Light ranks as one of the seven key elements of beautiful interior design in Singapore, the others being space, clean lines, form, colour, texture and patterns. When combined in one or another, these elements result in a solid and comprehensive home décor concept.
Many of the elements will have no significance at all in the absence of light – colour, texture, patterns, etc. Light sets the mood, it makes the living space warm and inviting. Experienced Singapore interior designers can “manipulate” light in ways that enable them to achieve a specific outcome.
Both natural and man-made light can be used to brighten up a Singapore home. A tendency for the more effective utilisation of natural light has been obvious for some time already. If you’re considering a home renovation or you’ve just bought your first HDB apartment, you should definitely examine the numerous ways in which natural light can be transformed into a powerful décor element.
Use Solar Tubes to Maximise Light
Though you may want to maximise natural light, the task could be impossible to accomplish due to the property’s location, the size and the availability of windows.
If you believe that the light is simply not enough, your interior designer could suggest the use of solar tubes. This solution is more suited for landed homes.
Solar tubes start at the roof and they’re used the “carry” the natural light from there to your apartment. In a sense, a solar tube will give you a chance to borrow light from the higher levels of the building and bring it into your apartment.
Again, the placement of these and the parts of the house that will be illuminated have to be selected carefully. It’s a good idea to direct light to strategic décor elements that you’d like to highlight and make more prominent than the rest of the interior design.
Shiny Surfaces + Natural Light = Beauty
Shiny surfaces are highly reflective. This means that they’ll reflect a lot of light and make the place appear much brighter than it already is.
To use natural light as a décor element, you will very often have to overcome its scarcity. Light can be combined with other design elements to achieve a more powerful effect.
Glossy wood, stainless steel, varnishes and stained glass surfaces can reflect a lot of light and make your apartment appear brighter.
The reflections can also result in some interesting visual effects that will have a good aesthetic effect. Thus, the shiny surfaces should once again be placed strategically. Their placement should increase the brightness and it should also create interesting reflections that will enhance either the ambiance or the aesthetic appeal of the respective room.
Filtering and Regulation of Natural Light
One very interesting residential and commercial interior design concept involves the regulation of the amount of natural light allowed to reach a certain part of the property.
The amount of natural light can be blocked or filtered through the use of temporary solutions aimed at achieving a specific goal upon necessity.
Temporary dividers and sliding walls are a great choice for quickly modifying the amount of light permitted into a specific space.
Open-floor plans benefit from a lot of natural light. The light makes the living space look cleaner, brighter and incredibly modern. If you want some seclusion and a place that’s a bit more intimate, however, you can easily pull out a temporary divider and cut off a portion of the room.
Interior design companies experiment with such ways to filter and regulate natural light. Some of the outcomes are incredibly creative because one living space can be transformed into something completely different through the selection of a practical, inexpensive and easy to pull out divider.
One more very simple example of a natural light regulator is window shutters.
Shutters come in all shapes and sizes and their appearance contributes to the home décor concept. In addition, shutter position can be adjusted in a number of ways. Through their use, you can regulate the amount of light into every single room without having to opt for a more expensive filtering solution.
Apart from allowing a lot of natural light in, it’s also important to balance it properly.
If there’s a lot of natural light entering the apartment from a glass wall, for example, there should be at least one more source of light allowing the rays to come from another direction. Whenever sunlight enters the property from just one direction, it will create a lot of glare and cast shadows. These will hinder people from experiencing the beauty of all home décor elements with equal intensity.
Whenever multi-directional light permeation is not possible, the source of natural light should be placed as high as possible.
The higher the source of light, the deeper it will be capable of penetrating the property. This is one of the reasons why the extension of windows up to the ceiling has become quite a popular interior design strategy.
Natural light can also be balanced through the strategic placement of mirrors. This way, a clever designer can get the light bouncing from one place to another and creating an incredible effect along the way.
If you believe that your HDB apartment is gloomy, you should hire an interior designer to address the issue. The absence of natural light can be overcome in a number of ways. In addition, natural light can be manipulated for benefit maximisation.
Home Guide is an HDB licensed interior design company that has worked on an extensive range of residential projects.
Whether you’d like a small apartment to look bigger or you’re interested in an open floor clean and minimalist design, you should get in touch with us today. The knowledgeable and creative Home Guide interior designers will work hard to understand your original home improvement concept and elevate it to the next level.
