We all have the best intention to maintain a bright and airy home, especially heading into winter as the days get increasingly dark and dreary. After all, a bright home helps us feel happy and calm, but it’s tough to know where to start.
Here, Ollie Neveu, life coach and home interiors expert at TaskRabbit, shares her top tips to bring light and zen into your home this autumn:
Maximise natural light
To maximise natural light, particularly if your rooms are small, place a mirror on the wall opposite or adjacent to the window. The excess light it reflects will create the illusion you have much more space than you actually do. Similarly, objects with reflective surfaces, such as coffee tables or artwork, can bounce light around and give the impression of greater illumination where windows are limited.
If you’re feeling brave, don some overalls and get the paintbrush out. The best choice for reflecting natural light is to use a matte paint. Paint ceilings a shade lighter than the walls, and ensure your walls and skirting boards are painted in a pale, neutral tone.
Upcycle your furniture
Give your furniture a facelift. For instance, wooden bookcases can make living areas feel crowded and overwhelming. To brighten them up, try removing all of the books and painting the back panel a light colour, to really bring a sense of light into the room. Blues and greens work particularly well in living spaces. If painting’s not your strong point, a string of fairy lights strategically placed behind the books can work well too.
Bring the outdoors in
Embrace nature! Get your hands on a couple of houseplants to place on the edges of windowsills. Japanese peace lilies are perfect, as natural light illuminates fresh green leaves, helping to brighten up a living space and bring a little bit of life indoors.
Open things up
If you don’t mind getting a bit hands on with DIY, remove the door to your sitting room and replace the door frame to make it feel like an archway. Energy will flow more easily from the rest of the house and as a result the room will feel more open and airy. If you simply don’t have enough hours in the day for DIY, using technology can help lighten the load. There are services available such as TaskRabbit which allow you to outsource DIY tasks and take the stress away.
Finally, have an autumn spring clean! By keeping fixtures, bulbs, and windows clean, you can quickly and simply let the light you do have shine its brightest.