The days are about to start getting a lot cloudier and the nights a lot longer. We’re heading into the darker months of the year, meaning that your home might start looking a little drab and lifeless. However, here we’re going to take a look at how you make sure the home stays bright, comfortable, and cheerful, no matter what the weather might be doing outside.
Make the home feel naturally brighter
It’s important to be aware of the importance that our access to light, especially natural light, has on the mental health of both us and our children. For that reason, you should take some steps to improve your home’s ability to better use and bounce natural light around. One of the best ways to do this is by looking at a brighter color palette. Bright bold colors and light neutrals both tend to be a lot better at reflecting light around the home than dark, rich colors, for instance. Increasing the number of reflective surfaces can also help light better bounce around the rooms in the home. Well-positioned mirrors across from the windows can do a lot of good, for instance as can sliding glass walls. Chrome and other glossy surfaces are great choices, too.
Let more natural light in the home
Of course, aside from improving the rooms’ ability to better use natural light, you should be doing what you can to increase how much natural light the room gets exposed to in the first place. The first place to look in this case would be at the window treatments. Heavy curtains might be cozy, but they let in less light in general than a good set of blinds. Of course, regular window cleaning is essential to make sure that dust and dirt don’t block off the light that might otherwise get in. You should also look outside the window itself. If there are bushes or tree branches in the way, they can minimize the amount of natural light that gets inside the home, as well.
Create a warmer, brighter set-up
Aside from natural light, you should also be more willing to rely on good interior lighting to help balance things out and make sure that dark shadows aren’t dominating parts of the room. Better arranging your furniture around the lighting fixtures can help with this. For instance, you want your coffee table to be directly beneath the main light rather than off at an angle to make sure it’s not casting a long shadow across the floor. You can also look at better layering your lighting by installing accent lighting fixtures. A good placement of lamps and smaller lights around the room can help create the cozy and well-lit feeling that keeps the home welcoming during the fall.
There are plenty of steps you can take to both get more natural light in the home during the fall and winter, and to make sure that the home itself has plenty of light without needing to rely on the outside too much. The tips above are just a few places to start.
These are great suggestions. I am looking forward to Fall.
ReplyDeleteAfter the first year of the toughest fight of my life, I craved sunlight. I hated when it started to get dark faster! My doctor suggested that I drink more milk or take a low dose vitamin D supplement. None of his suggestions helped. My daughter got me one of those lights that imitate the sun. That helped some, but I couldn’t carry the light with me everywhere. We got some lighter curtains for the bedroom and got a couple of three way bulb lamps. One of our friends painted a couple of rooms in the house lighter. He painted the living room a really impressive two toned beige color. It was clever and beautiful. Plus he took down our curtains in the dining and living rooms and hung vinyl blinds. They opened up a whole new positive feeling in me. I didn’t realize until I went through it that a lot of other people have this same reaction. Your article is really apropo for this time of year and just might help someone else! I pinned and shared this. Thank you for sharing the light!
ReplyDeleteI love decorating for fall! It's my favorite season!
ReplyDeleteThank you for suggestion, I definitely apply this.
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