Living in a northern country, or simply in a crowded city, small rooms, lack of sun… you are possibly wondering what can you do to make your room look brighter and -consequently – wider.

Look no more, below a collection of easy-to-implement tricks that you can try to brighten your space up.

1. Try the Mediterranean vibe

The traditional houses in the South of Italy are normally quite dark, not a lot of windows, very small openings, to protect from the heat and let the stone retain that fresh over the summer months. The use of the “all-white” look helps in making the rooms look brighter.

House in the South of Italy by Palomba Serafini

2. Use light flooring

Even in the darkest of rooms, a light floor can make all the difference. The flooring material can capture the small light and multiply it, making the space look so much brighter.

3. Introduce colourful and bold accent elements

A bright, bold colour can capture the attention and, like some sort of magic, lit the entire space up. A colourful rug, an armchair, a sofa, the curtains, all have the power to make your darkroom look brighter.

4. Use glossy finishes and shiny surfaces

By their nature, glossy finishes and shiny surfaces reflect light and multiply it, spreading it all around the room. Thus, even the darkest of rooms can become considerably brighter if glossy surfaces are positioned in a clever way so as to catch the light penetrating the room.

5. Install a chandelier

Lighting fixtures are the best trick up your sleeves and the chandelier is for sure the king of all the lamps. A big chandelier can literally create the space around you, assign a style to a room and bring the needed light in.

6. Make your ceiling a colourful one

As weird as it may sound, a coloured ceiling may help to make the room look brighter. Either by applying a lighter colour or by applying bold colours or patterns, a colourful ceiling attracts attention and creates a nice contrast that makes the room look more interesting.

7. Use the colours of the sun in your interiors

Well, this nearly seems intuitive…by mimicking the colours that the sun projects on a wall (particularly during sunset and sunrise), we amplify the natural brightening effect that the sun creates in a space. Yellows, oranges, cream colours, they will all work fine. But the reds should be avoided as they may darken the room further.

8. A white ceiling is an easy win.

If you have a dark room, perhaps dark walls, it is intuitive that a white ceiling will lift the soffit up. Actually, the trick works better when the walls are dark (dark painting or dark wood cladding). The contrast between the wall and the white of the ceiling will lift the room, making it look brighter and higher.

9. Mirrors, mirrors everywhere!

Well, even better than shining surfaces, the mirrors catch and reflect the light. This is what they physically are made to do. Well-positioned mirrors will bring so much more light to your space.

10. Metallic finishes can catch and multiply the light

Metallic finishes, metallic details, metallic fittings and furniture. They all capture the light, like the mirrors, but they function in a slightly different way. In fact, they act like small spotlights, create contrast and attract attention, for a more dramatic effect. They may prove to be a very elegant solution to style your room.

11. Transparent furniture

The transparent furniture literally makes volume disappear, creating space in the room. The clutter makes a room look smaller and darker, absorbs the light. Thus the transparent furniture does exactly the opposite. Also, it is usually made off plastic or glass, materials that can be included in the list of reflecting surfaces.

If you are interested have a look at this article -> My favourite for the season : transparent furniture!

12. Let a big artwork steal the spotlight

There could be magic in a piece of art, way beyond the realm of fantastic realms. It could actually help to improve the appearance of a room and, if purposely and cleverly chosen, can help to brighten up a room.

If you found this article interesting, have a look here to discover a few tips on interior design and home decor.