If one of your New Year’s resolutions isn’t to pep up a dreary room in your home before spring, it should be. A room’s atmosphere impacts your mood and how much use you get from the space. Here are five top ways to transform a dark room into one that is cheerful and uplifting.

#1 Whiten and Brighten Your Ceiling

When reviving a dull, dark room, it pays to look up. If the room hasn’t been painted in a while, your standard white ceiling will likely have developed a yellow hue that only serves to make the space look dreary. Enliven the room by painting the ceiling white. Professional painters use white to reflect light in a room. Darker colors on ceilings absorb the light and make living spaces look darker. If you have exposed wood beams on your ceiling or wood crown molding, consider painting them the same bright, white color of your ceiling. Your room will look instantly brighter and larger.

While standard white ceilings are painted in flat paint, you can use a paint sheen that adds a little gloss to your ceiling. A semi-gloss, white paint that’s applied to your ceiling will reflect the maximum amount of light in your room. This is a great tip for a room that has a high ceiling or one that has only a few flaws since gloss paints make ceiling imperfections more prominent.

Unsure about the paint color and sheen that will look perfect in your room? Consider hiring a painting contractor to guide your decision making. Cornerstone Painting has expert home painters who understand the properties of various paint products and know how to professionally apply them for consistently flawless finishes.

#2 Paint Walls in a Lighter Shade

While white ceilings look good with any wall color, they make rooms look airy and bright when they are paired with light-colored walls. Have you ever noticed that some colors appear to recede from view while others look like they advance? Applying a receding color such as light blue, green, or violet to your walls can make a room look brighter and bigger. Using an advancing color such as red, orange, or maroon on walls can make your space look smaller and darker.

You’ll find that most cool colors are considered to be receding colors; warm colors are advancing colors. If you have a neutral shade that works well with your decor, you can keep the color and still make the room look brighter by hiring an interior house painter to paint the room a lighter shade of the same color. Cornerstone Painting is your go-to painting contractor for custom interior paint projects in Woodinville WA.

#3 Use Darker Paint Colors for Accent

Certain dark paint colors are currently on trend. Rich colors such as decadent browns, velvety blacks, and inky blues lend traditional elegance to a room when applied correctly. If you want to try out a dark paint color on your walls without making the room look like a dungeon, use the color as an accent.

Hire a home painter to paint a small wall in a dark accent color and paint the other walls in a lighter, brighter neutral. You can also achieve this look by painting the back of a bookcase with your chosen dark shade while leaving the rest of the bookcase white or a lighter color.

#4 Lighten Flooring

Your flooring is one of the first things that people notice when they enter a living space. While dark rich hardwood floors lend warmth to a room, they can also weigh it down and make it look less lively than you’d like. If you have dark hardwood floors that you want to keep, consider laying down a large, light-colored area rug to brighten the space. If you have some flexibility in your budget and decor options, install light-colored ceramic tile or cork floors. An interior house painter can help you to coordinate wall colors with new flooring products. Rooms that have light-colored carpets can be rejuvenated by having the carpets professionally cleaned to remove dulling, ground-in grime.

#5 Embellish With Reflective Subway Tiles

Glossy subway tiles reflect light in the same way as high-gloss paint. These tiles that grace backsplashes in posh kitchens and bathrooms come in a variety of colors and materials. Those that brighten up spaces the most are classic white, light-colored glass, and stainless steel subway tiles. Some of this year’s trends in tile backsplashes include carrying the subway tiles to the ceiling and installing larger-than-standard subway tiles. Standard subway tiles measure 3 inches by 6 inches. Interior designers are now installing subway tiles that measure 4 inches by 8 inches or 4 inches by 12 inches to make kitchens look brighter and more dramatic.

You don’t have to own your home to benefit from these great decor tips. Shiny subway tile backsplashes come in peel-and-stick varieties that can transform your kitchen without permanently changing its features. This fake tile alternative looks like the real deal right down to its faux grout lines.

Bonus: Install Mirrors

Placing mirrors in strategic places in a room is a classic interior design technique that many professionals use. If you have a small room that’s blessed with a window, place your low dresser with its overhanging mirror across from the window. The mirror will reflect the natural light that comes through the window.

Paint That Room in 2020

Having a room professionally painted is one of the most cost-effective ways to brighten a dark room. If you live in or around Woodinville WA, we’d like to help you to achieve the look that you want for your living space. Our professional painters are here to offer advice about colors, our paint products, and estimated job timelines. Call us today for an interior house painter quote.