Our Top Five Tips to Brighten a Dim Space

There are plenty of ways to get creative when trying to brighten a dark room or home. In addition to a variety of design elements like lighting, decor, and furniture, our favorite and often unforeseen approach is scent-scaping. What is scent-scaping? It’s differentiating one space from another via scent. It’s ideal for those who rent and want to personalize a space so it truly reflects the mood of a room or home. Check out our tips to create a bright atmosphere in a dim space.

Paint It Not Black

An easy and low-cost way to brighten up a dark room is by painting the walls a light color, if your landlord is cool with it, of course. If bright white is not your jam, opt for light beige or cream tones for a soft approach.

Building Blocks

Choose furniture in light colors or transparent materials. If you have a small or dim room, a gray sofa is probably not the best choice. Instead opt for light beige, ivory, or white, for example, and avoid dark woods like walnut. Acrylic pieces are  also a great alternative.

Pops Of Color

Add pieces like throw pillows, wall art, small decor, and area rugs that come in bright or warm colors, depending on your preference, to add visual interest. Low light plants are also great to add life and color to any room.

Play With Light

Lighting in a room is almost as important as fragrance. If a natural source is lacking, we love incorporating beautiful lighting fixtures and lamps to add personality and brightness to a space. Another fave? Placing mirrors near light sources to help reflect light to other parts of a room.

The Final Touch

Adding a signature scent to any home or space is an instant mood lifter and our go-to for brightening a dark space. For scents that make you smile, we like to recommend florals, which  have been shown to be a mood booster. All of this plus more is outlined in our book, At Home with Fragrance, including how to use fragrance in your home and fun DIYs. This is the power of olfaction and fragrance, it has the ability to create any ambiance you choose, so go ahead and get creative!

Ready to have fun with some amazing scents?

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For more tips check out Redfin's latest article!