5 Ways To Brighten Up Your Home

A lot of people hate the winter for how dark it can make our homes feel. For some though, this problem extends all year around! Brightening up your home can not only help it to feel cleaner, but it can also add a warmer vibe to your surroundings. So here are 5 tips to help you brighten up your home, and make it somewhere you can enjoy all year round.

Paint the Walls White

White is the most reflective colour, so by painting your walls this colour it will immediately make your home feel brighter. Colours like yellows and creams can also help to reflect light, so they could be a good alternative choice if you find white too clinical. It’s also possible to use glossy paints similar to these available from Dulux, as they will further help to reflect light.

Choose Bright Furniture

When it comes to the light in your home, you should also consider your furniture choices. Black leather sofas and dark wood cabinets may add to a darker feel, as well as giving the impression of a smaller space. Instead, try shopping for brighter choices of furniture from companies like Vida furniture. Consider light woods or white painted furniture when it comes to shelves and cabinets, and opt for a cream or light grey sofa, instead of dark leathers.

Use Reflective Surfaces

Reflective surfaces such as mirrors can also help to brighten up your home. When it comes to small and poky rooms such as bathrooms, a large wall mirror can help to reflect light and make the room appear bigger. Smaller mirrors meanwhile can be placed opposite windows in order to create the illusion of more space. There are also other materials that can have similarly reflective properties too- stainless steel can produce a similar shine to a mirror, and laminated wood and polished stone also have strong reflective properties. 

Let in more Natural Light

Allowing more sunlight into your home will also help to make it brighter. Make sure that none of your windows are obstructed by large ornaments, plants, or furniture. And of course curtains can minimise the amount of natural light coming through your windows too.

If you like to close your curtains for privacy, you could always buy net curtains or blinds to still distort the view in whilst letting in light. On top of leaving windows unobstructed, you may wish to add in new windows or expand existing ones. For example Adding a skylight to a roof could help to let sunlight in from above.

Add extra Artificial Lighting

And if all else fails, you can always use artificial lighting to brighten your home. When it comes to overhead lighting, consider adding spotlights to corners of rooms or to recesses. Alternatively if you want to save money on electrical work, you could install track lighting instead. On top of overhead lighting, you can also use lamps to help brighten the room (lamps may use up less electricity, saving you money on your energy bills too).

This is a collaborative post.