Removing the Blinds - Let There Be Light

Welcome back. Today, I'm going to show you how to maximize the amount of light that comes in your windows. 

In my last post I talked about scraping and painting your ceilings to help reflect more natural light into your home. As we learned, more light can boost  your mood, making you happier and helping you love your home.

Today, as part of my continuing series "Fall in Love with Your Home February", we will be focusing on the windows in your home.

If you have mini-blinds (well, in my case I had maxi-blinds), they can block up to 25% of the light coming in your room, even when they are raised! Look at your window blinds, curtains and/or valance. Do they cover more than half of a window pane? Or more than 3-4". If they do, they are blocking light.

Take a look at this photo taken today in our bathroom. The "maxi-blinds" were completely pulled open (picture on the left), but look how much light they were blocking when I took them down (picture on the right). You can see there is more light being reflected on the ceiling and the door. And it is a cloudy day. Can you imagine how much light is blocked on a sunny day?

Next up, take a look in our master bedroom. The top pictures show the room with roman shades that covered one whole pane height, or almost half of the upper window. The bottom photo is taken around the same time of day with new shades hung much higher. The amount of light increased in the room is dramatic!

As you can see below, I hung the shades above the window, and they only overlap the window by about 3-4".

I also added curtains to the windows, but the rod extends far enough to the sides that the curtain doesn't cover the window.

When opened, they only slightly cover the window casing.

What you saw above is akin to cheating the size of your window. If you install the blinds  and hang the curtains  outside the window, it makes your windows appear larger than they are. 

Now, I'd like to bring in a professional interior designer so she can show you some of the rooms she has redesigned to maximize the amount of light coming into the windows. 

Introducing Caitlin Campbell from Symmetry Designs in San Jose, CA:

The photo below is from her portfolio. Believe it or not, the two pictures are from the same dining room. The photo on the left is the before picture. And the photo on the right shows the room with the bulky valance removed and curtains hung on the outside of the windows. Even with the new dark dining set, the room has a much brighter feel.

photo courtesy of Symmetry Designs

This living room that Caitlin designed, was a bit drab and dark
(even with an exposed glass door).

photo courtesy of Symmetry Designs

But, after removing the valance and opening the mini-blinds, this room beckons us to enter and enjoy. Look at all that natural light flooding in.

I understand that we all need privacy sometimes. So, feel free to draw your curtains or blinds at night. But, I beg of you, please open them every morning! Invite in a little sunshine to brighten your day. And find yourself falling in love with your home.

Disclosure: Those of you that know me, know that Caitlin is my sister, but she REALLY is a talented interior designer. Besides if I told you she was my sister from the get go you wouldn't have paid attention to her fantastic room makeovers. But seriously, she is NCIDQ Certified and an Industry Member of ASID. So, if you live in the San Jose, CA and need some expert design advice, look her up!

A few products you might be interested in (commission based links):

Leaf Curtain Rod - Wrought Iron ~Allow 3-4 weeks. Cannot express ship or ship to Alaska or Canada.

Acorn & Leaf Curtain Rod Wrought iron acorn and leaf curtain rod. Available in three different sizes; 1/2" Diameter. Made in the U.S.A. Curtain brackets sold separately (see link below). ~Allow 3-4 weeks. Cannot express ship or ship to Alaska or Canada.