Lighting Tricks To Bring Out The Best In Your Dark Design March 8, 2017 00:00
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when working out your home’s interior design scheme is over-lighting your rooms.
We’ve all been in those kitchens that make you feel like you’re on stage, or those family rooms with lights so bright that it’s more like being in an office building than a warm, inviting space.
This is a particularly common problem when it comes to homes with dark interior design elements. And it seems to make sense, doesn’t it? If you have a lot of dark furniture, all you have to do is even it out with bright lights.
Unfortunately, doing so can really overshadow the striking beauty your darker elements can add to your home. But luckily, there are several lighting tricks specifically for a darker design scheme that’ll really make your décor pop.
So whether you’re trying to illuminate a dim and dramatic entryway, redesigning your shaded bathroom, or working out just the right feel for your moody living room, use the tips below to really get the most out of your dark design scheme.
Fill in the Dark with Extra Design Accents
Spaces with a dark design can be especially affected by adding in a lot of accent elements. Part of the reason for this comes from the fact that the darkness creates a great backdrop for the elements due to the natural contrast it creates.
In the bedroom above, for instance, each design element really seems to pop. And when you add the right accent lighting to the equation, you get a dark and dramatic room that looks simply fantastic.
Take Advantage of Natural Light
Photo by designmilk via Flickr
If you aren’t taking advantage of your natural light, you’re missing out on one of the best ways to brighten up your home. And that goes double for spaces with dark interior design schemes!
Not only can it help save quite a bit when it comes to your energy cost, it can also bring a certain vibrancy to a room that can counterbalance the dark design elements quite well.
Embrace Low-Lighting
Photo by tec_estromberg via Flickr
As we mentioned earlier, over lighting can lead to a real drain on the energy your rooms are giving off. What’s more, you might be amazed at how little light you actually need to truly bring a space to life. One of the easiest ways to put this to a test is by incorporating dimmers or dimmable smart bulbs into your lighting elements and seeing what lower light can do for a room.
The bedroom above, for example, makes use of just two small accent lights on the end tables to turn what could have been an everyday bedroom into a charming and alluring suite.
Highlight Centerpieces
Photo by outreachr.com via Flickr
Drawing the eye towards a certain element in the room is one of the core principles of interior design. Color, form, and uniqueness all go a long way towards this end but when it comes to where the eye instinctively lands upon entering a space, it’s all about the lighting.
As you can see from the largely dark-featured kitchen above, highlighting the center island with bright light builds the rooms character around the centerpiece, not the dark cabinetry. As a result, the kitchen feels light and airy rather than cramped and cloistered.
Bright Light with Dark Furniture
With homes that feature especially dark design elements like the kitchen above, it actually turns out to be far less off-putting to use exceptionally bright lighting. As you can see, this kitchen is bathed in light and yet doesn’t feel “on the spot” like a light-featured space might.
So if your home has particularly dark elements, kicking up the brightness a notch might be just the trick to giving your design the perfect look.
Task Lighting
Task lighting is a great way to break up the darkness in your interior design scheme. Not only can it help you brighten up areas that need a bit more light (like the countertops above), they can also create a visually appealing contrast to the surrounding dark areas. Instead of finding ways to brighten up the darkness then, you can embrace it to add more character to a space.
Let us know what you think!
How have you used lighting to turn a dark and gloomy room into one with character and style? Have you tried any of the techniques outlined above and, if so, how did they work for you? Let us know in the comment section below and brighten up your home with the Flux Smart product line!