This post gives 7 renter friendly tips on how to brighten a dark room. This is a common problem in many rental spaces. Often times, as a renter, you can feel stuck, like there is nothing you can do to brighten up your space. This is totally not true! There are so many things you can do even if you aren’t allowed to paint!
These 7 renter friendly tips will show you how to brighten a dark room. While paint is a huge help, and it is one of my 7 tips, there are numerous other ways you can brighten a dark a room.
Currently, our bedroom has one north facing window, which means it gets zero direct sunlight all day. To ice that cake, there is a huge tree in front of the window! So during the summer, the sunniest time of year, our bedroom is even darker than in the winter because at least in the winter the tree is bare allowing more daylight to filter in.
Last year, my husband and I implemented these tips to our small, dark bedroom and instantly our bedroom felt larger and brighter! I loved the difference and I know you can do the same thing, it’s easy! Just implement as many of these tips as you are able to and I know you’ll see a difference. Implementing some tips are better than none! Happy reading!
This post is all about how to brighten a dark room.
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #1: Change The Light Bulb
I say this is the single most important thing you can do. And it should be the first thing you do.
Case in point: We painted our entire bedroom white and I was shocked to still feel as though it was rather dark, especially later in the day. I just wasn’t that happy with it. We had mentioned like 10 times to change the light bulb in the ceiling fan for like the year we had lived in the apartment before we repainted the bedroom and never got around to doing it. So after we painted the room and were a bit disappointed, we finally decided to change the light bulb. It made a HUGE difference. Immediately I said, “Man, had we have changed the light bulb a year ago I may have never wanted to paint the room.” So this is why I say to start with this.
Toss the warmer tone white bulbs (2700-3000 on Kelvin scale) for a cool white, daylight tone bulb (3600-5500 on Kelvin scale). This switch is great for over head or the main lighting of the space. If you read in the evening before bed with lamps, using softer, warmer tones for this is good and it helps facilitate sleeping over the cooler tones. But those bulbs are not good for brightening the space.
When you move in, odds are the warmer tone light bulbs are what you have as they’re the standard bulbs. If you find the cooler, daylight bulbs to be too much, try the middle of the road neutral white option bulbs (3500-4100 on Kelvin scale). For us, the cooler daylight tone is fine because our ceiling fan has a frosted cover so it mutes it some.
After doing this, you may decide painting isn’t even necessary. It all depends on how bight and airy you’re going for. But for those of you renters who can’t paint, this really helps a TON! So don’t be discouraged!
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #2: Keep Your Windows Clean and Use Sheer Window Treatments
This is such an easy thing to do. You need to make sure the room is getting any bit of light it can. Washing the windows regularly can help get as much light as possible into the room. Also avoiding heavy, thick curtains that block out the light will help. We have very shear linen curtains I got from H&M Home. Then we mounted a pull-down shade for extra privacy at night. Personally, I feel like sticking to light colored curtains or tan tones help to facilitate a light and airy look.
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #3: Paint
So like I said, this is not possible for all renters. But often times, if you ask the landlord they’re totally on board with you painting. I have found that if you chose colors that are not dark or crazy and have swatches to show the landlord, they’re often agreeable to letting you paint the space. Especially if you explain it’s to brighten up a dark room. Odds are the place will rent way better after you make these changes and the landlord knows that. So don’t shy away from asking. All they can say is no, right?
Personally, I have grown to like white walls within the last year or so. But also grays, tans and other neutrals can be used to brighten up a space. The key is to look for paint colors that have a high LRV (light reflective value). LRV refers to how light or dark a paint color is on a scale of 0 (black) to 100 (white). The closer to 100 on the LRV scale the color will appear brighter and it reflects more light as opposed to absorbing it. When the paint color has a low LRV it absorbs light and makes the room appear darker. LRV levels over 50 will just start to reflect light. If you have a room with barely any natural light (like a north facing window or no windows) I’d recommend LRV levels over 60. Plus you’d want to bring in artificial light as mentioned above so there is something to reflect.
I also swear by satin finish for paint. You can easily wash the walls down for quick cleaning and naturally they’ll reflect light without being shiny like semi gloss.
My bedroom paint color is Benjamin Moore Simply White (LRV 91.7) in a satin finish.
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #4: Mirrors
This goes without saying, adding mirrors to the space will reflect the little light the room does get. But placement is strategic. The mirror should be placed on the opposite wall as the window or an adjacent wall if the opposite wall is not possible. The larger the mirror, the better. We opted for an IKEA wardrobe with mirrored doors. Before the room redo I had a mirror over my dresser on the opposite wall as the window. It did help but this wall of mirrors is so much bigger that it made a HUGE difference in making the room feel brighter and larger. We did have to put the wardrobe on a longer wall adjacent to the window, but it still worked out great!
tip: try to add decorative pieces that also reflect light, such as metallics. Anything that reflects light will help to brighten the room. We used a picture above our bed and one on my shelves that reflect light. Also using picture frames rather than canvas prints will help reflect light.
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #5: Avoid Dark Furniture
Dark furniture absorbs light making the space feel darker. Sticking to white furniture or light wood tones like birch will help to facilitate a brighter space. If you already have dark furniture try to lighten up the space with your bedding or other textiles you can bring into the space. If your furniture isn’t new or you’re wanting to upgrade it anyways, now is the perfect time. Not in the budget? Give your existing furniture a makeover with some paint!! You can also find very affordable sofa and chair covers to lighten up your living room furniture if buying new is not an option!
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #6: Lighten Up The Floor With Area Rugs
If your flooring is dark, you can lighten up the floor with a lighter throw rug or area rug. Jute is a great option as it is light while helping to add some warmth and texture back into the space. We’re not going for a sterile environment either! Also there are many rug companies that offer machine washable area rugs such as Boutique Rugs. I purchased an 8×10 area rug from them for my living room to lighten up the floor and I love it! It is very thin, but I like that because I’m allergic to dust and the flat style doesn’t collect much dust. I’ll pop a photo below.
I opted out of a rug in my bedroom because it is so small. I felt like I’d spend money on something that would just barely peek out from under the bed. Lately layering rugs over rugs is a thing, I don’t know that I’m on board with that, but if you like it, and you need to lighten a dark rug, go for it! It’s a rental after all, sometimes we have to rig up what we’ve got, LOL!
How To Brighten A Dark Room Tip #7: Bring in Faux Plants
This may seem silly, but I’m telling you it helps! Think of it this way, plants cannot survive without light. So by sprinkling some faux plants around the room you trick your brain into feeling like there is enough light to keep plants alive. It just brings life into the space in general. Now, we understand they’re fake, it’s a mind game. But it does help! I stuck to vibrant green options in a few different styles.
IKEA, Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Home Sense and Etsy are good places to to grab some faux plants that are aesthetically pleasing.
I hope these 7 renter friendly tips have given you some inspiration to brighten up those dark rooms! Thanks for reading!
This post was all about how to brighten a dark room.
