In summer, it is so warm outside that we just want to chill inside our homes. Therefore, it is important to have a bright space to feel comfortable in, with a pleasant temperature and still enjoy the sun light.
To help you have a brighter home, Helpling.ae, the online platform for household services in UAE, offers 5 smart and easy tips to use light and colour to do the trick.
1. Use mirrors to lighten up a room
Brightening the place up is a balancing act between light and colour, and when done well, it can be extremely effective. Perhaps the most valuable and easy tip is the positioning of your mirrors. Placing a mirror on the wall opposite a large, light receiving window will reflect plenty of natural light back into the room. This helps to illuminate the room and the wall containing the window, giving your room an all-round burst of brightness. Of course this also works if the window only receives indirect light, just not as efficiently.
A similar effect can be achieved through adding metals. The more surfaces that reflect light the better: a few silver bowls on your sideboard or a golden vase on your table would work well.
2. Add colours... but don’t go too crazy
Once you have done everything to maximise the natural light in your house, you can think of other ways to add “stimulation”. Having a bright and airy room is all well and good, but that alone is extremely boring. Don’t go too sterile - dare to add a bit of colour! Consider adding colourful upholstery to the seat of the armchair in the corner, a stand-out painting or a colourful fleece throw to one of the sofas.
You could be a little bit of botanic action; a well-placed flower arrangement can bring a space to life, adding both colour and warmth to the room. Remember that flower petals can extend their colour everywhere - for example when natural or artificial light shines through them and spills their colour onto a light wall behind them. This can affect the entire ambience of the room, so be selective.
3. The floor plays an essential role
This is obviously a simple step to bring more light into your room quickly. But if you are already thinking about changing the floor to add warmth and brightness to your flat, avoid dark colours, as they absorb a lot of natural light - go for lighter colours instead. However, not all bright flooring is suitable - bright tiles or lino can give a room a cold feeling and although they contribute to making the room brighter, it may feel really clinical and sterile. Instead, you could opt for light wooden floorboards, as that helps to reflect the light and to give the room a warm atmosphere.
If you can not change your dark flooring, you can brighten it up with a rug.
4. What about the walls
Do not forget your walls! Keep in mind: light is naturally reflected more by light colours! If you want to give your room a splash of colour, you can paint one of the walls in a more striking colour, e.g. red, while leaving the others white. Be careful though to choose a wall which is not opposing a window to prevent it from absorbing the light shining in. Clear and minimalistic paintings will also bring light spots.
5. Keep it clean!
Allowing for the above tips to happen is only the first step to a bright and cosy home. It is all very well having a lot of manipulation of light and colour indoors, but nothing will really work unless you observe order. And by order, we mean cleanliness. A mirror will not shine, unless well-polished, and the floor will not gleam if it is covered in dust!