5 Easy Ways to Lighten Up a Dark Room
I get a lot of questions from readers. Recently Joyce, emailed me with some questions about her new apartment in a basement. She asked, “How do I increase the amount of light in my dark basement apartment?”
Have no fear Joyce, I’m here to help and hopefully create a home that is dreamy and less hobbit-like. With a little TLC and intentional changes it will be dreamy! Here are 5 Ways to Lighten Up a Dark Room:
1. Curtains:
Hang curtains outside your windows. You won’t want to block even one inch of glass. Let the edge of the curtain overlap the casing. White curtains and sheers will help keep the room feeling light and airy. Be forewarned that heavy and dark drapes will absorb some of your light, so keep them light and airy!
You want privacy, but still have light come in, check out this DIY privacy film? It is a wonderful way to cover your windows but still let the light come in.
2. Lighting:
Floor lamps that shine up, are the best for bouncing light off the ceiling.  The more ambient lighting the better. Feel free to add more than one or two lamps in your room. If you have a dark corner, a plug-in lamp will brighten it up in an instant. You can also buy plug-in pendant lights that can be hung from a hook from the ceiling. Big dome lights, little chandeliers, wire pendants…
…how about these beautiful swagged options (contains affiliate links)?
Plug-In Chicken Wire Pendant Light
Glass Globe Plug-in Pendant Light
Frosted Beads Plug-In Pendant Light
All you need to know is how to add a ceiling hook.
3. Ceilings:
Smooth ceilings that are painted bright white will reflect the maximum amount of light around the room. If you have popcorn or textured ceilings, consider scraping them. If you can’t scrape them, consider adding a fresh white coat of paint.
4. Mirrors:
Hanging or propping a big mirror across the room from your light source will help to bounce the light around more. A mirror will also give you the appearance of an extra window.
Buy an affordable large mirror or make your own with one of these tutorials:
5. Light Color:
Decorate and paint with bright colors. If you love dark jewel tones, use them as your accent pieces. A club chair, pillow, vase and maybe even your lamps can have dark colors. Keep the majority of your room (think walls, drapery, etc.) bright to avoid light being absorbed by dark colors. If you are renting and can’t paint, staple some white sheets onto the wall or use a light colored screen to help lighten things up.
I hope some of these 5 Easy Ways to Lighten Up a Dark Room helpful. Have a dilemma or question about your home? Send your questions to me at PrettyHandyGirl (at) gmail.com.
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We used all but one of these tips (no mirrors–what Colleen says) to help brighten our den & it worked! We scraped the popcorn ceiling & painted it white, painted the crown molding a glossy shade of white. With 8 foot ceilings doing this really helped to draw the eye up & it makes the ceiling feel higher. Light paint on the walls & gauzy white curtains hung higher & outside the frame–amazing change! That corner trick with the lamps works! We also removed heavy wooden pieces that housed TV & books and replaced them with open shelving under the wall mounted TV. For books etc. we added wall mounted shelving–cleared up some space & the wall paint is visible to keep the bright, airy feeling.
Love your blog & have been reading for awhile. Great ideas & tips & photos!
We have a dark 60’s house with lots of dark wood and not a lot of lighting so I love mirrors and light colors!
I love mirrors & I do have quite a few. I just don’t like looking into them to see myself anymore…you know that aging thing. Sometimes I scare myself!