Spaces allowing less natural lights tend to look darker when they have the wrong décor items or have too many things. Brightening up a dark room will not only give it a more vibrant look but also make it more appealing.
There are many brilliant ideas of brightening up any dark living room, bedroom, hallway, or kitchen in your house, even without making structural changes to the building.
You can lighten up a room by either allowing more natural daylight or selecting finishes to brighten up space.
Below are some of the tips on how do you brighten up a dark room.
How to Lighten a Dark Room?
If you have a room in your home that is dim, there are many ways you can use to brighten it up. Below are some of the tricks.
1. Paint your wall and ceiling white
One of the best ways of brightening your dark room is by embracing lots of white to scatter light.
If your room walls and ceiling are painted in dark colors, you should repaint with white paint as a dark color, maybe casting a pall over your entire room.
White color reflects light around your space, making it pop out with positive energy. It would also help if you considered bringing more white elements in your darkrooms like white furniture, bedding, curtains, and white art.
2. Brighten your dark room with rugs
This tip may seem to be relatively simple but make all the difference. If your flooring is of a darker color, a large light-colored rug can brighten up your space. It also improves the acoustics of the room, making it much cozy.
3. Hang large mirrors
Hanging large mirrors is a handy trick of brightening up a dark room. When you add mirrors in a dim room, they reflect light making the space well lit and improving the home decor.
Hang the mirrors on the wall opposite the window from where the light directly bounces off. It is advisable to choose mirrors with a light-colored frame as they add the airy space feel.
Mirrors also create an illusion of the room’s size, which tricks the eye, making it look larger and more open.
4. Replace the heavy curtains
Heavy and dark curtains absorb light. One of the first things you should consider when trying to brighten up a dark room is to replace bulky and dark curtains with lighter ones.
Various window-treatment options in the market can sufficiently provide you with privacy without blocking light.
Translucent shades or white curtains are good options as they allow natural light to spread throughout your space.
5. Keep your windows clean
Dirt and grime on glass windows block and diffuse the sun’s natural light from entering the house from outside.
Therefore, you should regularly clean inside and out of the windows to ensure that your room gets the optimal possible light outside.
How to Light up a Dark Living Room?
Below are some excellent ideas of decorating your dark living room to transform it into a brighter adobe.
1. Consider a brighter color or transparent furniture
The color of the furniture in your living room plays a significant role in the room’s brightening. Compact and stylish furniture in a lighter color like white will make your living room brighter and livelier.
More importantly, avoid curved and solid furniture as they will contribute to the dimness in the place. Instead, go for something transparent.
2. Add lights
Another great way of brightening your dark living room is by adding lights. Apart from the ceiling lights, wall lights can play a significant role in lighting your space.
If you consider using lampshades, do not choose one with opaque color as it will make your space seem darker.
3. Hang mirrors
When you add mirrors in your living room, it automatically looks massive and brighter. Place them strategically above your furniture or opposite the doorway for better reflection.
4. Get light window fabric
Dark and heavy curtains enclose a room preventing natural light from entering. Using curtains of light fabric will allow natural light in your living room, giving it an airy feel.
How to Brighten a Dark Kitchen?
If your kitchen is not getting enough natural light making it too dark for comfort, below are some brilliant ideas.
1. Replacing countertop
The kitchen countertop can be the source of light in your kitchen. If your countertop is dull, consider getting a new one.
Installing a new countertop made of marble, granite, or quartz will introduce another glossy light reflective surface into the kitchen and brighten up the entire room.
2. Upgrade your dark cabinets
Dark kitchen cabinets can make your kitchen look gloomy. Get light-colored kitchen cabinets as they will brighten your dark kitchen because bright colors reflect natural light entering the room rather than absorbing.
White or yellow finish in your kitchen cabinet will do wonders in brightening up your dark kitchen. You can either repaint your existing dark cabinets with a fresh white coat or install new cabinets if your budget doesn’t restrict.
3. Overhead lightings
For you to brighten up your dark kitchen, it is essential to have overhead lights because they spread the light better in the entire space.
Consider installing overhead lights such as flush-mount ceiling lamps, decorative semi-flush-mount chandeliers, or pendant lamps to give a quick boost of light in your kitchen.
Best for Dark Kitchen – Highly Rated Westinghouse Pendant Dining Table Lights
4. Install brighter bulbs
To brighten up your dark kitchen, consider installing brighter bulbs. It is recommendable to fit your kitchen lighting fixtures with 80-100 watt bulbs
Therefore, if your kitchen light bulbs have a wattage of 60 or below, consider replacing as they are not bright enough.
5. Install under-cabinet lighting
The kitchen cabinet causes shadows that can contribute to darkness. Installing under cabinet lights will eliminate shadows creating a brighter space.
You can either have professionally installed lighting or buy battery-powered lights that you can stick under the cabinets.
Best Bright – GetInLight Under Cabinet Light with Different Sizes
6. Take advantage of natural light
You can brighten up your dark kitchen by allowing more natural light to get into the kitchen. There are several ways of achieving it.
- First, you can replace the dark window curtains with lighter and more translucent ones to allow more light into your kitchen.
- Another way is by trimming trees and bushes in your compound that may be obstructing natural sunlight from coming into your home
. The more natural light you get in your kitchen, the brighter it becomes.
7. Make use of reflective surfaces
Another way of brightening up a dark kitchen is by using shiny and light reflective surfaces.
Consider using glossy kitchen appliances with finishes such as stainless steel to make the light rays bounce around the kitchen.
You can also upgrade your kitchen floor with a glossy tile backsplash with a shiny and polished finish.
How to Lighten a Dark Hallway?
A bright hallway can be a great asset in your home. Many hallways are mostly dark, making them unattractive. Here are some of the tips to help you lighten up your dark hallway.
1. Change the front door
One of the best ways of lighting your dark hallway is by replacing the entrance door. Mostly hallway doors are solidly made and do not let in natural light.
Replacing with windowed doors or glazed ones will brighten your dark hallway by allowing at least some natural light to get in.
2. Mirrors
You can lighten up your dark hallway using mirrors. Strategically place mirrors on the hallway walls, and they will brighten up the area by bouncing backlight around the room.
3. Change the flooring
The right way of lightening up a dark hallway is by changing its flooring. Consider switching to a bright colored carpet or laminate floors.
4. Consider vivid colors
If your hallway has dark paintings consider repainting it with light shades. Bright colors such as white or cream can be an excellent way of brightening your dark hallway.
5. Opt for a bright lighting
Installing lighting fixtures in your house hallway is one of the easiest ways of brightening a dark hallway.
You can consider many hallway lighting options, such as wall scones, ceiling lights, and chandeliers. However, it would help if you avoided weighty and low-hanging lights.
Best for Decor – GDNS LED Firework Ceiling Chandelier Light
What Are the Best Lamps for Dark Rooms?
There are a variety of lamps that are convenient in lighting your darkroom. Though finding the best lamp proof to be a challenge to many buyers, this guide has compiled three different lamps and their features.
1. Floor Lamps
Among the 3 types of lamps, floor lamps are the most common types of lamps. These lamps are excellent in lighting your dark rooms, and their freestanding design goes well with your interior décor.
Also, using these lamps does not require a lot of wiring because their structures allow them to stand free within your electrical outlets’ reach.
Some of the common types of floor lamps are:
– Arch lamps
Arc floor lamp uses a curved arm and a single base. As a result, it can reach and extend to furniture that is not near.
– Standing floor lamps
Conventional standing floor lamps have a straight pole that uses a single base. Most of the time, the shade uses a classical cone-shape that shades it’s light downward.
– Torchiere floor lamp
Torchiere lamps have the same design as the traditional lamp, only that their U-shape sends the right upwards.
– Tree floor lamps
These lamps use a single base to hold several lights. As a result, these types of lamps maximize your limited space with light.
2. Table lamps
Table lamps have similar and identical features with floor lamps. But for them, they have an exceptional perfect height that enables them to serve you when you are working on your desk with ease.
Unlike floor lamps, this lamp illuminates just the specific location where placed. There several types of tables lamps:
– Accent lighting
This table lamp provides an illuminating glow when placed on end tables and nightstands.
– Buffet lamps
Buffet lamps are ideal and best when you place it on the serving table during dinner.
– Task table lamp
This type of lamp is ideal in providing focus lighting properly. These lamps are generally placed on reading desks, and their U-shape lights give the user direct sunlight.
3. Mix it up
Mix it up is another type of lamp ideal for use in dark rooms. With this lamp, you can play with texture, color, and finishes of the light. Below is one of the types.
– Novelty lamp
These types of lamps are known for their use of creativity and are in good customizing your space. They use a unique and eye-catching centerpiece design.
Best Appealing – Schylling Lava Lamp with Rainbow Glitter Wax
What Is the Color Schemes for Dark Rooms?
Choosing the best color scheme for your dark rooms in your home is a tricky task. The ideal color schemes should be bright and not absorb light. Below are some of the color themes that you should consider for a dark room.
1. Powder blue
This type of color is among the color scheme that brightens the darkest corner of your room. Blue goes well with most traditional interiors.
2. Warm orange
All orange color schemes like pumpkin, Apricot, and tangerine can transform a dark room with a lamp’s limited light source. Orange color can illuminate and give a radiant glow when a dark room is exposed to little light.
3. Elegant Gray
This color is one of the most neutral and popular with interior designers. Elegant gray works well where the sun is deprived.
4. Ochre
This color, when painted on dark rooms, works wonders. Whether you use the other, that is close to gold or reminiscent of a wheat field; the result is excellent.
5. Lavender
This color works well in a dark room that has low light. It is also known to have several shades that can mix to turn it playful.
6. White
White is the most popular color that is best in brightening up a dark room.
What Is the Best Dark Room Decor?
The idea to fix a dark room with interior design work to brighten it up is challenging. That’s why many people think of doing significant renovation work. But sometimes, this is not always the idea. Some of the tips of the best décor for your darkroom are:
- Always ensure that all your artwork is done with bright colors.
- You can paint your ceiling with the color of the sky.
- Your darkroom should use colorful rugs.
- When painting your walls, avoid glossy and opt for matte.
- Always go for shiny surfaces.
- Use high wattage bulbs in lighting fixtures.
Conclusion
Out tips on ‘how do you brighten up a dark room’ come an end. Brightening a dark room can be challenging, but also fun and creative. The above tips will guide you in lighting any dark place in your house from the kitchen, living room, bedroom to hallway.
You may choose to lighten up by allowing more sunlight or choosing finishes to brighten your space.
