Natural light makes a room feel more cheerful and look more spacious. If you have some rooms in your home that are dark and dreary due to the limited amount of natural light they receive, there are several ways you can brighten and enliven those rooms.
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Window Treatments
Heavy-textured window treatments can block out a lot of natural light. If it’s possible and practical, remove the window treatments to allow the maximum amount of light to flow into the room. If window treatments are essential in that room, choose lightweight material that allows filtered light in, or use blinds or shutters that can be completely open during part of the day so no incoming light is obstructed.
Replace Windows
Make one of your home improvement projects a window replacement project. Add larger windows or more windows to a room to bring in more natural light. Large, decorative windows can be an interesting architectural feature for an interior space, and their attractiveness can enhance the curb appeal of your home.
Install Skylights
Skylights are a wonderful way to get more natural light into a room. Skylights are great for bathrooms and bedrooms because they allow more natural light in without taking away your privacy. They can be incorporated into a room design that doesn’t allow for the installation of additional standard type windows.
Adapt Doors
A specialist from Moncada Windows, Doors & Siding says that replacing a solid door with a glass door or one with glass panels is an excellent way to allow more natural light into your home. This is especially important for the home’s main entrance, where the visual adjustment between the bright outdoors and the dimmer interior can be made easier by an abundance of natural light. Simple, sliding glass doors or elegant French doors are ideal choices for exterior doors that lead to a patio.
Fix Landscaping Issues
If you have bushes or shrubs planted at a window, keeping them trimmed is a sure way to get more natural light into a room. When creating a landscape design, be sure that you don’t plant trees in areas where they will cast shade over your windows.
Use Décor
To enhance the natural light that does enter your home, you can include glass top tables, mirrors, chrome and other reflective materials in your decor. You also want to be sure that your furniture arrangement doesn’t hamper the flow of light into the room. Clear the space around windows and use light colors in your carpet and upholstery. Pastels and light neutral tones, like beige and eggshell, will reflect light, while darker colors and busy patterns tend to darken a room. Consider using indoor plants in the spaces in front of and around windows—these provide decoration while allowing light to permeate their leaves and fill the room.
With the many ways to invite light into your home, you don’t have to live in shadowy rooms. By implementing some of the ideas listed above, you should be able to get more natural light into every room of your home.
