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You need light for everything! From reading an engrossing Harry Potter novel to scribbling ideas on a notepad for your online content, from the house cleaning task on a Sunday morning to prepare the house for a grand family get together on Christmas; it’s absolutely essential.
Long gone are the days when the only method to illuminate a house was either ceiling lights, table lamps or wall fixtures. As extensive and ever-evolving as today’s interior designing has become, you can think of unique ways to maximize light in your home but why do the hard work yourself? We bring you the top 5 ways of doing it effectively and smartly.
Usher in more natural light
Natural light is unparalleled in terms of health benefits, to any other source of light. Not only does it enhances the concentration of Vitamin D in your body but discards off depression and improves the sleeping routines. Paving path for the entry of natural light in your house is the cheapest way of increasing illumination.
You may consider installing large windows or overhead ventilation to allow the entry of natural light. Of course, you will need drapes in front of windows and a sliding cover over the ventilation to provide freedom of choice when to say goodbye to it. Another method in this regard is to transform the flooring into a light-friendly reflective surface by choosing stone or ceramic floors with polished surfaces or any other material that is light in color.
You can also install bi-folding doors in rooms that don’t receive direct sunlight as this gives you the choice of converting an entire wall into glass. You must be careful with the installation though because if there is an excessive amount of light entering the room, you need to install curtains that would kill the beauty of these doors.
Go for ingenious LED lighting pieces
Natural light would suffice for your needs at day but what about the night? You will be requiring artificial lighting pieces for that and what better option is there than smart LED lights! Opt for pieces that are not refulgent to the extent that you actually “feel” the presence of it but calm and effectual in their intensity.
There are several branched fixtures that use a single socket to light up multiple bulbs, which gives maximized light but does that while using minimum effort and energy. You can place bulbs of your choice in these light bulb adapters but LED ones are better in every sense of efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.
Another thing you can do is to attach wall sconces but they should be placed above the line of the furniture so that no light is wasted below the sitting level. A smart way is to purchase a pair of uplight wall sconces. They provide an upward lumination that strikes with the ceiling and is reflected back on to the room. This scheme of light scattering, in turn, provides more light in that space.
Reflective surfaces are your friends
We love how science and technology have made products so diverse and multi-functional. Thanks to it, you can transform walls, tiles, ceiling, and furniture into reflective surfaces that disperses natural and artificial light into the whole room.
We start with the color of the walls. There is a metric called Light Reflectance Value or LRV which ranges from a percentage of 0 for black color to 100 for pure white. Choose the wall paint which has a high LRV value which can easily be viewed online by inputting the color code or its hexadecimal equivalent in the search column.
Then, there are tiles. If you can afford glass tiles for kitchens and bathrooms, it’s the best because they reflect almost all of the light they receive. If that’s not your pick, go for glossy ceramic tiles. Their modern versions are incorporated with a high reflective index and they shine attractively to enhance the chic of the space.
A third option is to attach mirrors or glass surfaces on the walls of the room. It could be a simple styling mirror, a decoration piece fringed with small mirror bits or a hanging glass fixture.
Get the help of transportable lighting fixtures
These include floor and table lamps. Ranging from large arc floor lamps to small, decorative side table lamps, each fixture in this category carries a huge advantage. They can be moved to any room depending on the occasion, add an adorning touch to the interior and provides both daytime and nighttime light through their dimmable feature.
They can illuminate dark corners of the room where overhead fixtures or natural light is inaccessible; to provide a uniform lighting ambiance. Floor lamps are brilliant because they can be used for any purpose. If there is a graceful party at your home, you can direct it over a self-created wine corner or if you have planned a movie night with your friends, it could give just the right amount of weak, directed light you need to keep a track of your coke and honey popcorns.
What else?
Plenty of other ways to try as well. If there is an overgrown tree outside your room’s window, it could be time to trim it to allow streaks of natural light inside. You can polish the furniture to increase their reflective property or add a light-colored rug on the floor to brighten the room. Additionally, choose the table lamps that have lighted lampshades. Opaque ones are a straight no even if they are light in color because it won’t allow any light to diffuse outwards.
That’s it. We hope we have helped you brighten your room in ways you couldn’t have thought earlier. With multiple variations of the stated tips, you can achieve even more.
