How to increase natural light in your home

Light is the most valuable commodity for a home, as increasing natural light and sunlight in your environment can have dramatic benefits not only on your home's aesthetic, but also your state of mind and physical wellbeing. 

We share our tips and ideas to help you maximise, or create even more natural light in your home.

Benefits of natural light in a home

As well as making a space feel more inviting, natural light is scientifically proven to have an immense positive impact on our health and wellbeing, so it’s crucial that we expose ourselves to it as much as possible – not only getting outside every day, but also allowing it to flow into, and around our homes.

According to an article by the British Safety Council, the benefits of natural light include improving our sleep, productivity, and mood, and a study on office workers showed that those who work by light-filled windows slept better and scored higher on cognitive performance tests than those who worked in darker environments. So if you work from home, it’s even more important to increase natural light in your home office space – as well as taking regular breaks and maintaining your work-life balance of course.

Three ways to make the most of natural light in your home

Add reflective surfaces

Maximising the sunlight that enters a window through use of reflective surfaces is one of the most effective ways to create more natural light in a home. An obvious start here is mirrors – a large statement mirror opposite a window will redirect light throughout the room and brighten up a space. It can be useful to alter the angle of a mirror to see where it best catches sunlight, as well as identify any darker areas of the room that could do with guided light. For fire safety reasons however, never place magnifying mirrors or other glass ornaments in direct sunlight. 

Other reflective surfaces and materials can have the same effect. Consider a polished wooden table to brighten up a living or dining room, or a gloss kitchen splashback.

Consider your furnishings

The colours, materials, and placement of furniture and fittings can have a remarkable impact on the presence of natural light in the home. A useful exercise is to observe where sunlight naturally falls in the house throughout the day and build that into your interior design – ensure not to block light with large pieces.

Additionally, choose the arrangement of your furniture based on where you want the sunlight to fall when you will typically use that spot. Positioning a reading nook in an area that will get sunlight when you read not only maximises your own exposure to sunlight, but also provides a natural reading light.

Be mindful of curtains in rooms where you are looking to increase natural light in your home. Heavier, darker curtains absorb sunlight as it enters the room – even if the curtains are open. Trying softer tones, or lighter materials such as linen or nylon net will allow light to pass through more easily.

Decorate with light in mind

The power of reflection can also be utilised in the paint or pattern used on the walls and ceilings. Darker colours on the walls absorb more light in the same way that darker curtains do – light matte paint is effective for reflection. Having lighter ceilings can also help to make the room brighter, although a white ceiling in a room with decorated walls can sometimes feel abrupt; you might try painting the ceiling a few shades lighter than the walls instead.

Keeping surfaces clean is also an excellent way to make light go further. Clean windows, mirrors, walls, and surfaces will do wonders for reflection and help to optimise light re-distribution.

Thinking bigger about bringing more light into your home

The above tips are great for making the most of the existing natural light in your home, but sometimes a bigger project is needed to invite the sunlight in. 

If you have the budget and your home can accommodate them, skylights and sun tunnels are effective ways of increasing natural light and can be placed strategically to work in tandem with existing windows; they can also be used to bring light into rooms or spaces with no windows, such as hallways or upstairs landings. 

Choosing glass internal doors can also improve the flow of sunlight throughout a home, especially in a terraced property where central rooms can be lacking in natural light. The same can be said for the front door – nothing looks quite so welcoming as sunlight spilling into a property from its entrance.

The brightest reasons to consider a new-build home

Designed for contemporary lifestyles and with the wellbeing benefits of their future residents in mind, new-build Bellway homes are characteristically bright and inviting, with large windows and thoughtful interior layouts that enable the flow of natural light into the home. In many Bellway house styles, double French windows or bi-fold doors in the open-plan kitchen and dining spaces allow sunlight to flood in, so you can bask in natural light throughout the day.

To start your journey of finding your perfect new-build home, search for your nearest Bellway development now or read about the many other great reasons to consider an energy-efficient new-build home.