Sometimes a home that doesn’t have any natural light flowing through it can make it feel like a gloomy dungeon after a while. Natural light throughout a home not only increases your mood and makes you feel happier, but it can also have an impact on the energy bills at the end of the month and bring out the colors in your home. Learning how to lighten a dark room is a good skill to educate yourself on so you can experience the positive characteristics behind it.
There are several things you can do if you’re wanting to get some natural lighting in your dark house. Following some of these techniques will hopefully help you take your natural lighting and your mood to the next level.
Start To Get Creative With Your Selection Of Paint
If you’re wanting to get rid of those dark colors in your home and consider replacing them with lighter colors, you’ll notice a big difference in the levels of brightness you experience.
You probably don’t have to go to art school and learn all of the fundamentals of paint and shades to get a good idea of what would work in your home. You only need to know a couple of basic things.
In a nutshell, darker paint colors tend to absorb a lot of light in a home. If you have darker colors on your walls, the natural light that gets into your home will seem less instead of what it can do to lighter colored walls.
Lighter paint colors will meld better with natural light. Subtle colors like cream, lighter grays, light tans, and other similar hues will allow the light to reflect right off of the walls and allow it to move around the home.
Going with a lighter color of paint in your home is a great way to give natural light a chance to spread in your home. It’ll also make the ceilings seem higher than they really are, which makes people feel like they are in a larger home.
The finish that’s being used on the paint is another important characteristic to keep in mind. The semi-gloss finishes will reflect light very well. When light is reflected, it spreads around the home better and promotes a brighter environment.
What About Windows/Doors?
If you’re starting to get tired of your old windows or doors and have a bit of a budget to work with, the steel-framed windows that have textured glass well reduce the amount of natural light that can get through. Even in the brightest of daylight hours, a room can appear dark.
Window technology has come a long way over the years, and windows can be installed with much better material than they once used. The newer windows offer much more safety and security for your home, and they also come with a bunch of options for the glass.
- Picture windows operate close to that of a picture frame and you won’t be able to open them if you decide to get them installed. While they still can give you a good view and allow a good amount of natural light in, you need to be aware that if you’re wanting a window that can be opened, maybe you might want to select a different style.
- Box windows are situated just a little bit out of the exterior wall. Because of the curved appeal, a little more natural light can flow through your home. Box windows are also used quite often to add a decorative touch to a home.
- Similar to box windows, bay windows are usually bigger in size. The nice thing about box windows is that you can sit right alongside the window and enjoy all of the natural light right up close. Bay windows are similar to box windows in that they pop out from the exterior wall. On the same note, there are ways that you can adjust your doors if you want to allow more natural light into your home. Many doors on the market can also be crafted with a window frame right inside the door itself. If you got a nice budget for a door, you can also consider an entire glass panel that will cover the whole door. This approach will allow a lot of natural light to stream into your home.
Many regular doors can be made to add a window frame to them. Getting your door tweaked and customized with a window inside of it is less expensive than having to get an entirely new one made from scratch. If you really want to save a few bucks, you could always even try to do it yourself.
Consider Replacing The Overhead Lights
There has been much debate over the years on what the most ideal lighting is for the living room. Some people state that overhead fluorescent lights are the way to go. The downside of these lights is that they make you more aware of the darkness in the room. A good alternative to overhead fluorescent lights is using a more focused white light that will create more brightness in the entire area.
The positioning of your lights is another important thing to keep in mind. You want lamps to be in certain areas of your home where the light cannot reach efficiently. This will get rid of any of the darker areas and allow the natural light to get to the areas where the light isn’t reaching. With this strategy, your room will feel a lot more comfortable and cozier.
Cove lighting is another way to get creative with your lighting approach. Cove lighting will be installed around the border of any decorative ceilings in the home and it will provide more of a glow type of lighting instead of focal lighting. The light will be scattered equally throughout the stream of cove lights to make for an evenly balanced hue of light.
Cove lights really increase the look of a home with a nice, relaxing ambiance that will make the mood feel softer and more laid back. Going with the softer lighting that makes it feel like natural lighting is always the recommended approach.
Consider Moving Furniture To Different Areas
Having a design room that doesn’t have any natural light isn’t an ideal situation. You want your expensive luxury pieces to be showcased for everyone to see. The simple act of moving your furniture to different places can give natural light a good chance to shine its way freely and more openly. If you have taller pieces that are right up against the wall, these can block a lot of the light shining through the windows. They’ll also make your room have a darker feel to it.
In an effort to make your home feel more spacious, a good method is to try to get as much of the floor showing as possible. If you want to repaint dark furniture, consider using a lighter color so that the natural light can reflect off them easier. If you have darker sofas or mattresses, popping a lighter color of blanket can go a long way in making the home feel brighter.
Making The Most Out Of Reflective Areas
If you like mirrors in your home, they are a good way to reflect light to areas that might not have much light. Getting rid of the dark painting on the wall and replacing it with a nicely framed mirror will give your home a nice boost of light.
You don’t always need a mirror, though. There are nice decorative pieces you can purchase that contain reflective surfaces to increase the brightness without going overboard on placing mirrors in every single direction you look.
To increase the brightness very mildly on certain focal points in your room, consider using glass vases, chrome lamps, and other steel objects. You can also add some more modern-looking objects on shelves or tables to perk things up.
Get Rid Of The Drapes
Dark, old, and baggy drapes can really lower the amount of natural lighting getting into your home. With the drapes even hanging back, the dark colors alone just feel like they are sucking up all of the light. Roman blinds tend to do the same thing in a home. They cover out all of the light, no matter if they are open or closed.
Get rid of those dark drapes and find other ideas that will permit the light into your home. There are a couple of good options you can consider:
Sheer Curtains
Sheer curtains are constructed with a see-through type of fabric that allows a lot of natural light into your home. While they still give you a good amount of privacy throughout the day, there’s a chance that people could potentially see through them during the night if you have lights on inside the home.
Window Scarves
Window scarves are a nice decorative way that doesn’t block out any natural light from the outdoors. They are just added on a curtain rod so that it doesn’t look so boring. If you have any windows on either side of your house, window scarves are perfect for that.
Cafe Curtains
For those that still want to look out the window without blocking the natural light, cafe curtains are a wise decision. They are perfect for bathroom or kitchen windows.
Always Let Natural Light Flow Freely
If you’re at a loss for what to do to increase the natural lighting and you simply can’t get another window installed in your wall, you could always consider skylights or solar tubes. These are a great way to get natural light directly from the sun.
If you have an area of your home that is very active, like a kitchen or living room, a skylight is a perfect choice for right above that area. You can’t really go wrong with skylights. They make your home feel bigger and create an overall more pleasant feeling for anyone sitting under them. If you have a second floor, that’s where solar tubes enter the scenario.
Solar tubes are installed on the roof of the second story. They are connected to tubes that will transfer the light all the way to the first floors of a home. One interesting thing about solar tubes is that the light that they can emit is equivalent to more than three 100-watt light bulbs.
Now that you know how to lighten a dark room, give some of these methods a try and enjoy the mood-boosting effects of natural light.
