The layout of your home likely has some effect on your state of mind when you come home to it. Whether you like your home to feel cosy and protective or feel like you cannot relax unless there is a feeling of light and space around you, everyone’s spatial preferences manifest differently.
It is possible to go for years without realising how strongly this can affect you. If you find that you want your home to feel more open, airy and light than it currently does read on for our top tips.
How Lighting Can Create an Illusion of Space
Mirrors
Image: Essential Home
A first concern which can make a big difference to feelings of being closed, is to find a way to open up your room – and this can be achieved with a stylish mirror.
Depending on the style you want for your home these can be simple and fairly cheap plain mirrors in a variety of shapes, or ornately framed for a slightly more opulent feeling.
Either way, make sure to have mirrors in a variety of shapes, and if part of your house has no natural light try having mirrors facing that room or corridor from adjoining rooms so that when doors are open light can flow through easily.
Stylised lights
Image: Rust Collections
A small chandelier in the bathroom can create an excellent effect, both brightening the room and creating a chic modern, expansive aesthetic in a room which is often otherwise lacking in character.
Looking elsewhere, how about some wall lights for your living room?
Wall lights can reflect the look you want for your living room, whether you choose understated brass to go with an old-fashioned wooded interior, or light fittings that shine unobtrusively through frosted crystal for a modern white living room.
Every living room is different and so having as wide a range to chose from as possible can ensure you get the fittings that are best for you.
Choose the right, bright light bulbs
In September 2018 halogen bulbs were officially removed from the market in Europe, moving lighting in Britain towards energy-saving bulbs exclusively.
These come in two main varieties: Compact Florescent Lamps (CFLs), and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
Both of these varieties offer substantial savings over halogen bulbs, and it can be worth replacing your existing halogen bulbs now to make substantial savings.
While Compact Florescent Lamps can save up to £3 a year per bulb compared to Halogen bulbs, which give out 90% of their energy as heat, LED lights are more efficient and still offer the best deal on saving electricity over time.
The bulbs, while traditionally expensive, have been getting cheaper, and are now sold for prices as low as £1 to £3.
Where halogen lights fail after a couple of years, they are expected to keep working without issue for up to fifteen years, so one LED bulb can be seen as the equivalent of six or seven Halogen bulbs.
A house full of light fittings replaced with LEDs will pay for itself in 4-8 months, according to some estimates.
What tricks do you use to help your home feel more spacious with light?
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Jen is an interiors writer and blogger and has an insatiable love of home style and decor
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