What to know
- Shorter days and reduced sunlight can contribute to fatigue, irritability and other symptoms associated with the winter blues.
- Decluttering, clearing pathways and cleaning windows can help maximize the natural light entering your home.
- Placing large mirrors across from or beside windows can help reflect light around a room.
- Layering overhead lighting with lamps, under-cabinet lights and dimmers can make darker spaces feel brighter.
- When choosing paint colours, consider the direction your room faces: warmer whites can complement the cooler light in north-facing rooms, while south-facing rooms offer more flexibility.
Fall is officially here, and as we enter the colder months, days are starting to get shorter and darker, but there are things you can do to make your gloomier days feel a bit more enjoyable.
Whether you love or hate the colder seasons, staying motivated and energized when the sun is rising later and setting earlier each day can become a significant challenge.
Most Canadians are not unfamiliar with the famous “winter blues,” which can make people feel symptoms of depression, fatigue, irritability and increased stress, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
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As challenging as it may be to deal with shorter days, making your home a bit brighter and inviting can make all the difference to managing the winter blues.
Now Toronto spoke with Natalie O’Kelly, a director of marketing at Canadian online marketplace and review platform HomeStars, about what are some things residents can do to make their homes brighter this fall and winter.
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How can brightening your home help?
Of course, there is nothing residents can do to make the sun stay up for longer. When we’re dealing with the lack of sunlight and colder days, what difference can brightening your home actually make?
According to O’Knelly, bringing light into the space or maximizing the existing light can completely change it, and bring residents immediate benefits.
By making simple changes, the expert said residents can make it more enjoyable to live in the space, allowing them to push back on the fatigue and lack of motivation that can come with darker days.
“I think bringing light into your space can really transform how you live in it. It makes it feel more open, it makes it feel more livable. It can really carry you through the darkness of winter without the doom and gloom that comes with it,” O’Knelly said.
Simple fixes might do the trick
Although “brightening your home” might at first seem like it could take a lot of work or more permanent changes like painting your walls or heavily switching your furniture, there are simple steps that could make your space feel much brighter without any drastic measures and without breaking the bank.
First, O’Knelly said decluttering your space can make all the difference. By picking up any misplaced objects, cleaning surfaces and opening up the pathways across the home, residents allow the light to flow more freely through the room, giving that lighter impression.
Another simple strategy could be to strategically place your mirrors around the home in a way that allows them to bounce back light. This might include just repositioning the mirrors you already have or even adding some extra mirrors around.
“Positioning a mirror, preferably a large one, across from where your window is or beside it can help really bounce light around,” O’Knelly explained.
A sneaky simple tip to brighten the space is to clean up your windows. Although cleaning windows inside and out can take a lot of work, this can make a big difference.
“If you really are looking for something that you might not have thought about, that’s a good place to start. Dirt and grime over time can really block a lot of the light that’s trying to come through. So, starting there with a little weekend project can make a big difference,” she said.
Lighting is important
One of the most effective strategies residents can use to brighten their space is to increase or layer their lighting.
While having your main light on can brighten up the rooms, it might not be enough to make the space feel brighter during darker days.
Especially in basement units or those that don’t get much daylight, having other lamps or light fixtures around can go a long way.
O’Knelly recommends layering the main lights with smaller lights across the space, which could include cabinet lighting or even daylight LED-style lights that can mimic natural light.
“One bulb can’t do the job of a whole room. So layering in lamps, under cabinet light strips can really make a difference in bringing light throughout your space, and you can do them in a day,” she said.
“Dimmers are also a great option in that perspective. So, if you do have a big overhead light, adding a dimmer can give you a lot more room and flexibility to choose the lighting throughout the day.”
Colours and decor elements can help
Those looking to go to the next level, beyond simple brightening strategies can also paint their walls or add different coloured elements to elevate the space.
The expert recommends that those thinking about painting consider the existing lighting and condition of their space before choosing the colours, explaining that simply choosing a light hue might not be the most effective strategy.
“The rule of thumb is don’t just pick any white. For example, if you have a north-facing room, which will get cooler, bluer light, you’d want to lean for something that’s warmer in the cream tones, so that it doesn’t appear too stark,” she said.
“If you have a south-facing room, you have a little bit more leeway to lean with a cooler white. So that’s something to consider. Pull out the compass on your phone, see which way your room is facing, and then pick a colour from there.”
