Brighten a Dark Bedroom with These Tips

Your bedroom is without question one of the most important rooms in your home from a decorating standpoint. Bedrooms are traditionally one of the elements of a home with the most character. They are also one of the most intimate spaces in your home, and thus an area in which you can feel free to express yourself.

That’s what makes it so frustrating when you find yourself stuck with a dark bedroom. Not only does that limit your bedroom décor options, but a darkened interior can fill the space with a sense of doom and gloom – the last thing you want present in your bedroom.

Thankfully, you can brighten up even the darkest of bedrooms with these tips.

White Out

To begin with, you’ll want to consider opting for one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to brightening up any space – namely, by painting it white.

Different paint colors reflect light to different degrees, and white is of course as reflective as it gets. Painting your bedroom interior with dark colors can give it a darker, more brooding tone. While that may be fine for the likes of Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre, unless you want an aura of brooding Byronic chic about your interior, you will want to embrace light colors like whites and eggshells for at least some of your bedroom walls and ceiling.

Other Colors

That doesn’t mean that it all needs to be white. On the contrary, an all-white bedroom can feel coldly clinical, like a hospital room. Adding bright colors like pale blues and warm creams and beiges can help add some much-needed depth and character to a space. You can even consider adding some dark coffee or black accents, as these can make the brightly-painted sections of your room appear all the brighter by contrast. 

Light the Walls

You will also want to make sure that your walls are well-lit. Walls with long shadows are once again great for brooding Brontë novels, but not so great for warm, welcoming interiors. You’ll thus want to make sure your bedroom receives plenty of light from both light sources within the room as well as windows for natural lighting. These should be strategically placed so as to maximize the amount of light in the space without washing it out.

Wood Features

Adding wood features can be a great way of injecting a sense of class into your bedroom. What’s more, the light glancing off these wood features can add a sense of warmth and light, brightening up the room considerably.

A Sense of Balance

Last but not least, you’ll want to imbue your room with a sense of balance. Too much clutter everywhere can lead to errant shadows being cast at odd places in a space. What’s more, clutter everywhere can make a room feel more claustrophobic.  That’s the last thing that you want when trying to brighten up a space, so be sure to keep your bedroom tidy and neat, and maintain a sense of geometrical balance between key features.

With these tips, you’ll be able to brighten even the darkest bedroom.