9 Easy Ways To Brighten Up Your Home This Winter
The cold winter months can be rough. Even when in the safety of our homes, the dark, damp and dreary conditions leave us wishing for sunnier days. In the absence of colourful spring gardens, there is little to draw inspiration from.
But cheer up! By changing a few things in your interiors, you can recreate a summer feel and beat the winter blues. Our designers have shared easy-to-follow tips that will help you brighten up your home this winter.
Layer Lighting
Your first defence against the short hours of sunshine is adding more light to your spaces. Keep all surfaces brightly lit by using multiple lighting types. Turn to ambient lighting as the main source of illumination, task lighting for tables and countertops, and accent lamps for walls, corners and artwork.
Once you have found the perfect positions for your lamps, swap out all light bulbs for full spectrum CFL models which mimic sunlight and simulate daylight.
Lastly, take advantage of the festive season decor. Make your kids’ rooms cheery by adding fairy lights around their beds. And, shop for stylish lit-up garlands that you can hang on your stairways.
Keep A Light Palette
The next way to brighten up your home this winter is to replace any dark decor accents with accessories in soft warm colours. Where possible cover your sofas in ivory, white or cream slipcovers and add cosy throws and cushions in the same palette.
Throw a luxurious cream runner or tablecloth over your dining table to liven up that space.
Looking for a more dramatic change? Consider changing the colour of your walls and ceilings. These large surfaces will be a perfect backdrop for light to bounce off of, thus filling up your rooms with radiance.
Reflect Light
In winter, mirrors and shiny detailing are your best friend! Whether you set up a gallery wall or use large extravagant floor mirrors, these reflective elements will flood your rooms with light.
Place them on east and west-facing walls so that they can catch sunlight during the day. Alternatively, position them directly opposite a window as a way to capture that natural light and bring the outside in.
You will also want to sprinkle metallic details around your house. Gold trays, furniture legs, vases etc, will help bounce light around the room helping your spaces feel lighter.
Maximise On Natural Light
Your windows will stay shut during winter so you will not have any need for protective mesh screens. The simple act of removing them makes a massive difference to the amount of light that filters in through your windows.
Take care to also remove any obstructions, such as large pot plants, as you want to let in as much sunshine as possible.
At least once a month, dedicate some time to cleaning your windows on both sides. Any accumulated grime will become a barrier to incoming sunlight.
Add A Splash Of Colour
When nature is covered in snow, our eyes miss the pops of colour that it normally offers us. Mimic those shades by adding bold accents to your interior spaces.
This could be as simple as keeping vases of vibrant arrangements displayed in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Go a step further and buy bold cushion covers in interesting designs and patterns. A more substantial change would be breaking up the neutral colours in your living room with a rich-coloured accent chair.
Don’t forget the walls. Colourful artwork in white frames will add visual interest to your rooms and stand as a mood booster on dreary days.
Declutter
Clutter plays a role in how spacious a room feels. Even large spaces can look messy and dark when every single area is covered in some object or the other. A room full of stuff can also negatively impact your mood by making you feel overwhelmed.
Keep your home fresh and light by packing away any surplus items. Maybe certain furniture pieces aren’t necessary to keep in winter if all they do is block the flow of light. Certainly, anything that is positioned in front of a window should be moved away.
Change Window Treatments
One of the simplest ways to brighten up your home this winter is to change your draping. Dark heavy curtains help create a moody aesthetic in summer, but when there is limited sunlight, they make your home darker than it should be. The same goes for dark blinds and shutters.
Replace these with light-coloured styles. If you are using blackout curtains to keep your rooms warm, add a sheer curtain behind them so that you can draw them out during the day. This will keep your rooms airy and light.
Light From Below
Your final task in your winter transformation is attending to your floors. As one of the largest surfaces in the home, the right choices will go a long way.
If you are committed to a permanent change, consider painting wooden floors white or cream, or bleaching them to a light shade of brown.
Alternatively, use light-coloured rugs to cover dark tiles. However, be careful not to go overboard with the rugs as this could make your home feel stuffy.
Against lighter flooring, even dark furniture pieces will pop and feel less formal.
Design That Transforms Spaces
At FCI, we believe in the power of interior design to transform spaces. By forging positive spaces that bring genuine happiness to the people who inhabit them, we hope to inspire a community of people to pay it forward.
We’ve been designing interiors and exteriors in both private and commercial spaces for almost 40 years. Our skilled team can offer you a range of individual services or the full interior design monty. We’ll draw up 3D plans for your new kitchen, create a custom colour palette for your walls and floors or simply help you find your perfect sofa match.
No job is too small and no request is too complicated. We can help you draw your design dream and we’ll work closely with you to bring that vision to life.
In addition to our interior design services, we have a wide range of luxury furniture in colours and textures that will help brighten up your home this winter.
Get in touch with us and let’s chat about your design requirements. You can call or WhatsApp us or pop into our London showroom – we’re open 7 days a week.
