Towards the Sun. Let the Light In!
…I love waking up to a ray of sunlight… for me it is the gentlest way to wake… it decides the mood I wake up in, the emotions that fill me, and therefore how the whole day will go…
The sun is the basis of life on earth. Walking into a home full of light and air, you are immediately charged with that clean energy: a particular mood, harmony and comfort live in a home like that.
Real luxury, to me, is living in a house with big windows and high ceilings, where breathing comes easily and living tastes good. Unfortunately that luxury is not available to everyone, especially at our latitude, where the sun is an infrequent and hurried guest. A shortage of daylight tells badly not only on an interior but on the state of mind of the people living there, bringing on melancholy and apathy.
So how do you bring light into a dark apartment, how do you persuade the sun to move in? Big windows solve half the problem, of course, but what do you do if your windows are not exactly impressive? Below are the methods I use in my own projects to fill a space with light and air without touching the layout.
Clear the way for the sunlight
Bare your windows. Free them of curtains, or use Roman blinds and open them as far as they go during the day.
The dressing room in the "Novaya Istoriya" project
Multiply the incoming light with mirrors
Place mirrors near the windows, and better still opposite them: they will reflect the light and give the room extra brightness.
Finish the window reveals by angling them slightly away from 90 degrees and widening them towards the room, and make both the frames and the reveals white. Another interesting trick is to face the reveals in mirror, as I did in the "Novaya Istoriya" project.
The opening faced in mirror, which increases the amount of light
Keep the windows clean
Even a light film of dirt noticeably reduces how much light a window lets through.
Walls are best painted in pale tones, and ideally the paint should contain a hint of pearl, so that the walls reflect as much daylight as possible. There is no need at all to paint them pure white: under a northern sun and a short day, pure white takes on a dirty grey, gloomy, characterless cast. In our part of the world, quiet pale cool shades have proved themselves beautifully. They sit well with the surroundings and come into their own precisely in "cold" sunlight, unlike warm southern colours, which lose their charm when they are not flooded with bright southern sun.
Take the excess out of the interior
All of this effort is wasted if the interior is overloaded with heavy, massive furniture and cluttered with unnecessary accessories and decoration, because that eats the space. Get rid of the excess and favour refined, restrained pieces. The right furniture here means items in transparent materials, pieces with reflective surfaces, and furniture on legs that leaves the floor visible. Remember: the fewer shadows an object casts, the better. Put the light to work.
Furniture on legs and wall-hung pieces make a space feel larger
Swap solid doors for glazed ones
Another method that lets light reach even the furthest corners of an apartment: give up solid doors in favour of doors with glazed panels. Let the light run through the whole space.
A mirror opposite a window multiplies the light coming in
With these simple methods you will have a home full of light, and every one of your days will begin with meeting the sun. If you would like the lighting and the layout thought through professionally, see how I work in "How I Work", or read the terms of the interior design project service.
Frequently asked questions
How do I bring more light into a dark apartment?
Free the windows of heavy curtains, place mirrors opposite them, paint the walls in pale cool shades, widen the reveals and paint them white, remove massive furniture and replace solid doors with glazed ones. These methods multiply the daylight without touching the layout.
What colour should I paint the walls to make a room brighter?
Pale tones, and paint with a hint of pearl that reflects light works well. At northern latitudes with a short day, quiet pale cool shades are a better choice than pure white, because without enough sun, white looks dirty grey and gloomy.
Do mirrors really make a room brighter?
Yes. A mirror placed opposite a window reflects the light coming in and gives the room extra brightness. Window reveals can be faced in mirror too, which noticeably increases the amount of light in the space.
What furniture suits a dark apartment?
Restrained and refined pieces: items in transparent materials, pieces with reflective surfaces, furniture on legs that leaves the floor visible. The fewer shadows an object casts, the brighter and more spacious the room feels.
