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Quick & Easy Lighting Solutions To Brighten Up A Dark Room

Quick & Easy Lighting Solutions To Brighten Up A Dark Room

Quick & Easy Lighting Solutions To Brighten Up A Dark Room

Redecorating a room is usually a project you can look forward to, after all who doesn’t  want a chance to clean out clutter and create a more brighter environment! When redecorating a room, one of the most typical challenges is to brighten up a dark room and brighten up a dark room without breaking the bank can be a difficult task.

Having a well-lit room has been shown to have huge positive effects on occupants’ mental wellbeing. In addition, allowing the maximum amount of natural light into a room could save you money on your electricity bills by using less artificial light during the day.

Knowing how to brighten a dark room will keep your home feeling bright, airy, and energising throughout the year. Here at Meteor Electrical, we have put together lighting solutions that will brighten any room, whether it is your bathroom, living room, kitchen, or bedroom. This article includes great tips for both full redecorations, as well as subtler and less permanent changes that renters will find invaluable.

Quick & Easy DIY Tips to Brighten up a Dark Room

Types of Lights to Brighten a Dark Room:

Choosing the right bulbs for your home is such a quick and simple way to brighten a dark room:

  1. LED Lighting has a higher lumen output than traditional bulbs, which means the light given off is brighter so replace your halogen light bulbs with an equivalent LED. We have a wide range of LED bulbs which will brighten up your room instantly.

  2. Introduce a tall lamp to the room, this will push light onto the ceiling and distribute it across the room (this is most effective with a white ceiling).

  3. Understanding colour temperature is important to ensure you choose the appropriate colour temperature for your room. Choosing the correct colour temperature will have a positive impact to your home and help brighten the dark room.

    Soft White (2,700 to 3,000 Kelvins) is ideal for bedrooms and living rooms as it will create an inviting and cosy environment. Whereas Warm White (2,700 to 3,000 Kelvins) is ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, and brighter spaces (4,000K to 5,000K) to create a functional and brighter area. Keep in mind that more lumens equal brighter light. Check our guide on How to Choose the Correct Colour Temperature

Different Colour Temperatures to Brighten a Dark Room

Bright Lamps for Dark Rooms 

Bright lamps are the key for brighten a dark room. We have lighting a few tips below: 

  1. Add recessed lighting across dark ceilings, this stops the lack of colour taking away any other light entering the room and keeps it bright for all occupants. A home fit is fairly straightforward and you can get the ideal bulbs here. At Meteor, we have a wide variety of recessed downlights to help increase the visibility of any room.

  2. Ensure your light bulbs and glass fixtures are clean to allow as much light through as possible. One of the cheapest ways to do this is diluting some white wine vinegar with water then wiping the glass with a dampened cloth.  

Tips to Brighten a Dark Living Room

How to get Light into a Dark Room:

A dark room can appear dull and uninviting which is why we have made some techniques that will tell you how to brighten a dark room:

  1. Employing light colours in a north-facing space can make a gloomy room appear brighter. Because white walls are excellent light reflectors, they will enhance any natural or artificial light. If you choose to paint your walls white, ensure you pick the correct shade. Here is a guide on which white paint you should use.

  2. If you don’t want all white walls, consider using a darker colour as an accent or paint a single feature wall. If you have all your storage on one wall, paint that one, then add contrasting accessories to make the room pop.
  3. Increase the illusion of a dimly lighted room by painting your ceiling white; it will make your ceiling appear higher and brighter than it is.

How to Brighten up a Dark Room without Painting: 

Painting a room can be a very time-consuming process and can also be expensive. We have provided a few DIY tips that will help brighten a dark room without painting:

  1. Add a mirror next to wall lights; the light will be reflected off the mirror and will help brighten up that area in the room and make spaces feel bigger.

 Mirrors to Brighten a Dark Room

  1. Use switches and sockets that are brightly coloured. This is a simple adjustment that can improve the look of the room. To ensure the best finish possible it’s best to install a new plug socket rather than paint over the old one.  By changing your switches and sockets to polished or metallic versions like these, will help to reflect light around the room.

  2. Don’t block out the natural light from windows with heavy drapes and curtains. If you need to cover a window, consider blinds or roman shades, these are basically invisible when fully retracted.

How to Brighten a Dark Room with no Windows:

If adding windows or other structural adjustments is not within the budget, lighten up a room can be possible with the following methods to design a more lighter and brighter room:

  1. If you have no windows in your room (basement and attic conversions commonly have this issue), you cna brighten a dark room by incorporating bright artwork of an exterior scene which can help give an impression of more light, ideally you want it to cover the same amount of space that a window would.

  2. Add in a glass-panelled door if you don’t have windows already in your room, this will let light into the room from other areas of the house.

    Panel Doors to Brighten a Dark Room
  3. Become a minimalist, having a room packed full of clutter only makes your room look dark and crowded. Get rid of any unnecessary furniture and clutter and see how brighter the room feels. Avoid any dark and bulky furniture and opt for shelves rather than cabinets; this will make the room look bigger, block less light creating a brighter room.

  4. Install reflective tiles; look at the tiles you see in undergrounds and subways around the world. These are designed to reflect the maximum amount of light to compensate for the lack of sunlight, use a similar thought process in darkened rooms. This is ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, or any other room where you would have a tiled floor.

  5. If you have dark wood floors, try adding a light rug to break up the lack of colour to brighten a dark room.

Rugs to Brighten a Dark Room

If you are planning to redecorate your home or looking to brighten a dark room,  these lighting solutions would keep provide a brighter space. Visit Meteor Electrical and view our range of lighting and home fixtures available for next day delivery across the UK and Ireland.