With the sun going down early every night, winter is a dark time. It's also a time when people in Connecticut are stuck indoors a lot, where it can seem even darker than usual. You can make your time inside more pleasant for yourself if you can find ways to make your home brighter and more cheerful. These 6 tips will help.
Add the Right Lighting
It's not enough to simply add more lamps or install more light fixtures in your home. It's important to locate new lamps and lighting strategically, to cut back on dark corners and to focus on areas of the home that have lighting deficits. It's also important to install many small lamps and light fixtures, rather than one or two large fixtures per room. Small fixtures, though they may emit less light, will have a warmer, homier quality that can positively impact the ambiance of your home.
Add a Large Mirror
Mirrors bounce light around the room while also distracting from dark corners. When searching for the best mirrors for your home, look for large mirrors and decorative frames to make the biggest impact possible.
Brighten with Paint
While adding a fresh coat of a completely new color can help brighten a room, it's important to pick colors that work well with the space that you're trying to brighten. Cool colors in dark rooms can add an icy quality to the space that really doesn't help brighten the room in a psychological way. Turn to warm tones when painting your home's interior.
Pick the Right Window Treatments
Room darkening window treatments can be nice when it's summertime and you want to sleep in or escape the heat, but in the winter, you're better off with sheer window treatments that let in as much light as possible. If you'd like more privacy than sheer window treatments can offer, look at simple light-colored cotton options. Cotton has a cheerful, casual quality that will brighten your home in more ways than one.
Reduce Your Clutter
Nothing makes a room seem darker, dingier and more depressing than too much clutter. Now is the time to look into organizational systems for your home. Plastic bins may be good for organizing closets and parts of your house that fall behind closed doors, but for the living spaces in your home, turn to decorative baskets and attractive cabinets.
Deep Clean from Top to Bottom
Sometimes a room feels dark because it's just in need of a good cleaning. Set aside a day or two to clean the house completely from top to bottom. Clear dust off of furniture, sweep out dirty corners, clean window sills, mirrors, curtains, under television sets and the front of your kitchen cabinets. If you didn't paint your walls, clean them with a duster and a wet rag.
If you're looking for more ways to brighten up your spaces, or if you want to discuss installation of lighting and organizational cabinets, contact Litchfield Builders for a quote. We're proud to serve the people of Connecticut and would be happy to talk to you about the best ways to brighten your home.
