Did you know that there are plenty of ways you can add light to your home without breaking the bank?
Bringing more light into your living space makes each area look larger, lifts your spirits, and even improves your health. Plus, who wouldn’t want to feel warm sunshine in their home after a dreary winter?
Here are our top tips for adding a lighter look and feel to your home without having to spend a lot.
Pick neutral tones
The right colour palette can do wonders for promoting light in your home.
Colour can either absorb or reflect light. Darker shades will absorb light, even in rooms with plenty of windows. Rooms that are painted in lighter tones such as white, light grey, light brown, beige, or light tan are naturally much lighter as these colours reflect light.
Other than painting your walls in these colours, you can choose furniture pieces and finishes in these colours to enhance the light in your house.
Your space doesn’t have to be all light colours, though. You can bring in some of your personal taste and style in by choosing accent pieces in statement colours.
Choose the right door
A fantastic way to add natural light to any space is to have plenty of windows. However, we understand that breaking into walls to add larger windows is costly and time consuming.
A quick fix here is to swap out existing doors to ones that have windows or glass in them, to let in extra sunlight.
Replacing a door that fits into your existing door frame will not take longer than two or three hours and will cost a lot less than breaking into walls to renovate your windows.
Add a mirror or two
You may have heard that mirrors are great when it comes to wanting to make spaces look bigger. But they also reflect light, particularly if you hang them across from a window. A mirror facing a window equals double the light in any room.
If mirrors don’t fit naturally into your home décor, consider bringing in other objects with shiny surfaces that will also reflect light such as furniture with glass elements, metallic lighting fixtures and silver photo frames. Large, decorative glass vases and figurines will work too.
Trim your trees
Step outside and assess if any of your existing greenery is obstructing light from coming in through your windows and doors.
We know that lush gardens give your property some serious curb appeal, but it could be creating shade over windows that could otherwise allow for additional light into your home. Cut back any branches, shrubs and vines that are blocking sunlight.
You can also re-work your landscaping to include lower-lying plants rather than larger trees and bushes to ensure you’re maximising your sources of natural sunlight.
Re-arrange your furniture
Strategically arranging your furniture can contribute to the light in a room, particularly if there’s not much you can do about the windows in the area.
Move your furniture closer to the source of light. This way, the light reflects off the furniture (especially if it is of a lighter colour) and fills the room a bit more.
Artificial light
If fostering natural light in your home is difficult due to the properties that surround your home and boundary walls, fear not. Another option you have is to introduce artificial light from lamps, overhead pendants and even a chandelier if your budget allows for one.
Two things to consider when choosing artificial lighting is to select pieces that improve natural lighting in your home and don’t hinder it; and to take note of the areas in your home that sunlight does not reach, such as corners, passages and alcoves.
Of course, there are more substantial measures you can take to add light to your home, by knocking down a few interior walls to create a more open-plan, airy feel to your space. A kitchen extension, for example, is a great way to do this. Contact us for a quote if you need plans to renovate or extend your home to add more light to your living spaces.