5 Easy Ways to Lighten Up Your Life
Bright Ideas to Lighten Each Day in Your Home
Lighten Up! Adding light and changing scenery are proven mood and creativity stimulators. Making your personal space more beautiful and brighter literally brightens your day. If you enjoy home tips to elevate your mood, liven your spirit and brighten your outlook, here are 5 easy ways:
Swap out Fixtures
Today’s options in decorative lighting range from subtle glowing surfaces to bold artistic sculpture. LED technology is continually improving, with a full range of colors, designs and types to customize the lighting of most any space. Indoor and outdoor lighting solutions are inexpensive compared to the daily enjoyment, security enhancement and overall contribution to lifestyle improvement.
Bring Outside In
Updating window treatments can do more than switch colors and textures. Consider the light. What time of day does sunshine enter each window, and how can that make your day brighter? Shutters can be opened up for sunshine or opaque for movies or rest. Dated options such as valances, drapes and curtains can be elegant yet also block more light than intended. Take a look at what’s on your windows, then look outside.
Outdoor shrubs and trees may be blocking your daylight. What you do outside can a big difference to let the sun’s rays get inside to brighten your day. Is it time for a foliage trim? Raising the canopy of large trees keeps the grass greener and helps the flowers bloom, while lowering the bushes helps you see their beauty and also lets the sunshine in.
Re-Discover the Lightbulb
Edison was onto something, yet he never stopped experimenting. You don’t have to either. Softer bulbs create more flattering light, while intense bulbs highlight the details of artwork or intricate designs. Across a room, and certainly within a multi-bulb fixture, consistency of tone, color and brightness can enhance a room visually, elevating mood and energy while being in the space. Learn from Edison’s iterations, and don’t be afraid to try different bulbs. Make notes and learn about Kelvin ratings, bulb types and colors to add fun to lighting up your home.
Depth in Layers
Overhead lights are not to be relied upon to complete the optimal lighting experience. Layer the lighting with a couple of table lamps, indirect lighting or a floor lamp if the space permits. Get creative and consider what needs or wants to be illuminated, how the light is to be used or enjoyed and which lamp or light best serves that purpose. Try walking outside, walking back in and asking yourself how bright and cheerful the room is and what would lighten it up even more.
Colors Add Light
Floors and walls receive all the light, and how much they give back is a matter of color. While darker colors can add elegance or charm, every room needs freshening up now and then. Try something new, and lighter. Lighter and cooler colors significantly brighten and visually add space. Professional painters, decorators and home builders know and leverage the latest trends and ideas with paint colors and floor surfaces, and you can learn from their examples. When looking to enhance the mood and feel of a space, new floors make a huge difference, yet nothing beats a fresh coat of paint!