Natural light is one of our most valuable resources, however is frequently under utilized in the home, especially in the sun drenched Southern states. The sun’s natural rays are an important tool for bringing a home interior to life, and just as importantly, it doesn’t cost a dime. A generously lit room will elevate your mood and is much more beneficial to work, study or simply unwinding with a book. In built-up cities and towns, natural light alone is not sufficient to fully light up a home, but with some thoughtfulness and creativity, it can complement and enhance the appearance of each and every room. Both the quantity and quality of natural light changes with the seasons, so at some times of the year, there will be a need for supplementary artificial light in the home.
Illuminating your surroundings with natural light will work most efficiently with good positioning of windows, skylights and doorways and the actual floor plan and ceiling in a room is also important. A floor plan with an excess alcoves and hidden recesses will leave parts of it in the dark. It is also beneficial to have a lighter shade for your ceiling so that natural light bounces towards the floor into the room. It should be noted that rich, bold colors soak up much of the light, so neutral, pastel shades will help illuminate a room better. The calculated placing of a couple of mirrors will help draw in additional light and reduce areas of the room left in shadow and house plants can make a surprising difference to the overall brightness of a restricted space.
The placement of furniture and appliances can have a major effect on the quantity of sunlight that enters a room. For instance, a light and airy home office space is instrumental for comfort and efficiency, but a central desk or workstation should be positioned away from the direct glare of the midday sun. Kitchens also need to be as bright as possible and, of course, well ventilated. These ventilation outlets can often also provide a conduit for incoming natural light. Brightening up usually dark spaces can easily be achieved by borrowing light from neighboring rooms. This is best exemplified in long and dark corridors, which often receive no natural light. The placement of a glass panel above an adjacent door will spray it with light and also give it a more spacious feel.
Modern technology can also give the home a helping hand. Tubular skylights are becoming more and more popular in homes across the land and need no energy. A clear dome placed on the roof absorbs sunlight, which is then transferred into a ceiling diffuser to emit natural light into the home. Models come in various shapes and sizes and can be used to light a whole house or just an individual room. It filters out harmful UV rays ensuring furniture and fabrics do not lose color and is much less irritating than artificial light from fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. Dimmer controls can be used to vary the quantity of natural light that enters a room at any given time.