is better to see once than to read about them many times. Just look at our next example to understand how an artist’s imagination can transform a rather modestly decorated room.
  This is his idea - all attention to the niche!

• As for bamboo: it is an incredibly popular material today. Wherever they use it!
  There are floor coverings, wallpaper with bamboo veneer, 3D panels - all this can be used to decorate niches. Photo wallpapers with painted bamboo and various stickers with this topic.

• And another, very popular way to decorate a niche is 3D wallpaper. Volumetric wallpaper is never used along the entire perimeter of the walls, but emphasis is placed on only one of them.
  In the case of a niche, this is a win-win option. In the image above, an underwater theme has been chosen for the niche design.
  The volumetric image and its illumination give the full impression that you are looking at the seabed or an aquarium.

From all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion: a niche is not just a useless recess in the wall where useless small things like figurines and vases are placed. This is a complete element of room decor.
In that case, of course, if its creation was approached with all seriousness. Think, look for your own unique option, but remember the main rule: you cannot create dark contrast on a light wall.
Otherwise the niche will create the impression black hole, and is unlikely to contribute to a harmonious perception of the interior.