Tips on How to Fake Natural Light in a Dark Room for Home Working

It can be quite complicated to fake natural light in a dark room, but keeping your home office is important for multiple reasons. Over the years, many studies have noted the relationship between natural light and productivity, besides the many health benefits that natural light has. Unfortunately, not all workers have access to a home office with enough natural light – some of them don't even have windows! So what can you do in these cases?

A room without windows has tons of problems, besides the lack of natural light. If you don’t have an AC, it will get very hot once the summer arrives. Plus, there won’t be enough airflow. The result is a gloomy room that will likely be an uncomfortable place to work in at any time.

If you’d like to get natural light in a dark room, you’ll need to see if it’s possible to remodel it to include a window. Still, we know that this isn’t possible for most people, which is why there are solutions to decorate a room without natural light.

For today’s article, we’ll tell you how you can fake natural light in your home office and make it a more appropriate place for you to work in. After all, you can only give your best at work if you feel comfortable in your environment.

How to Fake Natural Light in a Dark Room – 6 Infallible Tricks!

Good lighting will always be an open invitation to enter a certain space, especially if it comes from the outside. However, what can you do to mimic this same aspect when you can’t modify the house’s structure?

Here we have a few tips you can use to create natural light in a dark room.

1. Consider using light furniture

Many people out there don't like purchasing white stuff for their homes, and we all understand why. However, please note that this is the first step you need to take if you'd like to create natural light in your home office. Yes, the stain hazard will be higher than ever, but you'll see how the atmosphere of the room gets better over time.

If you’ll purchase new furniture, try to get finishes like see-through acrylic. Choose furniture that is likely to stream light through them.

You can start by upgrading your old desk with a white standing desk, for instance. If you have a small room and would like to take advantage of space as much as possible, a white L-shaped standing desk is also a good option.

When it comes to the chair, you can opt for different colors, as long as they combine with your layout. For instance, a grey ergonomic office chair is a good idea if everything else in the room is already white. It will add more harmony to the atmosphere.

2. If you don’t like white, try to stick to light tones

Although white is the best option when it comes to a room’s illumination, you can also opt for combining other light colors to add more “personality” to the room. After all, it’s you’re trying to enhance your comfort.

It's never a good idea to use dark tones in an area without natural light because dark colors absorb more heat. Plus, it will make the whole space seem darker, even if it isn't like that. So instead, it's better to opt for a color that reflects the light around the room.

You can take a look at diverse office color schemes to have an idea of what would work best in your case.

3. Add some actual lighting to the room!

If the room doesn't have any windows, then you'll have to add some illumination to it. A good home office should have an appropriate illumination to protect your eyes against strain. You start by adding lamps, for instance, based on the size of the room.

A small home office should be okay with two or three lamps. Remember to keep a desk lamp with you at all times. It'll help your vision.

4. Keep it minimalistic

You don’t have to renovate the whole room, but it’s important to keep it minimalistic. Keep only the things you’ll need throughout the workday around and reallocate the rest. Otherwise, the room will feel a bit overwhelming, especially if it’s small.

A minimalistic desk setup is always the safe choice as you won't have to acquire unnecessary stuff and will actually keep the atmosphere of the room quite light.

5. Add a few plants!

Plants have plenty of benefits to our well-being. If your home office is an isolated space, try to keep a couple of office plants around. Yes, if there isn't enough natural light around the room, you may think the plant will die, but that's why you need to be picky about what you choose.

Plants like snake plants, aloe vera, succulents, peace lilies, or spider plants are more likely to survive in office environments without problems.

Keeping an office plant around will make the whole space look more vivid. However, if you'd like to contribute to the room's illumination, we recommend you choose light-colored planters so they will reflect the lighting around the room.

6. Include some art in your home office

Including a few paintings or prints in your room not only will help you decorate it but will also open a new door for enhancing the room's lighting and fake natural light. For instance, you can choose to frame your art, which will then add another layer of reflection into the room. Again, we recommend selecting white frames, regardless of the color you've chosen for the walls.

Conclusion

Creating fake natural light in your room may seem like a complicated task at first, but it doesn't have to be such a headache. The tips described in this article should help you make your room a bit brighter than it was before, allowing you to work more comfortably regardless of the time.

If you’d like to add more decorative items to your home office, try to add pieces with a reflective finish. This way, you’ll be contributing even more to the room’s illumination.