Americans, in general, love space. Our homes are getting bigger and bigger, and we keep dreaming up new rooms. Bonus rooms? Why not? Home theaters? Absolutely. And as anyone who’s ever moved from a smaller home to a larger one knows, you fill those rooms with stuff.
3 Tricks to Instantly Brighten Up a Dark Room
But we often turn to spaces that are not normally used for living, such as dark, damp basements, and renovate them into usable living spaces; or we divide up existing rooms to accommodate that extra child or intrusive in-laws. The end result is often a windowless space with the charm and ambiance of a cell.
Unless you can afford to make major changes to your home, you’re going to have to get creative if you want to spruce up a room that doesn’t have natural light. But you do have options. Here are the ways you can deal with that prison cell in your home, in order of least to most difficult.
The easiest thing you can do in a dark, windowless room is to artificially replace natural light with a sunlight bulb. These bulbs are calibrated to mimic the look of natural light and can give your gloomy space a warmer, more comfortable feel. You can even purchase smart bulbs that can be programmed to mimic the rhythm of natural light (also called circadian lighting), dimming in the evening and gradually brightening throughout the day. These aren’t a perfect replacement for natural light, but they can make a big difference.
