The Best Ways to Brighten Your Home’s Interior

Sat, Sep 02, 2023 15:13 CET

Nobody likes the thought of a dull or dark home. It can seem gloomy, uncomfortable, and less inviting. Luckily, there are many things you can do to instantly brighten up your home's interior. From well-placed mirrors to choosing the right paint shades, it's easier than you may think to give your home a quick brightness boost.

Interior design expert Ryan McDonough at MyJobQuote.co.uk has teamed up with several interiors experts to create this list of the best ways to brighten up your home’s interior. Take a look at the list below.

Use Light Paints

Painting your walls and ceilings in light and bright colours is a very simple way to invite more light into the home. “Colours in the room play an important role in the look of your home. They may dull a bright place and brighten a dark place," says Hataish Kumar, interiors expert and director at RugKnots.

White is the brightest colour that you can choose. If you're not a big fan of bright white, but you still want to invite more light into your home, choose shades of white that include some other colour tones within them. Off-white is very popular in modern homes.

“Keeping the paint colours of the walls lighter shade or neutral is the best way to give your abode a radiant and wide feel. Make sure to use white or any lighter hue to create a light and clean place," says Kumar.

Paint Your Eaves White

Eaves or soffits are the parts of the roof that overhang the rest of your property. They are either left as open eaves, or they're covered up using a horizontal soffit. Regardless of which type you have on your home, these roof sections can reflect natural light into your home.

Painting your eaves white is a simple yet effective way to boost the amount of natural light that pours into your home, helping to light up every room in the house. Even if the colour of the outside of your house is different, you can still paint your eaves white. Since eaves are angled towards the house, painting them won't affect your home's kerb appeal. You will usually only see them from the inside of the house through a window.

Add Some Reflective Materials

You can add reflective materials to your home in a wide range of ways. For example, you could consider a metallic splashback in the kitchen, glossy tiles in the bathroom, or a large reflective light fitting in the living room. No matter what you choose to do, the more reflective materials you can get in your home, the more light will bounce around each room.

When considering decorative elements for each of the rooms in your home, try to consider shiny, glossy, or reflective things. That way, you can reflect as much light as possible, instantly brightening each room.

Deal With The Clutter

According to Suzanne Roynon, interiors therapist and feng shui consultant at interiorstherapy.com, “Clutter absorbs light, takes up valuable real estate in a home and

attracts dust.” With this in mind, it’s a good idea to take care of any clutter in your home. You’ll likely see a big difference in the amount of light that is able to flow around your space.

“Rather than moving the stuff that is not used, needed or loved from place to place, or throwing money away on storage, deal with the clutter now to immediately benefit from a brighter, happier home," says Roynon.

Choose Gloss Paints For Walls

Did you know glossy paints can help to brighten a room? The higher the gloss level for your wall paints, the more light will reflect off the walls and into the room. More light will bounce off a wall painted with a high gloss paint than a wall painted with matte paint, even when it's the same shade.

Some people don't like the appearance of glossy walls. However, gloss paints can be very helpful in reflecting more light into the room. Consider the colours that you like, and then see if a glossier version of that shade would work well in the room.

If you have a particularly dark room in your home, gloss paints would be the best option. When choosing glossy paints, the only thing to consider is that there will be more glare bouncing off the wall from strong light, especially when it comes to artificial lighting, so keep this in mind when making your paint selections.

Make Use of Mirrors

“Mirrors help to reflect light, which can help to make a space feel larger than it is. It also helps to move light around the room, which makes a room appear much brighter," says Daniel A. Herg, interiors expert at DecorAndDecor.

Using mirrors in the right places can help to disperse and scatter any existing natural light that’s flowing into your home into other areas within the space around it. “I recommend playing around with different shapes and sizes of mirrors in any room where you want to make it feel bright. A group of smaller mirrors or one large one can make a big difference when it comes to bringing in more light," says Herg.

Improve Your Windows

Your windows are the main source of natural light in the home, so it's important to ensure that they bring in as much light as possible. Avoid keeping large amounts of clutter on the windowsill, and avoid placing furniture, plants, or other accessories in front of the windows. This will help to ensure as much light as possible can get into the home without it being blocked.

Also, consider your window dressings. If you want a lot of light to come in through the windows, you should keep your blinds and curtains open during the day to allow the sun to pour in. When choosing curtains, go for ones that are made of light materials and that will allow light to flow in freely.

Another option you may want to consider is sheer curtains. These will provide you with a degree of privacy but will also allow natural light to pass through into the room, creating a soft, filtered kind of lighting.

Choose The Right Furniture

When you’re considering adding some new furniture to your home, it’s important to consider whether or not this new piece will enhance the flow of light within that particular room. Bulky furniture can often block light and may cause shadows or dark patches within the room.

Choose pieces of furniture with exposed legs rather than bulky pieces, as this will allow more natural light to flow freely. "Choose furniture made from natural materials. Sofas, beds, cabinets, and so on with a wood or rattan frame open up a space, making it bright and airy," says Jeanette Hudson, a furniture expert at The Online Sofa Shop.

“The material allows light to pass through the spacing around elements such as armrests, headrests, and skirting. This is in contrast to furniture with heavy materials and solid silhouettes that block natural light," she continues.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways in which you can brighten up your home’s interior. By adopting several of the methods listed above, you can create a bright, airy space that looks welcoming and appealing. Your home is your sanctuary, so it’s important to ensure you feel comfortable and enjoy your space as much as possible. Adding more light to your home is one of the best ways to make it feel more inviting and comforting.

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