Tips and Tricks to Light Rooms with No Natural Source

Natural light pouring into your home can be wonderful – if you can get it! There’s always going to be some spaces that get very little sunlight. What’s more, many of us even have areas and rooms that get no natural light whatsoever. Given that we all need light to live and work in, it makes sense to think carefully about darker spaces.

The danger with windowless rooms is that you can overdo things with too much light. What’s more, a smaller space without windows could easily suffer from intense glare. Therefore, you need to think about how you will emulate natural light. With our fantastic selection of lighting solutions here at Arrow, you can be sure of our help!

Below, we’ll take you through a few fantastic tips on making that windowless or dark room bright again. No windows? No problem – take a glance below and start making your darker spaces shine with inviting light.

Overhead Lighting? Not the Focus

Most rooms in most homes will have overhead lighting fixtures as standard. It’s often good to have some form of bulb overhead for convenience. However, in some cases, relying on an overhead light can overpower the illumination in your space. Light splashes all around – which will be pretty intense depending on the bulb.

Our advice would be to look beyond overhead lighting wherever possible. By no means ignore it or replace it outright, but consider that a dark space needs more than this fitting alone. Windowless rooms will benefit from touches of light in all corners. Therefore, consider balancing out the illumination with standing lamps and bedside illumination, too.

What you need to consider is getting light to reach each wall. That’s possible if not easy with overhead lighting. However, there’s a nicer, less intensive effect with sparse lighting features. By setting up lights across the room – spreading the illumination load – you can balance the intensity.

What’s more, this approach is likely to make things appear more natural. It’s also ideal for work and relaxation. Overhead lighting is essential in most cases. However, it’s not the be-all and end-all for replacing natural light in a windowless space.

If you want to focus on overhead lighting, for the time being, consider opting for a warm glow. That’s as opposed to intensive brightness. Consider the outside glow you’d typically get through your windows. Again, it’s all about illuminating that as much as physically possible.

Ceiling lights such as our fantastic LED bulkhead are excellent choices for creating soft glows overhead. LEDs are less intensive than traditional bulbs by design. What’s more, the delicate design and light delivery of this fitting will help you create that natural balance.

Ceiling lights such as these give you the chance to create direct illumination without necessarily overpowering. Why not take a look at accompanying this fitting with a handful of lamps and feature lights?

Go for Recessed Lighting

Overhead lighting, as mentioned, tends to be a default choice for most rooms across British homes. That said, it doesn’t always work out perfectly in a windowless room. To avoid getting overpowered, spreading out the illumination is a must. Moreover, did you know that you can do this within the ceiling itself, not necessarily with floor lamps?

The answer lies with recessed lighting. While you may typically find flush, recessed lighting in kitchens and bathrooms. That’s simply because they are convenient for the spaces. However, recessed lights are quickly catching on in bedrooms, studies, and lounges, too. And for a good reason!

Recessed lighting is fantastic for windowless spaces simply because it’s less intense than overheads. What’s more, it’s immediately less obvious. No clunky lamp or shade is hanging down, making the light effectively flush with the ceiling. With recessed lighting set up effectively, you can ensure that there’s less need for lamps elsewhere.

What we also love about recessed lighting and spots is the fact that you can space them out. There usually is only one fitting in a central position with traditional ceiling lights. Recessed lights can space out evenly across a ceiling to spread the glow below and across a room.

While you may recognise recessed light spots as a popular choice, why not go square? Our ultra-slim square recessed LED is an excellent choice for balancing light and keeping the look flush and clean.

Again, even with some recessed lights, illumination can be direct and intense. Therefore, it may be worth considering different bulbs, colours, and dim effects (more on this below). We suggest opting for different hues, shades, and tones to match your space. As stated, intensive lighting will never work well in a small, windowless room.

Recessed lighting is flexible, contemporary, and can highlight and enhance various spaces. If you’re missing that natural light, they might just help you achieve a balance.

Dim Away

As mentioned above, you can do more with a default bulb or fitting to balance that natural effect. In fact, in most cases, we’d advise you consider a dimmable bulb and fitting, as well as switch.

Consider the behaviour of natural light and how it affects rooms in your home with windows. Naturally, you’ll find that sunlight hits its peak around noon and dims further towards the evening. Therefore, in a windowless space or similar, it makes sense to try and replicate this effect.

That’s easy enough to manage with dimmable lights. You could turn up to full brightness around late morning and dim down again in the evening. Where possible, it may even be worth switching colours and tones in your lighting.

Dimming your lights in the evening is essential for your body clock. No one works well with bright lights as they get tired later in the day. People are hardwired to expect the light to dissipate as the day moves on. In a windowless space, you’re at risk of forgetting what time of day it is!

Therefore, it makes sense to try and use a dimmer effect to replicate this experience. Keep an eye on the clock and illuminate your space likewise. For example, this should be easy enough to do if you use your windowless room as an office.

What’s more, dimming the lights makes sense before bed, too. An abundance of intensive light before you head to sleep will – trust us – not help you get your seven to eight hours. All around, dimmable bulbs for natural light emulation will help you to keep on track.

A superb dimmable solution for any room is available in our catalogue. Our 10W dimmable LED downlight is extremely low profile. What’s more, it’s flexible to your daily lighting needs. Simply use a dimmer switch and replicate the sunlight outside as best you can.

It’s much easier than it sounds – and it is certainly less hassle (and money!) compared to installing a whole new set of windows outright!

Keep the Way Clear

Let’s take a break from lighting types and consider what else is in your room. Do you have an abundance of furniture? A bed, tables, a sofa, cabinets – a TV, a computer, shelving? Yes – all of this will likely be helpful to you day in day out, but it can help clog up your space.

Balancing the natural light emulation created using the above tips, think carefully about scaling back. Ultimately, too much decor will lead to a cramped and cluttered space. That may be – but clutter can help to make your area feel even darker! That is never a good thing in a room where you are getting zero natural light.

This can be a colossal issue in tiny spaces like box bedrooms and bathrooms. The less furniture you have, the more chance you will give light to splash across your room. The same goes for decor! Even items you may hang or fix to the wall can add clutter and restrict how far your light travels.

It is all the more important to focus on using recessed lights and delicate illuminating touches across your room. Beyond that, however, consider a minimalist look in the first instance. You may not wish to part with a few items in your room. However, why not move them elsewhere?

In our experience, stocking a small or windowless room is never a good idea if you want to avoid unnecessary cramping. We all like our mod cons and decorative touches. However, consider starting from scratch and seeing how you go! As it happens, there are a variety of fantastic lighting choices that directly benefit minimalistic interior design.

Our advice would be to consider only the essential pieces you need for your space. Some focal points are great (again, keep reading for more detail on this)! However, less is indeed more, and if you are already struggling for light, it doesn’t make sense to overcrowd.

Why not consider setting up a smooth, flush ceiling light to accompany a minimalist space? Our l is a flexible, stylish choice with a neutral slant. Never intrusive, this light fitting will significantly benefit a space that’s low on clutter.

Create Focal Accents

As mentioned above, creating focal points and accents is healthy! It’s also an excellent angle for trying to balance light across a room. Do you have points of interest, such as artwork or photos that you’d like to showcase? Are they set up in a windowless room?

The great news is, you can use focal lighting to dual effect in this case. Simply spread out your focal points as balanced and as evenly as possible. This might not seem simple in the first place, but it is something you can pick up and adjust to as you go along. You’ll soon be able to tell which corners and spaces in your room need light.

The problem with an overhead light alone is that it washes over everything in this case. That, of course, is if you use a bulk or lamp that is too intense! If you want to create focal spaces and draw attention, you need to create ‘zones.’ Consider using recessed lights, floor lamps, or similar touches to mark out your room.

This is a really exciting project for anyone who loves to get creative. If you have furniture or set pieces that you’d love to show off, then why shouldn’t you? This goes for just about every space in your home, but in a windowless room, you need to get extra creative.

Again, using the tips listed above, consider creating a balance with floor lamps. Highlight a bedhead with table lamps on bedside units. Or, again, go for recessed lights set up in a specific zone. You could even choose up and downlights to draw focus vertically, casting glow directly downwards. The choice is yours!

Ultimately, it’s worth remembering that we do not always need light just to be able to see! Light can help us to bring out the best in our rooms, and when you don’t have windows, you need to get strategic.

Conclusion

Windowless and darker spaces don’t have to suffer without light. What’s more, you never have to throw all your money behind intensive or obstructive illumination. Consider creating spots or zones and spreading out some gentle tones and hues.

Natural light is wonderful. However, it’s not always possible to achieve in every room of the home. Therefore, it’s time to start getting creative! Don’t worry, as we are on side to help you find the best fittings and fixtures.

Arrow Electrical is pleased to offer a top-quality range of ceiling, recessed, and wall lighting options for all spaces. Does your windowless room need a little help seeing the light? Take a glance at our fantastic range now, as well as our specific products linked across this guide.