How to Lighten Up Your Home

Natural light gets through your house through windows; it is exclusively through them that the outside light enters your home.

If you are building your house, always ask yourself where to place your windows to get the best light. If possible, ask for help from the professional you are buying your windows. To give an example of an ideal layout:

– 40% of windows on the south side;

– 20% on the north side;

– 20% on the east side;

– 20% on the west side.

In certain rooms, such as the bathroom or the toilet, where discretion is required, one-way glass is a good alternative:

– It has a reflective side, placed outside the room, and a transparent side inside, which allows you to see without being seen.

– Be careful; however, the one-way glass only reacts to strong light. If you place the mirror side on the side of your home that is not well lit, it may not be fully effective.

– This system is available as a film to be glued directly to a conventional window at about $40 for a 2 x 0.75 m film.

How to choose your curtains

The curtains of your windows are not to be neglected either. Choose relatively light colors in a dimly lit room as with the walls.

There is no need to choose white at all costs; you can also opt for colored curtains, provided you do not take the darkest shades.

If the style of your room and your tastes lend themselves to it, you can also install bright curtains. Available in many colors, they reflect the light and give the impression of clarity.

Finally, curtains are an option to consider since they are often partly transparent and let the light filter through.

Good to know: it is preferable to avoid blinds with slats or opaque adhesive films, which tend to hide the light.

Read more: How to Choose Your Curtain Rail?

Mirrors for optimal light

When used correctly, mirrors are a valuable ally:

– Ideally, place them in front of a natural light source, a window, for example.

– It can also be interesting to place them near a floor lamp or a halogen. However, be careful not to place them too close, as you may be dazzled! Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a room brighter.

Large mirrors are the ones that reflect light the best. It all depends on your desires:

– If your only goal is to promote the diffusion of natural light in your room: place a single large mirror.

– If you want to create original light effects: opt for several mirrors of different sizes and shapes.

Illuminate a dark room with light pipes

When a room in your house is very dark and you can’t install a window, you can install light pipes:

– A glass dome is built into the ceiling. It receives the light and concentrates it with the help of a lens integrated with the dome.

– The sunlight is carried to the dome by a flexible or rigid conduit, usually made of aluminum or polished metal. This conduit can be several meters long.

Good to know: An installation costs between $600 and $1,000, including materials and installation. Roof windows can also be used in rooms close to your house’s roof, such as the attic. It thus contributes to making unused spaces in your home habitable. Count between $600 and $1,600 for a window, depending on its model, including installation.

Light therapy, a solution for low exposure?

If your home, even if it is bright, does not spare you from seasonal depression, which you could do without in winter, there is still a solution: light therapy. The bulbs of a light therapy lamp imitate perfectly the natural light and thus cover your needs in light.

– There are several light therapy lamps, each delivering a more or less intense light. The most effective lamps provide a ray of 10,000 lux (i.e., 10 times the typical brightness of an office), a unit of measurement for light.

– A 30-minute session of at least 2,500 lux has an effect similar to taking Prozac.

Please note: these are not lamps to be used for ambient lighting. They allow you to get your daily dose of sunlight by exposing yourself for a period of 30 minutes to 2 hours per day (depending on the intensity of the lamp).

Before investing, make sure that the lamp is up to standard:

– It must bear the FCC Mark.

– It must not emit infrared or UV rays: usually, the indications concerning these two factors are on the instructions or the box. If this is not the case, ask a salesperson.

You can find such a lamp in lighting stores, and it costs between $100 and $300. For the bulb, count between $20 and $30, for a total of $120 to $330.

 Hopefully, you enjoyed this post with a wide variety of ideas to light up your home. Don’t forget to share your experience in the section below.