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How to Make a Room Brighter: A Homeowner’s Guide

Do you feel uncomfortable in small spaces? You aren’t necessarily claustrophobic. According to the NCBI, the perception of light and spaciousness can have a psychological impact

One way to remedy this is by altering the material texture of walls in a room, but there are many other ways to upgrade your interiors to promote mental ease. 

Learn how to make a room brighter and create healthier rooms for work and relaxation.

How to Make a Room Brighter Naturally

One of the best ways to make the most of your home is to make it light and bright with natural light. Sunlight has an immediate brightening effect on a room and can lift your mood and make even the smallest room seem larger. 

So, open up your window coverings during the day, trim any exterior vegetation away from the windows, and avoid placing your furniture where it will block the flow of light into your room.  

Keep your windows spotlessly clean so the sunlight can stream in uninterrupted. 

Letting the sunshine in is one of the quickest and easiest ideas to lighten up your home. 

Artificial Light as a Back-Up

If your room has limited natural light sources, you can fill in the gaps with artificial lighting. As a starting point change out your standard globes for brighter LED lights. 

If white light feels too clinical for your tastes, EHD bulbs create a warm, sunshiny glow. 

The higher your lighting fixtures, the more they mimic the effect of natural light but you can create the same effect by directing light upward.

Adding recessed lighting under shelves can help eliminate the shadows that plague small spaces. 

Crystal chandeliers are one of the best lighting ideas to bounce light from other sources all over the room. 

Plants Add Life to Any Room

Container plants breathe instant life — and fresh air — into any space. Placing a few eye-catching specimens in a small room will instantly boost its energy and appeal. 

If you can place them without blocking the light, positioning a glossy potplant near a window or glass door helps bounce the light into your room. Some of the best specimens to brighten up your home include Monstera Deliciosa and fiddle leaf figs. 

The Best Colors to Brighten up a Dark Room

White paint is the way to go to as a starting point for lightening any room. This color makes the perfect reflective backdrop for all the rest of your brightening initiatives. 

Remember a dark ceiling will appear lower, so make sure you paint your ceiling a shade lighter than the walls or keep it white. 

If you find white too boring, choose wall colors that mimic sunshine like pale oranges or muted shades of terracotta. 

Light blue is a nice touch if you want to break up the white without losing the light effect. When used on a ceiling, it creates an optical illusion of blues skies overhead. 

Whichever color you choose, painting your ceiling in high-gloss paint is an impactful and unexpected way to brighten up your room. Stick to matt colors on your walls though, too much glossy paint causes an uncomfortable glare. 

Make the Most of Your Furniture

Clutter is out when it comes to furniture. So get rid of excess furniture pieces and go for a minimalist look to make the most of a small room.

If you’re refurbishing or rearranging your house, light-colored wood works best to create a light, bright, and airy ambiance.

Furniture that’s high off the ground eliminates shadows and dark spaces. Buy pieces with tall legs and space underneath them or get a furniture refurbisher to lengthen the legs on your existing pieces. 

Place bookshelves perpendicular to windows so the light passes through them. 

Harness the Magic of Mirrors

Mirrors are one of the best-known ways to make a small room look larger.

A large mirror automatically doubles the light reflected on it, so place them where the sunlight can bounce off their surface into the room. 

Metallic finishes have the same effect as mirrors, but make sure you keep these gilt touches clean and shining for maximum effect. Picture frames work well as do candelabras, lampstands, and well-placed knick-knacks.

Acrylic pieces, translucent furniture, and glass tables have the same effect. 

Include Extra Pops of Color

Colorful accents are an obvious choice for brightening a room, but you need to be strategic about your placement. Too many colors create a sense of chaos and clutter and excessive artworks will drain the light out of your room. 

A large colorful painting on a statement wall works well to bring light to a gloomy area. A patterned rug helps break up the somber tones of hardwood floors or dark tiles. 

Choose a color palette and use it sparingly for throw cushions, ornaments, and artworks.

A few items in navy blue or black can help create contrast and emphasize light areas. 

Use Outdoor Areas

If you have a patio with French doors leading on to it, half the battle’s already won.  Try to create a sense of continuity in your decor and color scheme so that it blends with the inside area closest to it. 

Leaving the door open onto the patio immediately adds natural light and space to your small room. 

This expands your living space and draws the eye out to create the impression of a larger, lighter room.  

Upgrade All Your Spaces

Once you’ve mastered these tips on how to make a room brighter, you can apply them both at work and home to help make your days more pleasant and productive. 

Keep browsing our articles for more advice and information on how to make your home and business better.