How to brighten up a dark bathroom
The Best Ways to Brighten Up a Window-Free Bathroom
Style
Bathroom
Decorating
Ideas & Inspiration
by Marlen Komar
published Oct 23, 2019
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They say natural light has the power to make or break a room, but what do you do when you have no windows to speak of?
I have a windowless bathroom in my new apartment, and I have recently noticed no one ever uses it. We all bypass the lonely little room in the hallway in favor of the sunny master bath in the bedroom. And it’s a no wonder why. Windowless bathrooms have a tendency to make us feel boxed in. It’s as if we unwittingly got trapped into a shoebox, but we might as well wash our hands while we’re there.
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12 Brilliant Ideas for Your Small Bathroom
While there’s no beating natural sunlight streaming into the small space, there are ways you can make the half-bath or powder room feel a little less gloomy and claustrophobic. To hack the problem, we turned to professional designers to see what their strategies were when dealing with the closed-in space.
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Lean Into the Dark Side
It might feel counterintuitive to make a dark space feel even dimmer, but dark does not necessarily equal gloomy. Caitlin Murray, the founder and designer of Black Lacquer Design, remodeled a small bathroom without any windows last year and made it into a moody, dark, and sexy retreat. This made the lack of windows feel almost intentional.
The trick was to focus on metallic accents, which helped to both grab the small amount of light and amp up the glamour. After all, there’s a difference between a bat cave and slinky room. “
When dealing with a bathroom that lacks natural light, I recommend pulling in metallic finishes and a larger mirror,” Murray explains. “Both of which will brighten up the space and harness the room-expanding magic of reflective materials.
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Wow With White
For those who don’t want to go dark and sultry, another option is tricking the space into feeling airy with a lot of white.
“If you’re open to painting the bathroom, pick a great white paint and prepare for transformation.” Larson Folkerts, a design assistant at Moore House Interiors says. “I recommend avoiding bright colors, as they can make dark spaces feel even darker and smaller without natural light.”
It also helps if you choose a paint with a glossy sheen, which helps to reflect the little light you do have.
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Focus on Your Lighting Fixtures
Since you don’t have a window, picking out the correct lighting fixtures will make or break your space.
“A centered ceiling fixture or can lights are great for lighting the whole space, while a pair of wall-mounted sconces on either side of a vanity mirror are both practical and pretty,” says Maggie Griffin, the founder and principal designer at Maggie Griffin Design.
Another tip: in order to make the room feel more appealing, consider having fun with your fixtures. Believe it or not, you can beat back the drab feeling with unique sconces that pack personality.
Folkerts suggests looking for fixtures with clear or seeded glass to maximize the light. But she does warn to avoid certain designs:
“I suggest avoiding colored or muted glass on your fixtures as they can make the space feel darker,” she explains.
If you already have great light fixtures but are still feeling boxed in, try swapping out the bulbs to ones with more wattage to see if that will make a difference.
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Double Down on Wall Decor
Carefully selecting your wall decor can instantly brighten your bathroom—no windows needed.
“We love using a wall mirror to help make the space feel bigger and brighter, or artwork that has a bright, white matte frame,” Folkerts explains.
Sometimes the problem isn’t so much that the bathroom feels dark, but it feels too uninviting.
Adding in mirrors, wall art that makes you smile, or decor accents that are extra playful makes the room feel more welcoming and cheerful, nixing the drab feeling a windowless room usually creates.
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Change Your Shower
Homeowners, you’ll want to take notes.
If you’re struggling with feeling cramped in your windowless bathroom, consider altering your shower doors.
“If you’re open to changing up your shower glass, opt for clear glass rather than frosted or bubbled,” Folkerts says. “Clear glass can make the bath feel bigger and brighter, allowing more light to reach all the corners of the space!”
Griffin adds that frameless shower doors brighten the space, plus finishes like white tile and shiny plumbing fixtures also help to bounce the light. (Psst…If you want to add renter-friendly adhesive tiles to your bathroom, see our article on Smart Tiles!)
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In the end, the trick to making a windowless bathroom brighter is both technical and subliminal.
You can use practical techniques like picking proper light fixtures and reflective surfaces to make the space feel less cramped. But you can also trick the mind into seeing the closed-in room as a cheerful space with your decor items or chosen themes. Whether you change your lightbulb wattage or overhaul the room into a glamorous oasis, these tips might just transform your bathroom.
Home Decor Ideas: How to brighten up a dark bathroom
The overall ambience of any bathroom should be warm and inviting because this is one place where we get some private time. However, some bathrooms have access to limited natural light or are without windows. For such cases, we've come up with some tips that can effectively be used to brighten up the look of a dark bathroom.
Without making major structural changes, you can open up your bathroom to light. Photo credit: KatarzynaBialasiewicz/ Getty Images
Use Neutral Coloured Tiles
If the bathroom is under renovation and you have the option of changing the wall and floor tiles, then opt for neutral coloured base tiles and patterned tiles.
The preferred colours are ivory, beige and white; consider bright coloured highlighter tiles to bring in a vibrant vibe. Complete the look with neutral coloured wall paint on the balance wall area and use white paint for the ceiling because it reflects a lot of light and looks bright.
Incorporate Layered Lighting
Extra lighting will be required within a dark bathroom because of the absence of any natural light. Therefore, consider a layered lighting scheme which combines ambient, task and accent lighting. The ambient lighting should include at least two ceiling mounted lights or pendant lights on the ceiling. For the task lighting, incorporate a mirror light above the mirror or preferably flank both sides of the mirror with bracket lights at eye level to prevent the formation of any shadows. Highlight the niches or any other design feature within the bathroom with accent lights. Introduce LED strip lights within the shelves, below a floating vanity or behind a mirror to create a floating effect.
Introduce Reflective Surfaces
Reflective and shimmering metallic surfaces are a great way to bounce light around the bathroom and give the space a brighter look. Introduce brass or chrome finish sanitary fixtures, light fixtures and mirror frames. You can also consider gloss finish wall tiles which bounce light, add extra brightness and visually expand the bathroom space. Avoid using gloss finish tiles on the flooring as these tiles make the bathroom slippery.
Add Mirrors
A large expanse of mirror over the sink not only creates the illusion of a larger space but also adds instant brightness by reflecting the light source all across the bathroom. You can also incorporate a full-length mirror if space permits. Make sure two mirrors do not face each other because they create an infinite effect by forming multiple reflections in each mirror.
Install a Glass Shower Enclosure
Make the bathroom feel spacious by creating a framed or frameless glass shower enclosure in frosted, textured or clear glass.
Glass shower enclosures add brightness to the shower area because they allow light to pass through. Also, make it a point to ventilate these bathrooms with an exhaust fan to expel foul odours and moisture.
How to make a room brighter: photos and tips on how to make a dark room with a small window lighter and more spacious
Simple tricks to multiply the amount of incoming light and even make a dark room with windows to the north more spacious and lighter
In a typical high-rise building, an extra window is not " cut through”, there is no way to add natural light. Therefore, techniques of visual correction of space come to the rescue. Here's how to make a dark room bright and effectively multiply the sunlight. nine0005
VVDesign
1. Lighten up the background
If the room is gloomy, there is no point in aggravating the situation by using dark tones in interior design that absorb natural light. The correct decoration of the walls, ceiling and floor will help to make a dark room brighter.
Architectural studio Astar project
Shades do not have to be snow-white: just choose any light option. Imagine that the built-in wardrobe in the photo was made of dark wood. nine0005
DSGN HUB
Important : be sure to make a light wall opposite the window. And do not try to hang dark pictures on it or move a dark rack to it - immediately ruin the main idea.
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IN YOUR CITY…
► Houzz can hire a designer or architect in any city or country. Start looking for a specialist
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Victoria Glaz
2. Use sunny shades
White walls certainly create a wonderful atmosphere on sunny days. But not in our latitudes, where half the days of the year you won’t even see the sun. If you do not want to enjoy the atmosphere of the gray sky in your own bedroom, choose the whole range of yellow and close tones for decoration.
In a similar way, you can make a room lighter with wallpaper or paint - and then even on the dullest day it will seem to you that the sun has visited you.
Urazmetov Rustem
In the photo: the interior of this Moscow apartment is made in the colors of Mondrian's paintings, while the bedroom got yellow for a reason - it fills the owners with energy and optimism, even if the weather is cloudy outside the window
ECO CEILING INC
3. Let everything will be glossy - even the ceiling
A stretch ceiling will not fit into every interior, but it is guaranteed to bring the room, as in the photo, out of the status of a gloomy lair. By the way, to make the space of the room brighter, you can use paint with a metallic effect or foil hanging structures - the effect is comparable! nine0005
Well Done Interiors Olimpiada Arefieva
The same applies to semi-mirror and glossy furniture surfaces that distribute and multiply light.
If possible, use as much gloss as possible in the setting - this will make the room more spacious and lighter.
Alexandra Tkacheva
4. Hang a mirror on the wall… of any room
Use the ancient mirror trick. The best solution is to hang it directly on the wall opposite the window. This will not only make the room much brighter, but also visually enlarge the space. nine0005
TS Design | Taras Bezrukov and Stas Samkovich
Ideally, when the mirror is placed opposite the window, it multiplies the amount of light.
5. Make the walls transparent…
Did you get an open-plan apartment? Do not risk losing the last rays of the sun behind a deaf interior partition.
BY TOPIC…
I wish I could: Showcase dressing room
Yuliya Telnova
To preserve light in the interior of a dark room, we strongly recommend glass blocks and frosted glass instead of solid partitions.
nine0005
REMONSTROOM
6. Dissolve furniture
Plastic tables and chairs, glass tops - transparent structures visually disappear, allowing light to freely pass through them.
Anne Chemineau - Decor Interieur
7. Get rid of dark furnishings
In general, there should not be dark and massive objects in the room: they prevent the penetration and distribution of light. Choose a bed, sofa or wardrobe in light colors. This does not mean that the room should look like a surgical department: build the interior on the nuances of warm pastel shades. In this case, inclusions of any bright colors are quite acceptable. nine0005
Bjurfors Göteborg
8. Remove curtains
If the window is small, it is better to do without any curtains. If you live on the first floor or your windows are well visible from neighboring apartments, choose a light organza.
Through it, the light will be pleasantly scattered around the room. Let the fabric flow from the ceiling to the floor (this will create the visual illusion of a larger window), and hang the curtain rod as high as possible.
Roman Spiridonov
9. Let sunbeams into the room
Sparkling chandeliers, crystal vases, thread curtain with decorative beads - a well-known recipe for brightening up a room and making it sparkle and shimmer in the sun.
MAKEdesign
10. Clean your windows
Cleaning windows is hardly anyone's favorite activity. However, if you have not touched the glass and the frame for a long time, conduct an experiment - wash the windows clean. We promise: it will make the room at least a little, but brighter.
This is archival material. First published in 2015, updated in 2021
6 simple tricks - INMYROOM
Tips
It happens that for various reasons there is not enough light in the interior.
What can be done in this case to make it light and comfortable? There are different techniques, which we will tell you more about
Living in a dark room is not very fun and comfortable. Besides experts believe that this has a bad effect on the mental and emotional state of a person. It often happens that, due to different causes light in your room is not enough. What can be done in this case to make it light and cozy? nine0005
There are various ways in which you can achieve a positive result.
Reception No. 1: color without borders
Of course, it is better to start with the repair of the premises. Because it gives the advantage of making the room brighter and more spacious.
Ideal if you want to paint the walls, ceiling and floor in light color. White color is wonderful! But pastel shades are nobody did not cancel. They are also relevant in this case.
The main thing is that all boundaries between planes are erased. Experts recommend choosing lighter paint or wallpaper options, as how in poor lighting they can appear a little darker.
For such spaces dark and gray shades are not suitable. nine0005
Reception #2: windows
If you do not plan to make repairs, you can audit in room. Start with a window. Especially if it is on the north side and Nearby there are trees that create shade. Near it it is not advisable to put a dark furniture.
It is better that there is nothing superfluous on the window, not even flowers. If there is an opportunity to do without tulle - wonderful! If not, then use light tulle and light curtains (silk can be used).
Reception No. 3: furniture
Heavy and dark furniture should be abandoned, and indeed it's better when it's less. Choose a light, warm range. Glossy surface most suitable for furniture.
This way the light will be reflected and visually make the room lighter. A glass table, transparent plastic chairs. If there are lockers in the furniture, then it is better that they are also from glass.
Reception No. 4: mirrors
Mirrors serve as an additional source of light.
