You might take your windows for granted, or fail to even notice them, until you’re presented with the task of brightening a windowless room. Only then do you realise the value of those humble panes of glass, everything they do to make your day infinitely easier. Now you have to recreate what they achieve so naturally, so effortlessly, all by yourself. Fortunately, you’re no longer alone, as we’re here to explain how to use artificial lighting to brighten a dark room. 

With some knowledge around layered lighting schemes, alongside other tips and tricks to really draw out the benefits of this new approach, you won’t be pining after those window panes for much longer. Read on to find out how to inject the darkest, dreariest rooms with a new lease of life.

How Much Light Do You Need?

You’ll be entirely reliant on artificial lighting to revive a windowless room, if there’s any hope of getting stuff done, but how much? This depends on a few things — the shape and size of the room, how you’re using the space and the kind of mood you wish to create. 

Generally speaking, a bedroom or living room requires about 10-20 lumens of light per square foot, while kitchens and bathrooms need 70-80 lumens. So, to make an approximate calculation of the amount of light you need, simply multiply the square footage of the room in question by these figures.

Which Lighting Fixtures Should You Choose?

Once you have a rough idea of how much lighting you’ll need, you can begin to develop a lighting scheme for your windowless room. This requires some decision-making, answering questions like: which kind of lighting fixtures are you going to employ — ceiling lights, wall lights, table lamps and floor lamps — and where are you going to put them, to maximise their potential? 

You don’t have to use all of the fixtures mentioned above, but we recommend you try at least three, to establish a layered lighting scheme. Layered lighting is the most effective way to illuminate a room, exploiting the unique benefits of the different types of light fixtures, for a broadly well-lit space. While ceiling pendants provide a widespread layer of light that extends to every nook and cranny, table lamps shine a more focused, intense beam of light towards a specific area, making every day tasks easier to complete. Teamwork makes a dream work, as they say, and each fixture can work to fill in the gaps left by alternatives, as well as enhancing their benefits. 

Layered lighting is key, but you need to be thorough in how you go about it. What layered lighting looks like for your windowless room really depends on the windowless room itself. If it’s on the small side, then one ceiling pendant may not be enough to offer a panoptic-style glow. You may need spotlights or recessed lighting instead (or in addition) to illuminate areas that a ceiling fixture wouldn’t, or doesn’t, reach. 

When it comes to choosing your ceiling light (and your other fixtures, too!), we suggest you go for a ceiling fixture with a reflective metallic surface, such as copper, silver or brass. 

As we mentioned, the amount of available space also determines how many lights you can use, particular floor lamps (if you can use them at all). Floor lamps are certainly appropriate for larger rooms, as they assist ceiling lights with general lighting while providing helpful task lighting in and around their specific position. For smaller rooms, though, it might be a squeeze. Experiment with one large floor lamp in the corner of your room, or a couple of small lamps, and see how the room looks and feels as a result. 

The same logic goes for table lamps and desk lamps, though they do tend to be smaller. Styling these in multiples in any space you can is a great way to add extra helpings of light. 

In this instance, with a room that’s already struggling to brighten up, we’d advise you to avoid table lamps with lampshades, as they will soften the light, which is counterproductive (unless you have loads of table lamps, then the brightness levels may be quite intense overall). 

What About Bulbs?

It’s always important to pick the right bulbs for your light fixtures, but it’s even more so when the aim is to lighten rooms without windows, because you can’t rely on much else. As a general rule, we’d suggest you choose LED bulbs with the brightness of 1,100 lumens or 1,600 lumens. The colour temperature (the appearance or tint of light) is entirely up to you, but those with higher Kelvin (K) values produce cooler, and arguably brighter, light, so that might be the best pick. But, as always, we’d encourage you to mix it up. A sea of bulbs with a high colour temperature can quickly turn the room from pleasantly bright to clinical. You don’t want that. Choose both warm and cool bulbs for balance.

Add a mirror light to windowless bathrooms

If it’s your bathroom you’re dealing with here, you can use the mirror to maximise your lighting. Install a dedicated mirror light (such as our corner wall light) above or beside your mirror, and the light it emits will bounce outwards from the reflective surface beneath, into the surrounding space. Mirror lighting also allows for a bright, sparkling display in which you can glam yourself up every day. 

You can use mirrors creatively everywhere in the house, not just the bathroom. Decorate your windowless spaces with mirrors to add depth, project light across the room, and even to replicate the appearance of a window.

Additional Tips

Here are some additional tips you can consider for your windowless rooms, to help your new lighting scheme thrive: 

• Declutter — a tidy rooms always feels bigger and brighter 

• Keep the wall colours minimalist — pale tones, monochromes, airy whites 

• Keep furniture lines clean and streamlined without embellishments 

• Free up floor space and fit a light-coloured carpet or rug 

• Choose reflective materials — high-gloss metal features, glass features, furniture painted with gloss paint, mirrors

• Choose lustrous materials, too — opt for sofas, chairs, cushions and throws made from luxurious, glow-in-the-dark materials, such as velvet, chenille, silk or satin

Windowless rooms needn’t be sentenced to enduring darkness. All it takes is some time and effort to find the best sources of artificial lighting, and you can inject some energy and colour into your windowless living spaces.  For style inspiration, take a look at houseof.com. We have a whole range of ceiling lights, wall lights, table lamps and floor lamps ready for new homes. Share some love with your dark rooms and kit them out with your favourites of our contemporary lights today. We promise you won’t look back.