Fall is here and winter is near. Your hours of sunlight are diminishing, and that could have some pretty surprising effects on your physical and emotional well-being. Researchers have found that people who get more natural light during the day tend to sleep longer, exercise more and feel better than people who get little or no natural light. More light helps regulate your appetite and combats seasonal depression through vitamin D production. If you notice your house is dark and dim during the winter months you may want to consider some remodeling ideas to bring in more natural light, or at least make your home feel lighter and brighter.

Brightening your home doesn’t have to require a major overhaul (but don’t be afraid to think big). Depending on your home’s design and construction, you can choose from a few simple changes to bring more natural light in and brighten your rooms, or you can make more substantial changes to create a home that flows and glows. No matter what though, even a few changes might be enough to brighten your space and boost your mood.

Color

The colors decking your walls can have a huge effect on how bright your home looks. Deep, rich colors can feel romantic or luxurious, but they also absorb the brighter colored light in your house and can leave you feeling dull. That’s actually how color reception works in our eyes. If you see a color on something it is actually because that color is reflecting that color light and absorbing other wavelengths. So, when we say something is blue, it actually isn’t blue, it is in fact reflecting blue light. That being said, brighten your walls with a bright white, alabaster, greige, foggy blue or other popular colors this season that reflect light and create a sunnier feel.

Paint your ceiling white to keep the space feeling open and spacious. If you’re color-hungry, use bold, rich or saturated colors to accent cabinetry, molding, doors or other room features. Remember that a little color can go a long way, so keep the details simpler to avoid counteracting the brightness-enhancing properties of your walls and ceiling.

Windows & Doors

Windows might just be the most intuitive way to let in more light. If your home is lacking windows or your windows are too small, it just might be time to consider remodeling. Replacing windows can have the added benefit of lowering your heating and cooling bills and increasing your home’s value. Although expanding the rough opening to install a larger window is a bit more work than a straight replacement, it can pay off with dividends when you see how much brighter your home can be. If your home is lacking windows all together, adding windows to rooms is an unparalleled means of adding more natural light and creating a more expansive feel. One of the most common challenges people have is adding light to rooms with no exterior walls and thus no potential for windows. This is very common for some bathrooms and closets. Adding skylights to these rooms can be a terrific way to bring more light and make these ‘landlocked’ rooms feel much larger. We can help you find the right style, size and placement for your chosen windows with an extensive selection of replacement windows, residential windows and commercial windows.

If you’re not quite ready to invest in new windows, you can still make smaller changes to brighten your home. Mesh screens block more light than you might imagine, so if you’re not opening your windows during the colder months, you can remove the screens entirely. Store them until the weather warms up again so that you can enjoy more daylight. While you’re at it, replace your dark or colorful drapes with light, airy drapes and curtains. Install them at the outside edges of the window to avoid blocking any of the sun’s rays and maximize the benefits.

There are many opportunities for increasing light flow through your doors. For a very modern design, you can go with ‘full light’, or glass-paneled doors, which utilize a lot of translucent glass for maximum light permittance. For more traditional designs, consider adding sidelight windows – the slender windows flanking a door. These not only add to the add light to the interior of your home, but also greatly improve curb appeal and first impressions as guests (or potential buyers) approach you home.

Walls

Today’s homes mostly run off of the ‘open floorplan’ design where rooms are well connected and flow together. This is a relatively new concept in construction design. Many older homes have segregated designs where each room is a distinct space meant to be separate from the other rooms. Look for opportunities in your home, particularly if it is older, to remove a wall, or put in a pass-through. Knocking out a non-load-bearing wall can open up space, improve lighting and give your whole home the airier feel that comes with an open floor plan. This can be a major renovation, but it can have a powerful effect on your space.

Plan carefully before knocking down any walls. Taking a sledgehammer to a load-bearing wall could destabilize your home and lead to long-term nightmares. Instead, talk to one of our professional designers who can guide you towards the best way to open up your walls and your home.

Flooring

What’s going on beneath your feet can have as much of an effect on the light in your home as the wall colors. Hardwood flooring can be especially light-feeling. Wood has a warm feel, but it also has a shiny surface that can reflect light back into your space. Replace old, worn carpeting with hardwood flooring. Avoid darker colored area rugs and carpets, which can soak up light, and keep big, heavy furniture on the periphery to get more out of your reflective wood floor.

Lighting

Add more light fixtures to combat the early dusk, and change your light bulbs. Under-cabinet lighting can be an easy modification that ads ambiance and functionality to your home. Installing new track lighting can be an easy way to add many new light sources to a room. Low wattage bulbs just don’t give off enough light in the dark winter months. Replace them with cool white or daylight bulbs to combat seasonal darkness, and upgrade them to LED bulbs to get the most energy bang for your buck.

Just because the days are shorter doesn’t mean your home has to be gloomier. There are lots of ways to maximize the natural light your home receives and to keep things feeling bright and sunny even on the darkest winter days. If you get stuck on ideas or just need some help implementing your own, we’re always here to help. Contact our Marson & Marson design center in Leavenworth, Washington, today to learn more or to schedule an appointment with one of our experts.