Bringing more light into your home can make it feel bigger, brighter, and more welcoming as a space. Whether you’re living in a small apartment or a large house with plenty of room, a few clever tweaks can help you to chase away the shadows and createspace that feels more alive and fresher.
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How to Bring More Light into Your Home
While giving your windows a good clean is an obvious and very effective first step, there is so much more that you can do without major renovations or knocking down walls. In this article, we’re going to dive a little bit further into how you can bring that light in.
Choose airy colours. Colour does play a huge role in how light travels around the room because dark walls, while feeling cozy, absorb light. This makes the room, whichever room you’re painting, feel smaller and dimmer. If you want to brighten things up, choose lighter shades like soft white and pale greys. It’s these colours that reflect light and help your space to feel open and more airy.If you’re repainting the walls, then updating one or two key areas can be easier than the whole thing. A feature wall or even the ceiling can make a noticeable change and add more light.
Install glass doors. Installing doors with glass panels in them can help to let more sunlight into your home. This could include exterior doors such as frosted glass front doors or sliding glass doors at the back of your home. You can also buy internal doors with glass in them to help let light into inner rooms which may not have windows. Make sure to choose doors with durable and insulated glass – this will ensure that these doors cannot be easily broken and will prevent heat escaping through the glass.
Use mirrors. When it comes to brightening up a room, mirrors are your best friend. Placing them strategically, they bounce light around the space and make it feel larger. Hanging a mirror opposite a window to reflect natural light or using a mirrored piece of furniture can help you to bring in light in a subtle way. Don’t go overboard, though, because this isn’t a fun house.
Lighter fabrics and finishes. Swapping out dark rugs and heavy drapes for lighter fabrics like cotton and neutral-toned rugs can instantly lift the mood of a room. Furniture finishes matter too. Lighter coloured woods or white painted surfaces help to reflect more light than darker materials. Even swapping over to a glass coffee table or shelving unit can help to maintain a sense of openness.
Rethink your lighting strategy. Natural light is the best thing you can do for each room, but not every room is abundant with it. This is where layered lighting comes in. By starting with a central overhead light and then adding accent lighting and task lighting throughout the room, you can create a warm, inviting glow. Choose bulbs with a soft white or daylight tone to mimic natural sunlight as closely as possible. Lighting up the corners of a rim can make the whole space feel more complete.
Reduce your clutter. Clutter can make even the brightest of rooms feel closed in. Keep surfaces clean and stick to a few decorative pieces rather than covering every table or shelf. Baskets, hidden storage and clever shelving can help to keep the everyday items out of sight but allow light to come in within easy reach.
When you add more light to your home, you add more life. So work on these tasks and see how you go.