How to Make a Dark Room Feel Lighter
Chances are, you have a room in your house that you want to feel lighter.
Whether it’s a window-less bathroom, a small home office, a bedroom, or even your great room, giving a space the illusion of more light can be tricky.
However, sometimes rooms with design “challenges” result in the most interesting creative solutions. After years of designing projects for our clients and for our Dream Home Makeover projects on Netflix, we’ve learned a few things about how to make a dark space feel lighter and brighter.
Here are 7 ideas to expand the feeling of your space:
No. 1: Add life to your space with greenery
A little greenery can go a long way in bringing any space to life. Whether it’s a windowless bathroom or a small home office, adding real or faux greenery trees, potted plants, or even florals can shift the mood.
From our Mountainside Retreat Project
No. 2: Bring in mirrors and reflective materials
It’s no secret that mirrors and other reflective materials make your space look bigger, but they can also make a space feel brighter. Even metal accessories can bounce any light you might have in the room to expand it.
Pro tip: If you have a window in your room with an adjacent blank wall, placing a mirror there can almost double the feeling of the window in your space.
From our Swan Lake House
From our Moody Bright Netflix Remodel
No. 3: Incorporate light furniture and natural materials
If you have a dark space that you want to feel brighter, consider brightening your materials. In a dark bedroom, you may want to go with a bed frame in a light or muted material, but even switching out dark bedding for a lightweight fabric in a lighter color can make a big difference.
In a bathroom, you can brighten everything from your shower curtain to your hand towel to infuse a sense of lightness.
From our Historic Loft Netflix Remodel
From our Mountainside Retreat Project
No. 4: Layer your lighting
Lighting can make or break a room, especially one that you want to feel lighter. Lighting design isn’t just about a fancy chandelier, and sometimes a floor lamp or a lamp at eye level can make all the difference.
We light to think about lighting in levels and bring in as many as possible with the surfaces we have to work with. Plus, there’s nothing that sets the mood like lamplight, you just can’t beat it!
Pro tip: opt for fabric lampshades if you want to multiply your lamp light. Metallic shades can dim light!
From our PC Contemporary Project
From our Beckham Project
Lamps for every level
No. 5: Consider your window treatments
If we have a window in a space that we want to make feel brighter, we’ll typically go with a privacy lining instead of blackout to take as much advantage of the light as possible. Choosing a material in a lighter, brighter material can also go a long way in brightening any room.
From our AZ Homestead Project
From our Open & Bright Netflix Bath Remodel
No. 6: Incorporate furniture with legs
Although you don’t want your space to feel too “leggy,” with too much legged furniture, balancing the profiles of your pieces can create the illusion of more space, and therefore lighter. For example, if you have a small entryway, a console table on legs will open up your space a lot more verses one that is solid all the way to the ground.
From The McGee Home
From our Beckham Project
Legged furniture favorites
No. 7: Lean into the dark mood
Sometimes, the best design results come from leaning into what we have to work with and letting the space speak for itself. We love a dark moody space, especially when it’s something that you can add a bit of personality to like a powder room, office, or even bedroom! Don’t be afraid to experiment with paint, or even wallpaper to enhance a dark and moody area and make it feel intentional.
From our Swan Lake House
From The McGee Home
From our Mountainside Retreat Project
From our Moody Bright Netflix Remodel
