7 Ways to Brighten Dark Rooms if Your House Doesn't Get Natural Light

The lighting inside your house can affect your mood significantly. When you’re in a dark room (and it is not bedtime), you might find yourself feeling gloomy and even sluggish. Natural light is always best, and the best mood booster. If the house gets little of it, try these decorating tricks to make your home look brighter without having to spend too much.

Check your bulbs

If your home seems dreary, the culprit might be your old light bulbs. Better Homes & Gardens suggests replacing incandescent bulbs with LED ones, which are more long-lasting, energy-efficient, and its bright effect makes a big difference.

If you need to brighten up the kitchen, blogger, author, and interior stylist Camille Styles recommends using glass pendant lights. She tells Good Housekeeping these fixtures help light flow more easily when installed above a counter or table.

Paint the room white

Planning to repaint? Make sure that you select the right kind of white paint — specifically, the clearest, brightest, and whitest white paint you can find.

Get rid of heavy furniture

Do you have too many bulky and dark furniture? The Spruce says, “Overstuffed and heavily carved furniture will pull your room down, making it feel darker and heavier than it is.”

Use pieces that won’t take up as much visual weight like transparent furniture. You can still use heavy furniture, but keep it to a few pieces.

Decorate with mirrors

Better Homes & Gardens says, “A mirror will bounce light around a room, so it can add both light and dimension to the space, making the area seem not only lighter and brighter, but bigger as well.”

Do note, however, that strategic placing of mirrors is just as important. The Spruce recommends placing them directly opposite windows so they can reflect as much natural light as possible.

Incorporate metallic pieces

Metallic pieces are also very helpful in brightening up dark rooms as they can reflect light while also making the space look and feel more luxurious. “Incorporating shimmery gold or silver accessories is an easy way to transform a dark and dreary space,” ELLE Décor writes.

Keep your windows clean

This might sound obvious, but clean windows can let more sunshine into your room. Take regular time to rid your windows of dirt, dust, and random specks that might be affecting how much sunlight your home is receiving. For homemade cleaning solutions you can use to clean your windows and every other part of your home, click here.

Use light area rugs

Flooring plays a much more vital role in the overall look and feel of a room than you may think. This means that if you want your home to appear much brighter, an area rug in a light color can be of great help! If you prefer a patterned rug, make sure the one you choose still has an overall light color scheme.

This story originally appeared on Smartparenting.com.ph.

* Minor edits have been made by the Realliving.com.ph editors.