A dark room is what unhappy family is for Tolstoy – all bright rooms are equally good; each darkroom is bad in its own way. It happens that for various reasons, light in the interior is not enough. Experts also believe that living in a dark room is bad for the mental and emotional state of a person. Gloominess annoys and depresses most people. Since dark rooms are deprived of daylight, they require a special approach in creating the interior and decorating. The easiest way, of course, is to add lights. Today we can buy lamps, chandeliers of various colors and shapes.
Fashionable lamps made of metal, glass, wood, plastic, fabric, wicker, etc. are also available in the market. Depending on the size and the type of room, you should decide which lamp is best for your room. For rooms with high ceilings, pendant lighting is good. It creates a multi-level lighting composition and allows you to change its intensity in different corners of the room, highlighting individual fragments of the interior. There are several techniques by which you can achieve a positive result. We have listed some of the best lighting solutions for you:
Use bright colors on the walls
For a ceiling in a dark room, pure white is perfect. For walls, you can use paint or wallpaper in both white and light beige. However, if the windows face north and the weather is almost always cloudy, bright white walls will make the room cold and uncomfortable. For such rooms, it is better to use a cream finish. In a rectangular room, one of the short walls can be painted yellow – the room will immediately become warmer and fill with optimism. A dark room with a white floor becomes noticeably more illuminated.
Decorate windows with colorful curtains
For a very dark room, choose white curtains. Heavy curtains of dark colors look expensive and luxurious, but they prevent the penetration of light into the room. Windows will be much better with translucent and light fabrics that will allow the light to penetrate into every corner of the room. Light yellow curtains will flood the room with warm light. There will be the impression that the sun’s rays burst into the room.
Choose the right furniture
High and large pieces of furniture like a massive sofa or a wardrobe under the ceiling must be removed. Furniture that reflects light will help to solve the problem. Glass furniture is also an effective tool as it transmits light, allowing it to circulate freely in space. The glossy surface is most suitable for furniture. A glass table, transparent plastic chairs can also be an excellent option. If the furniture has lockers, it is better that they were also made of glass.
Add Lightings
Adding lights in the darkroom doesn’t mean and shouldn’t be approached on the principle “the more the better”. To achieve the maximum effect of the added lightings, lamps should be placed around the perimeter of the room so that they evenly illuminate the walls and the rest of the space. One large and very bright chandelier in the center of the ceiling is likely to create sharp shadow contrasts in the corners of the room. The most rational option is the combined multistage lighting, when different groups of lamps and lights can be turned on at different times of the day, achieving interesting lighting solutions.
Use Mirrors
An additional source of light is a mirror. One or two mirrors in the darkroom will be enough, depending on the size of the room. It is desirable to arrange the mirror in such a way that it reflects and multiplies the light. It has the simple property of adding natural light without absorbing it. It is better to have them opposite the window. This will create the feeling of another window. You can also hang them in front of the light wall.
Use “Rays of Colors”
A monochrome white or cream room looks bright, but not joyous. To make the room was not only bright but also sunny, you can add bright accents of yellow, blue or turquoise. Blue or turquoise accents will also make the room visually brighter due to the association with the daytime sky and ponds sparkling under the rays of the sun. Yellow and blue can be introduced through the use of art objects such as posters or paintings of the sun and sky. This is the right step for a dark room with a lack of warm sunlight.
So, if you got a dark room – do not despair. Think well of its design and, in particular, the layout. Discard dark and dull colors in favor of white, pastels and pure bright colors. You can also ask for material samples in the stores to look at them at home in the daylight or buy them with a subsequent return if they do not fit. Approach the question as carefully as possible – and you will succeed in lighting up your darkroom.
