Not all rooms get a lot of natural light. If your living room falls into this category, it can often prove frustrating. However, there are several renovation tricks that can brighten your living room without putting you through the hassles of a major renovation. Below are some ideas you can try.
Check the Trees Around the Windows
Find time to check all the windows around your living room. This is important because if light can’t get to your window, there’s no way the light can brighten your room.
Some houses have trees around the windows but you need to make sure that they are not blocking the windows or preventing the living room from getting sufficient light. One way out of this is to trim the trees or bushes that might be around your home or apartment.
Be Strategic With Your Paintings and Artworks
Are you a lover of the arts? If you are, that’s fine but you need to be mindful of where they are placed in the living room. You also need to be mindful of the type of artwork you are displaying in the room.
If you have large artworks that are dark, consider saving them for rooms that have surplus light. Covering an entire wall space with a dark painting or artwork will not help the lighting in your living room. By default, such artworks absorb light instead of reflecting it.
You don’t need to overthink this. You simply need to be conscious of the artworks and paintings you want to display and how they will relate with natural light.
Placement of Bookshelves Matters
If you have a large bookshelf in your living room, you can’t just place it anywhere you like because it looks good. Bookshelves are best placed when they are perpendicular to windows.
If you place a bookshelf parallel to a window, it cuts off the flow of natural light into the room. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a bookshelf in your living. You simply need to make an informed decision on where to place it.
Mirrors Can Help
Mirrors are very effective when you to seek to brighten a dark living room. The trick here is to place the mirror directly opposite the windows. This allows the mirrors to bounce and reflect natural light all through the living room.
Regardless of where mirrors are placed, they do a good job of reflecting light; especially in a situation where you can’t place them directly opposite the window. Mirrors can be placed on your side tables or over your couch. Like small windows, they open up spaces of illumination in your rooms.
Keep the Windows Clean
This might seem quite obvious but it can be easily overlooked. When your windows are clean, they have a huge effect on the volume of light that gets into the room. Dust and dirt can easily get in the way of light getting into the living room.
You will agree that keeping your windows clean is not as tedious as installing additional windows.
Choose Matte Surfaces Over Glossy Walls
You need to pay attention to the kind of surfaces you settle for when designing your living room. This is vital because they have an impact on the light that streams into your rooms.
If you have glossy surfaces in your living room, you will end up with a glare (Reflection of sunlight that is painfully bright). You don’t want this in your living room. Rather, matte finishes are considered the safest for your living room. They reflect light in all directions and make the room brighter without hurting your eyes.
Final Thoughts on Ways to Brighten a Dark Living Room
Most living rooms that are dark are not dark because they have been starved of natural light. Rather, they are usually dark because they have been painted in a dark colour, have heavy curtains and furniture or have poor lighting.
One way to resolve this problem is to improve the reflection of your interior. Another way to tackle this is to reduce the obstruction created by your furniture and how they have been arranged. You should consider having your ceiling and flooring in white and stay away from glossy finishes.
