Space is growing more limited and costly by the day. As such, most homeowners have to make do with smaller homes due to the skyrocketing property rates. Elevating the interior design of these spaces can be tricky.
Thankfully, there’s a way around it. Incorporating good lighting design in smaller rooms can help create the illusion of space. If your home has limited space and you’ve been wondering how to brighten it up, you’ve come to the right place.
This article explains how you can use lighting to make your home feel and look bigger.
Expert Tips and Tricks to Make Your Small Rooms Look Bigger
Small spaces tend to feel underwhelming and uncomfortable. But, you don’t have to keep feeling this way. There are clever solutions you can use to open up your rooms.
Listed below are ways you can use lighting to make your home appear spacious:
Ensure Adequate Lighting
Maximizing the amount of light within your home interior helps to brighten and open up the space. If you don’t have access to ample natural light, you can increase your artificial light sources to achieve a similar effect.
Layering your lights is advisable. To avoid taking up more space, its best to use compact like fixtures like wall sconces, recessed lights, and LED strip lights. To conveniently switch up the ambiance in the room, make sure to install dimmer switches. Be aware that LED lighting is more ideal for this setting thanks to the bulbs high lumen capacity.
Use Multiple Fixtures for Contrast
You can install multiple light sources in a room and still fail to achieve the optical illusion you want to create. Knowing how to calculate the amount of lighting your room needs can help you determine the number of fixtures you need and where to place them.
Ceiling lights tend to focus light onto one area. This is why you need different fixture designs to help open up the space. They should also be strategically placed within the room to ensure contrast in the lighting. This helps to avoid shadows.
Go for Clear Light Fittings
Transparent light fixtures allow light to travel throughout the room which enhances your optical illusion. Meanwhile, opaque fittings absorb the light making the space feel dim and much smaller. Add stunning statement light fixtures like the Anya modern bubble-glass flush mount light and your room will be transformed into a spacious and brighter haven.
Choose the Right Fixtures
Pendant and chandelier lighting aren’t ideal for small spaces. Flush mounts, minimalist wall lights, and sleek floor lamps are more ideal. Remember, the goal is to create the illusion of more usable space not to minimize it.
Use Mirrors
Mirrors are a great tool for maximizing natural light. The same is also true for artificial lighting. Installing mirrors in your home helps to enlarge the space by reflecting light onto dark areas.
Reflected rays from the mirror help to open up the space and make it brighter. Not only does this help to build a cozy ambiance, but it’s also a great way to enhance its visual appeal.
Make Use of the Room’s Vertical Space
Smaller homes tend to have lower ceilings. You can create the illusion of higher ceiling lights by using an arc light like the Alisya floor lamp.
The fixture design tends to draw the eye upward and downward simultaneously which makes the room appear larger. But, ensure you use them sparingly. Less is more when it comes to this fixture’s design.
Choose Lamps With Square Shades
For small surfaces, it’s best to choose a lamp with a square shade because it can easily fit into tight corners. This allows homeowners to save on valuable space given the limited area. A good example is the Yuli Japanese desk lamp.
The Science Behind Optical Illusion in a Small Space
There are specific light designs that can help create the illusion of space in a small room. Here’s how they work:
Contrasting Lights
The difference between light and darkness no matter the distance tends to highlight the depth and dimension of the space. Adding a contrast light makes you perceive objects within a smaller space as further away than they are. This is why layering your lights is essential when working with small rooms.
Avoid Even Illumination
Uniform illumination tends to make a space feel smaller. This is known as the “boob light’ effect. For instance, installing a chandelier ensures an even glow in your home’s interior which minimizes the effect of most contrasting elements.
While it works well to enhance texture, it’s not ideal for homeowners who want to create some optical illusion.
The Inverse Square Law
Before you try to bend your lighting and make it work for you, it’s best to understand the science behind it. And, the inverse square law is a key principle of any lighting design.
This rule of thumb suggests that the light intensity of your light fixture decreases by half whenever the distance between you and the light source doubles. If you change the fixture and use one that’s less bright but closer to you, the distance between the two will appear larger than it is.
In simpler terms, the illumination from a light source varies with the distance between you and the source inversely as the square of the distance. Again, this is why you need to layer your lighting if your home has limited space.
Less Can Be More With the Right Lighting
Knowing how to manipulate your home lighting to suit your space is vital, especially for homeowners working with limited space. The psychology of lighting is a real phenomenon that influences how you feel and your overall well-being.
With the increasing surge of population, the housing crisis is set to materialize. By using the information listed in this article, you can keep enjoying your space despite its size. To find stunning light fixtures to brighten and open your home, visit our modern light fixtures page.
