Do you have a room in your home that you could envision being perfect for a certain purpose? Maybe it would be an amazing office (built-in shelving perhaps?), or a wonderful playroom for the kids. The only drawback in our hypothetical but common scenario is that the room lacks a good natural light source. Or, it might have one, but it’s too small to successfully brighten the space. This is especially common for a finished basement!
So, what can you do? Rather than just chalk it up as a loss and use the room for storage, there are a few specific interior paint and design strategies you can try that might just the save the day.
Making a Dark Room Feel Brighter
Here are a few ideas to consider:
- Use light paint colors - This is the heavy-hitter of these suggestions. A bright, light color will amplify the space in the room, avoiding the feeling of closed, dark walls. You don’t need to choose white (that can feel a little barren), but rather try pale, earthy colors. A semi-gloss (or high-gloss if your walls are in good condition) will reflect light especially well.
- Strategic lighting - A single overhead light can create a tent of illumination in the room and make the darker corners more pronounced. Try track lighting. The benefit is that you can strategically point them in different directions as needed. If you’re enjoying a family movie night, turn the lights off or aim half of them away from the television. If it’s a game night, turn them all on and specifically aim them at the game table.
- Mirrors - Reflective decorations can not only look cool, but they also foster the illusion of more space and light than is really there.
- Fake a window - It’s very trendy right now to find an old window that has either stained glass or maybe frosted panes, then wire small LED lights behind it. It glows brightly, and psychologically works similarly to a real window.
Do You Need a Professional, Central Valley Painting Company?
Talking to a professional painter near you and starting a discussion about your specific interior paint and design goals is a wonderful idea as well. Their experience can shed a little light (literally!) on the situation, perhaps providing a solution or strategy that you had not thought of yet.
If you live in the Turlock, Central Valley, or Modesto area, we hope you might reach out to us at Lancaster Painting! It would truly be our pleasure to put our painting services to work for you.
