With the summer months coming, now is the time we begin to think about revamping the house a little and freshening up a few rooms. The living room is obviously a major part of that and is a room that can soon become tired-looking, but can also feel dark and uninviting, particularly now the weather is improving. But there are many ways you can be clever and creative to brighten up your living room and let the light shine in.
- Lighter curtains
In the winter months, thick and heavy curtains are ideal for retaining warmth and when it’s dark outside most of the time you don’t feel the same need for letting the light in. However, they can trap light and make a room dark when you don’t want it to be, so you can switch to lighter curtains in spring time and take advantage of the better weather. Warm or soft neutral colours are best for providing a more airy feel to a room and you can always switch between two sets of curtains according to the season.
- Add mirrors
It’s a simple but effective trick and essentially you are being creative to double the natural light in a room. You can use one large mirror to make it a feature or perhaps you prefer a number of smaller mirrors more strategically placed? Either way, natural light will bounce off the mirrors and send more light into your room.
- Glass sliding doors
If you have the space or capability, pocket doors are a great modern feature in a living room and are making a retro comeback after disappearing sometime in the 1970s. A pocket door disappears in to a recess in your wall when you open it, and creates additional space in a living room compared to a traditional hinged door. This already prevents a door blocking light, but you can also install a glass pocket door, which when closed will allow light to shine through from a corridor or the next room. If you don’t have the option of a pocket door, a sliding door on an overhead rail works in the same way.
- Lighter paint
An obvious choice, as is lighter carpet, but it is often lost on people that darker colours will make a room feel smaller and more claustrophobic. If you opt for white then you can’t go wrong, and it will allow you to mix and match your sofa and other furniture with no problem at all, but you can also go for other neutral colours. And even if you just paint the ceiling a lighter colour it will make a significant difference.
- Less clutter
What you define as clutter will vary by the household, but it could mean bins, poufs, floor lamps, plants, magazine racks, storage units, basically anything in the room that isn’t essential but takes up floor space, interrupts a clean line of vision and essentially makes a room feel more enclosed and…..well…..cluttered. This also extends to outside, as you might have overhanging branches or bushes that could easily be trimmed back to allow more natural light through the window.
- A new sofa
Few things brighten up a room more than a new sofa. Anything new feels fresh of course, but a sofa is a dominant feature and can make all the difference. You can choose a different colour or a different fabric to brighten up the room. Or you could go from one big sofa to two smaller sofas, and incorporate two armchairs instead, for example. This will break up the room, provide a better flow to the room and of course, allow more light in. With the Nabru range of sofas, the possibilities are endless.
