Old and compartmentalized plants, small openings, and lower floors receive scarce natural light. Improving natural lighting in an apartment can be challenging. However, some strategies can help maximize light entry into interiors and bring benefits such as comfort, spaciousness, well-being, and energy savings.
We have compiled some of the solutions adopted by architects and interior designers to allow natural light into the environments without altering the facade. These are tactics that can be extremely simple, such as painting a wall, or a renovation that contributes to a more refined luminous comfort sensation.
Hollow Shelves
Having shelves as space dividers in residential architecture is becoming increasingly common. Whether made of timber or metal, they can be perforated and permeable, allowing natural light to pass from one environment to another.
Opening Walls
More common in old buildings, plants can be highly compartmentalized, with several non-structural walls dividing the environments. In renovations, it is very common to demolish some of these partitions to allow natural light to penetrate the space more deeply and reach places that were previously unreachable, improving lighting as a whole.
Light Colors
This solution is as simple as it is effective. The lighter the environment's surfaces - floors, walls, and ceilings - or even their furniture, the more they reflect light. An appropriate strategy for places with more shaded areas. After all, in an environment with direct sunlight, white planes can hurt the eyes.
Mirrors
In addition to the sensation of expanding spaces, mirrors are also an excellent allies when illuminating an environment, as they reflect light and help distribute it.
Translucent Materials
The larger the openings such as windows or doors, the wider the entry of light into an environment. For places that are usually more shaded, and that do not require total darkness, instead of opting for opaque elements for curtains, blinds, and even dividers, it is possible to look for fabrics or other materials that allow light passage.
