Natural light is more important to our wellbeing than many of us actually realise. Think about it, how many times have you opened the curtains on a grey morning and just felt a bit meh? And what about those times when you open the curtains to see the sun shining and a beautiful blue sky beaming back at you. How has that made you feel? I know I feel far happier on sunnier days than I do on gloomy days!

Why is natural light so important?

A lack of natural light can actually cause far more issues than just leaving us feeling as though we’re in a bit of a slump. In fact, a huge proportion of the population in the UK suffer from a condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD for short). This condition is primarily caused by a lack of natural sunlight, so it’s more prevalent in the winter months and causes the sufferer to have symptoms of depression.

So, for sufferers of Seasonal Affective Disorder, natural light is extremely important. It can mean the difference between leading a normal life and struggling through bouts of depression.

But even for those of us who don’t suffer from SAD, our minds and our bodies need plenty of natural light in order to function. Our bodies need Vitamin D (known as the sunlight vitamin) for healthy bones, teeth and muscles. And our emotional wellbeing tends to be better when we can get more natural light too.

In the Summer months, I love nothing more than relaxing in the garden with a good book and it’s a great way to get that all-important Vitamin D. I’m thinking of investing in a hammock before next summer so I have somewhere I can curl up and read in the sunshine after a busy day.

But in the UK, we aren’t always blessed with long spells of sunny weather, meaning we can end up stuck indoors for days at a time.

How to bring more natural light into your home

If you tend to spend long periods of time indoors, then it’s a good idea to do all that you can in order to increase the natural light coming into your home.

Even on the greyest of days, there are ways to increase the light in your home and this can have a huge impact on your health and wellbeing.

Mirrors

Mirrors are a great way of bouncing the natural light around your home, meaning that even if you only have the smallest windows, you can maximise the impact.

Place mirrors opposite windows or doors if you can so that the light is reflected around the rest of the room.

Windows

You’d be surprised what a difference new windows can make. If your windows are old and the frames have seen better days, then you would probably benefit from replacing them with aluminium windows. You’ll see an instant improvement in the amount of natural light flooding into your home.

Colour scheme

Dark colours can make a home feel dark and dingy, no matter how much light you’ve got coming in. Paint walls in pale colours, a pale lemon is a good choice as this will allow the light to bounce off the walls and will give the whole room a bright and airy feel.

It’s always a good idea to get out into the fresh air every day when you can, fresh air is so good for us, and the natural light is vital for our wellbeing too. But when you are stuck indoors, these tips will help you to bring more natural light into your life too. Do you have any tips for bringing more light into your home?