If you have a particularly dark room in your home, it can be difficult to get enough light to make it feel comfortable. Since natural light can make a big difference in opening up a space and making it feel alive, it’s time to fake it so you can get the warmth and brightness you’re looking for.
3 Tricks to Instantly Brighten Up a Dark Room
To create the illusion of brighter, broad-spectrum light, use multiple light sources. In addition to regular bulbs, try adding a daylight therapy lamp, some recessed lighting, or under-cabinet lighting. Using a mix of lighting types and allowing the light to be seen from multiple angles can brighten a dark room and mimic the feeling of natural sunlight. Using warm and cool tones of light together can also make your space feel brighter.
To enhance the light in your space, add objects that catch and reflect light. Using mirrors, gloss paint, and metal is a great way to do this. Shiny objects will glow and sparkle, giving your limited light a wider range of angles from which to see it. Even smaller trinkets can help add a touch of shiny brightness to a dark space. Consider arranging your shiny surfaces both vertically, on shelves and wallpaper, and horizontally, on tabletops or other surfaces. This allows the light they reflect to hit your eye from multiple angles, creating a brighter space.
If you have windows, let in as much light as possible. Use sheer curtains that don’t block all the light coming in through a window and avoid placing furniture in front of windows. These are good ways to let in as much light as possible. Make sure that shrubs and plants outside the window are pruned where possible to get all you can.
