If you’re looking around your home and dreaming of a bright, happy space, you’re not alone. Bright homes seem to only be present on Pinterest, but with a few quick adjustments, your own home interior can be bright and Pinterest-worthy, too! Here are 12 ways to brighten up your home’s interior.
1. Give the windows plenty of space. Avoid placing tall bookshelves or large plants around your windows. You can definitely place a waist-high console table or chest under the window with some smaller items on top, such as succulents or books. Placing too many tall or large items right next to the windows can cause the light to create shadows–making your space darker!
2. Keep everything light. While it might be tempting to paint your walls a bright or deep color, if you want the space to feel bright and happy, you’ll want to keep everything light. Use very pale neutrals as paint colors. You can always use deeper colors, such as jewel tones, as accents throughout the space if you want to switch things up.
3. Use cozy elements. Just because you’re trying to make the place bright doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of your cozy items! Feel free to keep the personalized photo blankets and the soft throw pillows around. Some of the brightest homes are ones that look lived in. The key here is incorporating them well. Place the blankets on a blanket ladder or drape one on the back of the couch and sprinkle the throw pillows on your seating.
4. Open the curtains. Having curtains can regulate temperature and encourage safety, but they can quickly make your home feel dark and drab. During the day, open the curtains to let all the natural light in. If you want to keep the curtains closed–especially if you live on the ground floor of an urban apartment–use some sheer or light-colored curtains to help filter in light. In fact, a combination of darker curtains and light sheers is a great way to have both a bright space and keep yourself safe.
5. Clean and organize your space. Cozy doesn’t mean cluttered and dirty! Take some time to clean your space and organize all the clutter. Clean the walls and get the dust from the baseboards. Removing dirt can really make a space feel much brighter and happier. Organizing is also helpful in brightening a room because there’s less clutter around. Add some additional storage cubbies for any personalized blankets you have lying around and try to find places for your smaller knick-knacks to go.
6. Incorporate greenery and florals. A space feels much brighter when there’s greenery and florals around. Add in some bright, seasonal flowers or lush greenery to your living space to make it feel very bright. Place them on coffee tables, on top of end tables or even in the windowsill.
7. Use mirrors and glass. Using mirrors and glass can really open up a space and make it feel larger, but it can also make the room feel lighter. Because mirrors reflect light, placing them near your windows or across from them will make the space feel bright and big. Create a photo gallery with a circle mirror as the focal point, using engraved picture frames to make it a sweet and cozy feature of your living space.
8. Change out the lights. While yellowed bulbs and Edison lights are good for cozy lighting, they don’t make spaces look very bright or open. Instead, make sure you have bright white bulbs, especially LED ones. Adding some brighter lighting can really make the space feel lighter. Looking for a fun DIY project? Add recessed lighting to your home. They make the room feel larger and are also easy to maintain.
9. Rearrange your rooms. Sometimes, the way you have your furniture laid out can make your room feel small and dark. Rearranging your furniture can really make the place feel bright and spacious. Place your larger pieces of furniture opposite the window or adjacent to it. Utilize corners, especially if your space is small, such as an apartment. You’ll realize how much bigger your space feels once you rearrange the furniture.
10. Add light furniture. As you keep the walls light and bright, keep the furniture light and bright, too. Light furniture is good for keeping spaces feeling bright and large. The more dark items you have in your living spaces, the darker it’ll feel. Chairs, side tables, bookshelves–there are lots of ways you can incorporate lighter colors into your furniture. If having white furniture makes you nervous because of potential stains or dirt, then consider using light greys or blues in your furniture and decor. You can also use lightly stained wood. There are lots of ways you can incorporate light colors into your furniture and decor.
11. Use metallics, glass and clear acrylic. Using transparent and shiny objects can keep your space bright. They’ll reflect light! Plus, any transparent materials, such as coffee tables or dining room chairs, let you see right through them. It appears like they aren’t even there.
12. Do some yard work. If a bookshelf or TV stand right next to or in front of your window can block light from coming in, so can a tree or bush outside. Trim the branches of all your greenery outside–or, if your greenery hasn’t been refreshed in some time, why not switch it out? Keeping the branches trimmed is not only good for the plants, but it’s also great to ensure your space feels bright because more light will get in.
A dark and dingy home can seem like a difficult task to tackle. From shadowy corners to dark furniture, your interior spaces can look like something out of a horror movie. With a few simple tricks, you can have a bright space that looks like it belongs on the cover of a magazine! You’ll want to spend all your days in your newly brightened space.
