Thinking Outside the Box: Hallway and Stairwell Aquariums

Image source: Okeanosgroup.com

Real estate agents go by a mantra: location, location, location. The same goes for your custom aquarium. Where you decide to keep your aquarium can be just as important as the aquarium’s layout.

If you asked aquarium owners where they keep their aquascape, the top three answers would probably be the living room, the dining room, and the bedroom. It makes sense to place aquarium in those rooms – after all, people tend to hang out in those rooms the most.

Image source: Okeanosgroup.com

But you don’t want to trap yourself into this line of thinking. Just because you spend most of your free time in your living room, that doesn’t mean that your living room is the best spot for your aquarium. Aquascapes are intended to be spectacles, certainly, but you don’t need to default to the most popular room in the house.

One clever alternative is to place an aquarium in areas of heavy foot traffic, such as hallways or stairwells. Take this gorgeous home aquarium, for example. It’s positioned between a hallway and a staircase to maximize viewing potential.

Image source: Okeanosgroup.com

The aquarium has a fairly simple design, and for good reason. People walking through the hallway or up the stairs will only see decorations for a few seconds, so it’s important not to have an overcrowded hallway. The visual simplicity of the aquascape allows viewers to take in the whole scene without being overwhelmed by dozens of colors and complicated coral shapes. The brown wood, white sand, black frame, and grey fish provide a neutral background for the visually dominant red fish.

The sparse decoration mirrors the fairly simplistic décor of the rest of the house. The house’s architecture is modern and angular, without any adornment such as paintings or furniture. The aquarium is able to shine through as the centerpiece for the living space without ruining the aesthetic.

Image source: Okeanosgroup.com

By contrast, a saltwater aquarium would probably be too visually overwhelming for this living space. Saltwater aquariums are best suited in areas where you can lay back and appreciate all of the colorful intricacies.

So, is a hallway a good spot for a custom aquarium? Possibly — most homeowners will opt for living rooms or bedrooms, but for some homes a hallway aquarium might be just what the interior decorator ordered.