- Use mirrors to create more light in dark spaces
- Chose sheen surfaces, paint and floorings to reflect light
- Control light and maintain privacy with carefully considered window treatments
- Trim back foliage covering windows to welcome light in
- Consider renovations to add skylights, sliding doors and oversized windows
Living in a city or a period property doesn’t mean you have to compromise on natural light. Natural light makes spaces appear larger and colours look brighter. According to a study by UCLA, it also improves moods and boosts happiness.
Whether you have floor-to-ceiling windows, small clerestory windows, statement windows or even very small cottage windows, you can maximise and adjust natural light in your property with our expert tips.
Understand Your Space
Your space and how you use it is unique to you. Take time to understand your property, its light challenges, and where natural light is abundant – and if the light gets too intense, note the time of day when it happens.
Make detailed observations of your windows and doors and assess how much light they allow. Are any rooms or spaces lacking light? Are large trees, foliage, or buildings restricting daylight from pouring into the area?
Consider each room of your home in close detail. Take in the natural light at different times of day, and think about how it impacts your experience of the space. While the warmth and brightness of the sun through the windows may be enjoyable for short periods, it’s unlikely to be a comfortable space to work or spend time viewing a screen, for example.
We’ve taken a look at a variety of properties, making impeccable use of the natural light available. While some enhance light using glossy surfaces, others use fittings for privacy and light control.
Home Office
If you have a home office, natural light has been found to increase productivity and reduce eye strain and headaches. However, the glare of the sun can be much at certain times of the day, making your computer hard to see or your eyes tired.
Think about your desk position when considering natural light in the office. A window behind you may reflect on your computer screen, while light in front may dazzle during sunny days. If possible, position your desk perpendicular to the window. If you can’t arrange your desk this way, add a translucent roller blind to protect you from the sun's intensity while still bringing in light.
This property in Chiltern Street has a large, traditional sash window. The desk is perpendicular to the light source, and adding a roller blind helps ease periods of intense sun. The grey hues of the walls and soft furnishings, coupled with white furniture, give the room a cheerful and inspiring place to work.
Property for Sale in Chiltern Street
Lounge
Your lounge is a place to unwind and entertain. Whether you have traditional cottage windows or bi-folding doors opening out to the garden, there are opportunities to control and enhance natural light in the space.
South-facing rooms will experience strong sunlight during the day. Adding shutters maintains visual access to the outdoors while keeping the sun's brilliance at bay.
North-facing living spaces are commonly darker. Invite the daylight with natural hues, shiny surfaces, light-coloured flooring, mirrors and plants. In these darker rooms, choose glossier paints over matt alternatives. Place mirrors in front of the window but away from direct sunlight. You’ll see light from the mirrors reflect throughout the room without an uncomfortable beam.
This two-bedroom apartment in a renovated red-brick mansion on Basil Street features three wide windows in the lounge. The light floods the room, but the shutters offer the opportunity to adjust the natural light and close them up for a cosy evening feel.
Bedroom
Oversized windows in the bedroom bring the outside in, and perfectly frame your views. However, too much natural light can impact sleep during the summer months. Choose roller blinds, curtains, or shutters to take control of the light in this space.
For darker bedrooms with small windows, choose pale wood or mirrored furniture and natural or pastel textiles to maximise light. Trim any foliage covering the windows and keep them clean to direct more light into the room.
Property for Sale in Harrington Road
This penthouse bedroom on Harrington Road enjoys views of the terrace. The addition of blinds changes the light when required and adds privacy. The soft furnishings' light hues and the fabrics' shimmer elegantly bounce natural light around the room.
The mirror wall, coupled with the clerestory windows in the primary bedroom, creates an illusion of more space and light. Heavy drapes allow light to be successfully blocked out for sleep. There is an exquisite use of mirrors throughout this property: from the mirrored pillars in the living area and the mirror wall in the bedroom to the mirrored furniture, this penthouse is a reflective, light-giving masterpiece.
Kitchen
While some contemporary kitchens feature long bi-fold doors, others have a single window. To make the most of the light you have, choose dazzling smooth surfaces to create a bright and airy kitchen. This compact kitchen in a four-bed mews house in Greens Court uses light units and a natural palette to draw in and scatter light.
House for Sale in Greens Court
The 1970s complex in Hyde Park Gate has a wall of windows in the kitchen. Light reflects from the smooth and shiny countertops and flooring, giving the illusion of even more lighting.
Light reflects spectacularly in this kitchen on Albion Street. Sunlight casts across the sheen worktop, glass cupboards, and dark polished flooring. The blend of dark and light tones creates an inviting and inspiring space for creating culinary delights.
Duplex Penthouse for Sale in Hyde Park Gate
Embracing Your Home's Character
Your home will have its own character, and you’ll bring your own style to it, too. These elements should guide how you enhance natural light in the property.
Cosy cottages and traditional mews houses may benefit from strategically placed mirrors, reflective surfaces and light furniture – particularly if there is limited opportunity to increase window size or change window shapes.
A contemporary minimalist property may feature oversized windows that call for blinds, sheer curtains or shutters to help you adjust the light to suit the occasion.
Dressing Your Windows
Window treatments add colour, pattern, and privacy to the rooms in your house. Fabric designer Penny Morrison advises that full-length curtains allow you to be bold and make a statement. However, if the window is small, you should opt for blinds that won’t take up unnecessary space and don’t restrict light.
While the window treatment design is important, it will also dictate the light that casts into the room. Tilt Venetian blinds to adjust the light and increase privacy. Use translucent roller blinds for privacy or blackout – ideal for bedrooms. Woven bamboo blinds offer privacy while casting a playful light pattern. For spaces requiring privacy without sacrificing natural light, a loose-weave linen voile provides a relaxed and bright feel.
When considering curtains, select a pole that is longer than the window so you can fully open the curtains. Some window styles, such as round or Palladian, make it notoriously hard to add curtains or blinds. If you have a statement window in your property, particularly the bedroom, weigh covering them and losing their beauty against embracing the adorning light – even first thing in the morning.
Interior designer Helen Harry says, “Consider if the window is worth celebrating or disguising. Some are way too beautiful to be completely covered over by window dressings. I also look at the natural light, the view and the amount of privacy needed.”
Renovations To Bring In More Natural Light
If you have significant property lighting challenges, there are opportunities for light-giving renovations. Of course, larger windows, sliding doors and bi-folds are clear options. However, if this isn’t possible in your property, consider skylights, or layout adjustments.
For substantial renovations, rearranging the interior layout of your property into an open-plan living area will draw in more light. With an open plan area, follow the same flooring throughout and include reflective surfaces.
Take a look outside your property, too. If large trees or foliage cover the windows, note what needs doing to bring in more light and seek relevant permissions.
Artificial Lighting
Artificial lighting has its place in every home. In her book Mad About the House, Kate Watson-Smyth explains how one pendant light isn’t enough. “...if it’s all you have, it should be on a dimmer.”
Other lighting in the room should be layered and on different circuits to vary the mood of the space. Watson-Smyth writes that you need “a table light for atmosphere and a floor light to throw a soft glimmer up onto your walls.” She also suggests a task light for reading and an accent light to highlight a feature or picture.
Bring Natural Light Into Your Property
From intense midday rays to the soft orange glow of the sunset, natural light plays a huge part in your home. By manipulating light with shutters, shades and sheer curtains, rooms can appear larger or even cosier. Light helps zone spaces and soften areas, and through clever arrangements of furniture and mirrors, it can even brighten dark, small-windowed rooms.
Invite plenty of natural light into your property, but add the right window dressings to take charge of how the light moves in the room.
If you’re looking for a house for sale in London with abundant natural light, contact our Central London estate agents to discuss your details.
