Looking for cheap ways to brighten dark house

[Iwantmychairback]

The house we bought has rosewood windows in and out, rosewood internal doors and fireplace, oak flooring. Plus our current furniture is dark wood and brown leather suite. So everything is dark!!!
I am looking for inspiration to brighten up the front room, which also has dado rail. I have cream curtains up which brighten the window itself, but am looking for a way to brighten the room in general with paint or wallpaper. Anyone good at interior design for inspiration?

Light coloured paint or paper obviously, but there are some paints that are supposed to be, I don’t know light reflecting? Something like that anyway.

I would also be looking for a big mirror for one wall perhaps?

Put a mirror on the wall to reflect the light coming in, that really helps. Along with painting the walls a lighter colour?

I love a homes thread. I can personally recommend Dulux 'Light & Space' paint which comes in different colours. If you only used it on the ceiling it would make a decent difference. I did it in my dd's room & it's almost luminescent. I'd add pockets of lighting here & there. You can get that cozy early evening glow with fairy lights here & there plus additional table lamps dotted around. You haven't said how you feel about colour, but you could throw in one or two strong accent colours with cushions/throws etc to give the room a bit of personality/lift.

The world's your oyster if you're prepared to look at wallpaper. Could you upload a pic of one room, then we could give direct ideas?

Use light accessories, like cream throws, rugs, and cushions. If you have a coffee table, top it with a cream/light-coloured tray holding a candle/ornament/etc.

Mirrors are your friends!!! Use a big one above the fireplace, and hang one in any corners that are dark. Homesense are great for them (and the accessories I mentioned as well, come to think of it!)

Re: inspo, I follow a French insta called @westwingfr, and almost everything they've been posting recently is light and/or Scandi-inspired. I hope it helps :)

Oh yeah, completely forgot mirrors! I have a little trick with mirrors. If you can place them perpendicular to the window (so the light lands sideways on them) you can add a thin bead of wood to the back down one side. This tilts the mirror to face into the darkness of the room - but only by a tiny bit, so you don't notice the mirror isn't perfectly flat. But it has the effect of bouncing light into the darker areas. Also, if the window is inset to the wall not flush - so has reveals either side, you can have mirror cheaply cut to fit the reveals & this massively bounces light around too.

On the other hand, I've seen an amazing study/reading room in a friends house that has the tiniest window & she had an interior designer make it over. Together they chose a beautiful deep plum paint & fixtures to match. I think it was 'Brinjal' by F&B paint. It's the cosiest room I ever saw.

. I can personally recommend Dulux 'Light & Space' paint which comes in different colours.

This is the one I was mumbling about.

Wow! So many replies so quickly. Love the idea of that Dulux paint.
I have no idea what to do about the Dado rail though. House was built in 70/80 so not period feature, but if it is removed then I would have to replaster which is too expensive. I was thinking cream/ beige wallpaper below rail (maybe stripes) then light colour paint above (will use the Dulux paint now) or is this too dated? Same colour paint above and below, and on the dado rail? Other ideas? I like bold colours, but only soft furnishings such as cushions and rugs, so I can easily change them when I get bored.
A mirror above the fireplace will be at 90 degrees to the window so should reflect light.

Are you sure you’ll need to replaster if you remove the dadorail? A similar one in an old house of ours had just been nailed on with small nails and the holes were easily disguised.

Yes, would defiantly need to replaster, took a small section off behind the door, and took some plaster with it.

We have used the Dulux paint referred to above in our hallway as has no window. Beware as it's reflective, it reflects what's around it, so our teal feature wall and grey carpet make it look slightly pink and blue at different parts. You may end up with a pink reflection from the dark colours if you go for white

Would you be happy to paint the windows and dado rail? Paint them a white satin and the difference will be huge.

Another vote for painting the window frames. Re dado rails - paint them and the wall above and below the same light colour and they'll blend in.

You could paint the inside of the windows. Or embrace the dark and go for cosy.

Look on the Paint Library website for inspiration & dado rail treatments. I have rosewood frames too & bloody hate them. But try light Venetian blinds rather than curtains that will cut out light, cut back any exterior vegetation, if you have rosewood plastic side trims on the window, replace in white - I did that to my kitchen window (only trimmed window) went from being a ginormous dark window to being a large dark window but every little helps.
Warm & snug may be your friend here if the room is truly gloomy, but a picture would help....

We have a lamp behind our armchair tilted upwards so that light hits our white wall and reflects back into the room. Creates a lovely dispersed light but the room doesn't look "lit" iyswim? Obviously works better with lighter walls but is good for corners where a mirror wouldn't work.

This is what we use (but a bigger version)
www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/ikea-ps-2017-table-lamp-grey-10434955/

Also forgot to say, you can't see the lamp behind the chair, but we've raised it up enough to be able to see the spot of light on the wall. Looks good!

I've recently discovered Frenchic Paint that can only be bought at certain places. I've been following the Frenchic Fan Forum group on Facebook and the changes people have made to their dark wood and even to upvc doors is incredible.

I'd rip out the dado. The holes left will be less than shoe-box size (unless you can see it's REALLY shagged. For £10 you can get a builder's size bag of 'bonding' filler & just squish it in to take out the depth & use Polyfilla for the final top coat. Not a huge job.

Op - it depends how long you plan on staying there. If it’s a long term property (over 10 years), I’d bite the bullet and rip the dado out and replaster everything - honestly it’ll be a game changer doing that.

Ps - does the room get any sunlight? I’e - is it north facing? If it’s north facing and gets little light, I’d avoid going white/grey/cream... it’ll just look cold and uninviting. You might need to think about using a mid to dark tone, either reds, dark greens, dark blues. A really good starting point is to go and talk to a farrow & ball consultant in one of their shops, take a photo of your room with you.

Sometimes when a room is dark you just need to embrace it and not try and fight it.

Nb - I agree about using mirrors too, and lots of lighting in various forms.