Livingetc: How to brighten a dark room – 10 tried and trusted tricks for lighter, brighter spaces

Written by: Oonagh Turner | Original Article

Learn how to brighten a dark room with top tips designers, from choosing the right colors to making natural light work harder

How do you lighten a dark room?  It's an interior design question that puzzles homeowners and designers alike. 

You're likely going to have at least one room in the house that doesn't get as much light as the others. Maybe it's a small living room, or a dark north-facing window. 

Whatever the problem, solving this issue is all about thinking outside of the box. Lighting is one obvious way to light your dark room, but in fact, everything can work in the room's favor, from the color scheme you pick right the way down to the material you use in the space. These clever design ideas will help to make sure the space doesn't become dark and claustrophobic.

HOW  DO YOU BRIGHTEN A DARK ROOM?

First thing's first, consider which orientation your room is and where it is facing. The best orientation that fills the space with light is south-facing, where you'll get light streaming in throughout the day. If your room is east-facing, you're likely to get morning light, and west-facing is the room that receives a sunset glow and that coveted golden hour light. 

CREATE A WINDOW WHICH PROJECTS SUNLIGHT

Think cleverly about where the sun comes from, and where it will project. 'Adding windows or skylights to a space is the logical way to bring in more natural light or opening up walls to borrow light from adjacent spaces that are well lit,’ says interior designer, Sashya Thind, who has cleverly used a window to help a small bedroom feel bigger. ‘We are not afraid of a bit of demolition to dramatically improve the space.’ 

Creating a window that maximizes this is the best way to ensure you get natural light for longer. 'This original heritage house in Melbourne grew increasingly smaller, darker and lower as you traveled through the spaces,' says Sandi Kuzman of Kuzman Architecture. 'A triangular gap between old and new rooflines provided an opportunity to allow northern light to penetrate the lower floor living spaces, with light flowing into the lower floors via a light void.'

This aperture acts as a sundial projecting a triangular beam of light across the walls throughout the day, while making a small bedroom feel bigger.