It is incredible what a few subtle changes in lighting can do to improve the appearance and atmosphere of your home. Even tired, outdated decor can be instantly elevated with better light. These are such simple changes anyone can make, but very few people think about lighting when upgrading their home. Some people will invest thousands of dollars in renovations but never take advantage of the most straightforward ideas.
Whether upgrading to prepare your home for the market or simply making improvements for your own enjoyment, these little-known tricks might just take your breath away.
Bring in a Second Pair of Eyes
The best thing you can do to plan to give your home its facelift is to consult someone with a keen eye for design. You don’t have to invest much money in an interior designer. Perhaps you have a friend with an impeccable sense of style and flow that can help you plan your layout? Otherwise, if your budget is tight, but you still want an upgrade, you can take inspiration from home style magazines and videos. You can even find countless inexpensive ideas on social media sites like Instagram or Pinterest.
Looking for even more ways to enhance your home quickly? Here are some of our other design posts to give you some inspiration.
- Redesign Your Home Decor With One Trip to Your Local Hardware Store
- Six Design Trends Making a Comeback in 2022
- Very Peri: How to Use the Pantone Colour of the Year in Your Home Decor
Make the Most Out of Your Natural Light
Maximizing the sunlight in your home may seem like an obvious step. However, few people realize how many simple things they can do to let more light in. Even something as easy as wiping down the walls can help. Walls often get overlooked during regular cleaning, but dust and grime can build up and add weight to the room. Here are a few other ways you can enhance your home’s natural light instantly:
- Replace dark, opaque curtains with light sheers. Sheers still grant you the privacy you want and reduce glare, but they let far more light in.
- Rearrange your furniture, so that tall items don’t block the sunlight.
- Use mirrors in your decor. They reflect and enhance the light and are an excellent way to brighten dark corners in your home.
- Wash your windows inside and out for unobstructed sunlight, and remove all unnecessary items from the windowsills.
- Use glossy furnishings in your home decor. Glass and metallic finishes will help light bounce around the room.
Enhance Artificial Light
Your location and the size and style of your windows will affect how much light your home receives. Let’s face it. A house with a massive picture window overlooking a park is going to get more sunshine than a home blocked by a skyscraper. But even if you’re not lucky enough to have a prime location with a view, all is not lost.
There are many stunning light fixtures that are often just as good as the real thing.
The downside of using artificial light to enhance your home is you will need to do a little more planning. The advantage is you can control the ambience without being subject to the whims of the weather or the time of day.
Here are some ideas you can use to create the atmosphere you crave in every room of your house:
- Decide on the function of each room. For example, you’ll want your kitchen to be brighter than your bedrooms, which will call for different types of lighting.
- Invest in a few high-quality light fixtures. For example, a beautiful chandelier might cost $50 to a few hundred dollars. However, the effect when walking into the room can be spectacular!
- Add electric candles to enhance the mood lighting for when the sun goes down.
- Brighten dark spaces with stylish lamps or torch lights.
- Replace all light bulbs on a regular basis to ensure even lighting.
- Use dimmers to readjust the brightness in the room depending on your activity and the time of day.
Minor updates to your home are the first step before listing it for sale. Here are some ideas that will help you decide what to do next:
- Everything You Need to Know About Selling Your First Home
- Ready to Downsize? The Timing Just Got Better
- How to Prepare Your Home When You Have No Time
Add Contrast
Now that you have some ideas on enhancing your natural and artificial light, it’s time to add some patterns and contrast to draw the eye. Professional decorators know how to create a stunning focal point in each room, and contrast is one of their most valued tools. Here are a few examples you can try out in your own home:
- Is there a fireplace in the living room? Consider adding a charcoal or black border around the hearth. Extra points for a glossy finish that provides contrast and reflects the light!
- Use white paint on the walls, but dark colours for the baseboards and trim.
- Contrast furniture using both smooth and angular designs.
- Add texture to a ceiling or an accent wall to create a 3D effect.
- Experiment with a slight touch of asymmetrical patterns to add visual interest.
Long-Term Light Solutions
So far, we’ve discussed simple, non-invasive techniques to add style and brightness to any room in your house. These alone may be enough to give your home the transformation you were hoping for.
However, if you’re more ambitious, permanent upgrades can create a total transformation.
- Add skylights. Skylights don’t just allow the light to pour in from another angle–they are a beautiful focal point in the room.
- Consider installing sun tubes. If skylights are out of the question, sun tubes are a far more affordable and less invasive option that will still brighten any space. They can be added anywhere there is less than six metres between the roof and the ceiling.
- Invest in larger windows. New windows are a fantastic way to enhance the sunlight in your home. They can also help keep your home warmer in the winter and reduce your energy costs. In addition, they add perceived value should you ever decide to sell!
- Replace interior doors with French doors. Unlike traditional opaque doors, French doors are almost all windows, which allows plenty of light to flow from one room to another.
- Replace dark paint with light, neutral colours or even white.
You don’t have to implement all these techniques to enhance the beauty and atmosphere of your home. Experiment with one or two ideas to start with, and you may be astonished at the improvement. And a home filled with light doesn’t just enhance its appearance. Sunlight has many proven health benefits that can help you feel more cheerful and energetic throughout your day.
Enhancing your natural light is just one of the many steps we take when preparing your home for the market. A properly staged home can have a lasting impact on buyers and help you enjoy a more successful sale. Discover more about our staging process right here.