Bringing natural lighting into your home does so much to improve the feel and look of your rooms. It’s also one of the best ways to enhance your existing home décor and it helps to improve your moods too!
Living in a sunny climate such as in Australia makes outdoor living popular. But bringing daylight into your home means you can enjoy it indoors too. From placing mirrors strategically to installing skylights Sydney homeowners are finding many ways to increase natural lighting inside their homes.
Here are eight ways to bring natural lighting into your home so you too can reap the benefits of daylight while indoors.
1. Install Skylights
Skylights have been used for years, in both residential and commercial buildings, to bring in more natural lighting. Technology has improved the way skylights capture sunlight and you can benefit from as much daylight as you want indoors.
Installing tubular skylights into your ceiling allows you to capture more natural light throughout the room. They also prevent extra heat gain and filter out harmful UV rays. Different finishing options also mean you can get a skylight with features to complement your existing home décor.
2. Paint Interior Walls in Lighter Colours
Using paint effectively is one of the simplest and best ways to bring in more natural lighting. Light colours will give you the best reflective qualities. Pure white is your best bet but if the starkness doesn’t appeal to you, go for white with hints of other colours in the paint, or light grey.
Ceilings should also be painted in lighter colours if you want to take full advantage of all-natural lighting coming into a room. While the walls can be painted in glossier paints, you can use a matte finish on the ceilings.
3. Use Mirror or Glossy Ceramic Tiles
Mirror tiles or those constructed with a highly reflective finish can add more natural light to a bathroom or hallway. You could also use them in other rooms such as the kitchen. Similar to a mirror, both mirror tiles and glossy ceramic tiles are able to capture light and reflect it back into the room.
This brings us to mirrors. Placing large mirrors strategically in a room will also increase natural lighting. Plus, the mirrors themselves can add elegance to any room’s style.
4. Build Glass Blocks into Your Walls
Glass blocks are another way you can bring daylight into your home. While not the easiest solution to bringing natural light indoors, once the job is done you’ll benefit from the results. Some walls will need to be broken down and headers installed before building glass bricks into the home’s exterior walls.
Glass blocks not only add aesthetics to the walls, but they filter the sunlight, giving your room a serene, bright and open feeling.
5. Add More Windows to Exterior Walls
Adding more windows to the exterior walls of your house is another way of increasing the amount of light coming into your rooms. This is a costly exercise but worthwhile in the long run. Make sure you place the windows where they’ll capture the most sunlight.
When adding new windows to your home, consider installing floor-to-ceiling windows for a modern style while giving you more natural lighting. And, while you’re replacing windows consider adding doors that have windowpanes in them.
6. Take Advantage of Light Furniture
If your furniture is light in colour, place them in such a way that they can capture any daylight coming through a window or doorway. Similar to using lighter paint colours, light furniture will also reflect back lighting into the room.
You can also improve natural lighting by keeping the space open and uncluttered. This may mean moving out some of the darker furniture pieces.
7. Skip the Curtains
If privacy is not an issue for you, consider skipping the curtains and blinds altogether! Not only will you be letting more light come in through the windows, but you’ll be creating the illusion of more space.
In rooms where privacy is essential you could replace existing curtains with sheer curtains. These are made with translucent fabric that allow natural lighting in while keeping anyone outside from looking in. White curtains are also another option for reflecting lighting naturally into a room.
8. Clean the Windows
Believe it or not, but cleaning your windows regularly keeps the natural light streaming in! Over time, a layer of dirt accumulates on the windows and this creates an effect similar to tinted glass. You may not be aware of this happening. However, when the windows are cleaned, you’ll suddenly notice there’s more light coming into your home.
Instead of waiting for your windows to get really dirty, clean them often. This way, you’ll always benefit from natural lighting coming into your home.
Final Thoughts
Natural light is one of the best ways to add to the aesthetics of any room in your home. It’s not as harsh as artificial lighting and saves you money on energy bills too. You win in so many ways!