How to Get Daylight Into Difficult Spaces

Many homes suffer from dark zones that are crying out for some natural light to bring them to life. Whether that’s your hallway, a landing or even your stairs, generally rooms in the middle of the home or at the north-facing elevation lack daylight the most. These zones require a little more consideration when it comes to choosing your windows and doors.

What Are the Benefits of Natural Lighting?

Health

The benefits of light to our physical and mental wellbeing are numerous. Natural light has a huge impact on our mood, sleep patterns and focus, and good access to it ultimately makes us happier.

Sunlight is also important in allowing our bodies to produce vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bones, teeth, muscles and more.

Design

Visually, natural light plays a huge part in architecture. The best house designers use light to create interiors that feel open and airy. The correct use of glazing can turn an average room into a stunning space.

Kloeber’s bespoke fixed glazing maximises the potential for light in this property, allowing it to flood into the hallway and make the most of the vast, open space

Value

Natural light makes a room look bigger and feel more open. A bright, light-filled home will stand out in the marketplace, creating an inviting atmosphere that connects well with potential buyers.

Energy

Properly designed and specified glazing can also help to maximise the performance of your home, reducing your need for artificial lighting and even promoting free solar heat gain to reduce heating bills.

Glazing Ideas to Improve Daylight

Front Doors

The entrance to your home sets the tone for the rest of the living spaces, and the front door is key to making this zone feel bright, warm and inviting.

Try to incorporate glass into the door panel itself, and ideally look to install full-height glazed sidelights and a top light above. The front door is often the only way to let the natural light in when it comes to entrance hallways, so it’s important to maximise its potential.matt

Windows

People often think of windows as having purely practical purposes in terms of ventilation and the ability to look out of them. However, if you see them as a multi-purpose component of your home that can let in light, heat and create an architecturally interesting focal point, you’ll realise the true value of your glazing package.

Look at the path of the sun and how you can harness this to brighten your home. Windows can be placed anywhere in a room, and the higher up they are, the more daylight they let in. Fixed windows are generally more cost effective than opening models, so use them where possible.

Here, Kloeber’s cleverly placed aluminium frame fixed glazing means that natural lighting inundates the staircase space, an area which might not see much daylight otherwise. Its tall, slender design makes it ideal for a narrower area with higher ceilings

Interesting shapes on gables and tall thin windows create visual interest, enhancing a space and making it feel bigger. Any way you can better connect the outside with the inside of your home will benefit both the property and your wellbeing.

Rooflights

Installing glazing on the roof of your property is a great way to bring natural light into an otherwise dark space, especially on a north-facing aspect. When glass is on the roof, it will always face towards the sun at some point during the day.

A rooflight can bring in twice the amount of natural light than a normal window or door – and it’s a great solution for zones in the middle of the floorplan, such as where an extension adjoins the original building.

Glazed Doors

Another difficult area to get light into might be a side or back entrance to your home, such as a utility room. These spaces tend to be smaller, more practical rooms with perhaps less design focus. Installing a fully glazed door in these areas will fill the space with plenty of light, giving the impression it’s bigger than it is.

Final Thoughts

Maximising natural light at the design stage of your build, renovation or extension will reap dividends once you start to live in it – especially those smaller, more difficult spaces.

Speak to one of our experts for advice on how to create a light-filled home.