Remodeling? 3 Ways to Increase Natural Light
If you want to create a more efficient home in your upcoming remodel, you have all sorts of options, from choosing more energy-efficient appliances to adding new siding that prevents energy transfer. But don’t overlook one of the best ways to improve your home’s efficiency and boost your overall mood: natural light.
When you increase your home’s natural light, you both decrease the amount of money you spend on artificial light and on heating — though you do need to invest in good window treatments to keep the home from heating too much in the summer.
Not sure how to go about adding natural light to your space? Learn about three ways you can add natural light to your home when you remodel.
1. Don’t Let Additions Obstruct the View
Before you add any new shelves or cupboards to your kitchen or living space, consider how they could obstruct incoming light. For instance, will adding suspended cabinets in the kitchen keep sunlight from flowing into the room? Will the shelves you want to add to the walls in your living room extend into the windows’ space, keeping the room from being as bright as it could be?
Instead of installing suspended cabinets, add more cupboards lower down. For instance, an island with cupboard space around the bottom ensures you get the storage space you need without obstructing your windows. In a living room or bathroom, add waist-high shelves, or install your new shelves on the wall opposite the windows instead of on either side of them.
2. Add More Windows
The most obvious natural light expansion can also be the most expensive, so this option isn’t necessarily right for every remodel. However, if you have room in your budget, consider adding windows to darker rooms.
In particular, most bathrooms benefit from a new window with frosted glass. Similarly, your kitchen can look and feel brighter and more expansive with more than one small window nestled in the corner.
If adding windows in windowless rooms isn’t an option, consider upgrading some of your windows to clearer, more energy-efficient models. Old, dirty windows that are several decades old keep your rooms from being as bright as they could be. Talk to your remodeling expert about how much replacing old windows could cost, and how much brighter rooms could be with newer windows.
3. Pay Attention to the Room’s Colors
Adding more light to a room won’t help as much as you want it to if the room is painted navy blue or your new cabinets are too dark. Consider these smaller improvements to enhance natural light in your home:
- Add more overhead lighting with energy-efficient bulbs closer to the blue spectrum of light than the yellow.
- Instead of dark-toned paintings, add mirrors to the wall to reflect light and make the room look and feel bigger.
- Repaint dark rooms in light colors like cream, pale blue, or pastels that don’t call too much attention to themselves, like lavender or light yellow.
- Replace wood tables with glass surfaces to reflect the light.
- Switch out dark wood cabinets and cupboards for lighter-colored wood or white painted cupboards.
These smaller changes complement the larger remodeling changes you have in mind to improve the quality of natural light you add to your home.
Ask the Professionals
These three tips can go a long way towards making your home lighter, airier, and sunnier, but they don’t cover the full spectrum of possible changes. To get more advice, speak to your remodeling expert about other ways you can add natural light to your home in your upcoming remodel.
At DESIGNfirst Builders, we work closely with homeowners to ensure their remodel goes as smoothly as possible. Get in touch today to learn more about how we can bring your remodeling dreams to life.
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