Having natural light in your home is a huge benefit. It’s airy, makes any room seem larger, and helps cut down on electricity costs because you don’t need to use as much artificial light. But how does it really help? From bay windows to the right curtains, check out all the ways you can maximize natural light into every room of your house.
Bay Windows: These beautiful, big windows really let in as much light as possible. Perfect for living rooms and other spaces, bay windows are an amazing addition to any home, as they play up natural light by flooding a room with streams of sunshine. Plus, large windows help make smaller space seem larger, thereby creating the illusion of more light in a small room.
Mirrors: Great for reflecting natural light without changing the lighting, mirrors act like a bright white wall. Place them in high traffic areas, like a busy hallway next to a small window, or go big and try putting up a large mirror near a bay window to flood a room with light.
Interior glass: Installing interior glass in the walls and doors adds natural light and makes use of it by spilling out into hallways, bathrooms, crevices, or any other smaller nooks lacking light. Best of all, installing interior glass is going to be less expensive than exterior glass. Alternately, glass block is another good option. It’s lightweight and offers the same structural appearance as interior glass, but helps breaks up the natural light in a room with too much direct light while still looking gorgeous.
Skylights: Designed to provide natural light to spaces that are fairly dark, skylights help negate the “cave effect,” or negative lighting that can happen if a room is wider than higher. We see the contrast between light and dark, but even little bit of natural light coming down will help brighten a room and make it appear larger.
Curtains: Ever notice that lighter colored curtains seem to almost project light? That’s because light that shines through a curtain picks up the curtain color. Adding white curtains, for example, will give you the most natural light through the windows.
Shades: For windows that offer a little too much light, shades can use beams of direct sunlight to create a softer look. They can also help dilute any direct sunlight during the day when the light outside is harshest.
Frosted glass: Like curtains, colored or frosted glass changes the color of the light going through it, albeit in a more dramatic fashion. Frosted glass will soften harsher beams of light, while colored glass can add warmth or coolness to a room.
Blinds: Excess sunlight and glare can be downright distracting. Blinds are a way to adjust the light based on how much or little you want and diffuse glare, but without affecting the actual light the way curtains would.
Painted walls: As mentioned earlier, white walls work as a reflective surface. But the same holds true for other lighter colors. Don’t just limit yourself to white go for a sky blue, light green, buttercream yellow, or blushing pink when choosing paint. The lighter your walls and ceilings, the more natural light will be reflected through every room.
Whether you want to brighten a space in your home or diffuse the light that’s coming in, there are plenty of ways to manipulate natural light so that it works to your advantage.
