Ideas for brightening a room
Hi,
My husband and I just bought a house that we are totally in love with! It has everything we wanted- a two storied family room, huge sized kitchen, spacious bedrooms, game room et al. However, the only cause of concern seems to be the family room which in our opinion needs to be a little bright. The family room is a place where we think will spend most of the time, more like an all-purpose room sometimes- talking, eating, watching TV and entertaining the guests. So we definitely would want to have a ventilated space for all these activities.
Here are some areas I need advice:
1.The family room leads to a covered patio so there is less scope for letting natural light inside. Also, it faces to the north. So the sun is not seen during the entire day. I prefer natural light over artificial lighting. What do you think are possible solutions to bring in more light?
2.While choosing wall colors, what colors are to be considered in a house like this? What sort of furniture should we get? Are reclining sofas ideal? We also want to work with sectional sofas without blocking the fireplace or cluttering the space around.
Please note that the photos attached may appear to be bright. It could be a photography gimmick.
My husband and I just bought a house that we are totally in love with! It has everything we wanted- a two storied family room, huge sized kitchen, spacious bedrooms, game room et al. However, the only cause of concern seems to be the family room which in our opinion needs to be a little bright. The family room is a place where we think will spend most of the time, more like an all-purpose room sometimes- talking, eating, watching TV and entertaining the guests. So we definitely would want to have a ventilated space for all these activities.
Here are some areas I need advice:
1.The family room leads to a covered patio so there is less scope for letting natural light inside. Also, it faces to the north. So the sun is not seen during the entire day. I prefer natural light over artificial lighting. What do you think are possible solutions to bring in more light?
2.While choosing wall colors, what colors are to be considered in a house like this? What sort of furniture should we get? Are reclining sofas ideal? We also want to work with sectional sofas without blocking the fireplace or cluttering the space around.
Please note that the photos attached may appear to be bright. It could be a photography gimmick.
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But I'm really interested in what designers have to say. I have a similar situation in my current house, and the ceiling's not vaulted, so do not want skylights.
http://www.blindsdirectcanada.com/blinds-toronto/hunter-douglas/silhouette-toronto.html
@winkapot : Great Idea. I am now thinking of a decorative mirror over the fireplace and a glass center table. If you can post a picture of your space, I think that would be of great help. The furniture in the photo is the sellers'.
We have yet to buy the furniture, so I am flexible on that front. I am not sure if I should get a light rug and light colored recliner sofa and loveseat or have some contrast on that front. Here's one of the sofa idea we are thinking of along with a similar rug.
@ajess: Skylights are a good idea, but arent they expensive ? I believe there are alternatives called solatubes. However, I don't know how effective they are.
@cjohnston : I love the blueish color in the third picture (Parkinson Ave West), do you know the name of the paint color ? Also, I did not understand the part about framing the windows rather than overlap the windows when they are open. Are you saying that the drapes should be thin so that they do not cover the windows ?
@Elise: Great and the price seems very reasonable! How is the dispersion of the light ? I guess in a bathroom, it does not have as much area to disperse the light.. I am wondering, if in a larger room, even if we add two, will it disperse the light evenly across the room or will it look like just two bright spots. Also, how does it look from the outside with the tube thingie sticking out of the roof ? One last question, if we don't like it is it a pain to remove it ?