There’s nothing worse than a room that gets no sunlight. It feels dark, depressing, and grim every time you step foot in it and all you want is a comfortable place to relax. Sunlight is important. Your body’s circadian rhythm revolves around the rising and the setting of the sun. People suffer a range of health ailments if they don’t get enough sunshine.
Before you start to stress, there are some simple things you can do in the home to brighten things up a bit. Here are some tips:
Let there be light
It should go without saying that your first port of call is lighting. First, check your lightbulbs. With LED bulbs you can reduce your energy bills and many are adjustable so you can adjust them to the appropriate brightness depending on the time of day.
If the bulbs aren’t doing it for you, consider changing your lighting fixture or share. They may be obscuring some of the light. If it’s particularly grim, a multi-bulb light fixture might be on the cards.
Smart bulbs that change colour are great. Wake to a blue hue and switch to warm yellow each evening. That should help you maintain a healthy sleep schedule and provide you with plenty of light for a dark room.
Uncover your windows
Take a look at your curtains and blinds. Often, we don’t consider just how heavy they look and how they contribute to darkening a room. Ditch thick drapes and embrace sheer curtains. A lightweight covering will allow more natural light.
If you chose something heavier for privacy reasons, then opt for layering so you can pull it apart or separate the light from dark when you need to. You can have blinds that create a cozy evening space while still capturing as much natural light as you can during the daytime.
If you have blinds, make sure you keep them open during the daytime to take advantage of natural lighting. And for the bedroom, you might consider automatic roller blinds that could act as a natural alarm clock.
Create mirror images
Mirrors can serve a variety of purposes. Not only are they great for bouncing light throughout a room, but they can also make the area seem much bigger. You can use a mirror to add an artistic flair to your room as well so don’t be afraid to choose a fun design or odd shape.
The best way to use mirrors to capture more light, though, is to place them across from a window. If it’s a windowless room, then face it opposite the door as that is the nearest natural light source. Sadly, if your room is windowless the mirror trick will not be enough alone to lighten your room.
If you would like to make the room seem larger with your mirror, opt for a large leaning mirror or several medium-sized mirrors.
Colour your room with art
Art is an excellent and simple way to brighten any room. Choose colourful photographs or prints and frame them behind reflective glass to refract light. With tastefully framed art you can get the best of the mirrored world and the artistic one.
It’s a clever way to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy the most out of your room. White frames are a great choice to add more light, especially if your walls aren’t. If your walls are white, then you are free to experiment with your frames.
Step into painting
Finally, one of the biggest jobs to consider is painting. If you have tried everything else and you still don’t have the brightness you have been searching for it’s time to dig the trays and rollers out. Go bright white because nothing will bounce light throughout the room as well as white walls.
That means the room needs some light, to begin with though. So, don’t go to all the trouble to paint the room white unless the conditions are right. Opt for a warm white to amplify natural light, or you can increase the glow with white cabinetry and furniture.
It doesn’t matter how dark your room is right now, there are plenty of easy, affordable fixes you can make right now to brighten it up. Give them a try.
