When I was a girl I was a tree hugger, and that’s no metaphor. My childhood home was in a clearing surrounded by beautiful woods, which I loved. Had you told young me, face pressed against the trunk of my favourite maple, I would one day see trees as the enemy, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Seeing trees as the enemy is what happens when you buy a cave, which my husband and I did, inadvertently.Of course it wasn’t only the trees that made our house dark. Deep eaves, too-few windows, faux beams, low ceilings and our valley setting surrounded by woods-covered hills all contributed to our home’s lack of light. From the day we took possession of our home until it burned down, we were steadily working to increase and maximise its natural light.

1. Add windows

Our family room had wonderful southern exposure, but the only light came from the sliding doors. Even after we added a large Solatube, the room was bright but didn’t feel right. We added a pair of double-hung windows on either side of the door, giving us a total of four. We planned to install two more square windows on either side of the fireplace, like the one shown in the first photo.In our kitchen, which also faced south, there was only one small window above the sink. We left that when we remodelled the kitchen, but a couple years later when had some other work done, we removed a large double cabinet to expand the existing window and add two more, similar to this kitchen’s design.Kitchens and living rooms are obvious places to add windows, but stairwells and landings are great places to consider. They’re frequently dark and windowless spots.

2. Install Tubular Daylighting Devices (TDDs) or skylights

The very first thing we did was have Tubular Daylighting Devices installed. These are sort of like mini skylights. To quote Lindsey M. Roberts from her ideabook specifically on the subject, TDDs “are reflective cylinders or pipes installed between the roof and ceiling, with a clear plastic dome. The bottoms of the tubes are diffused or glazed to prevent glaring beams of light and to ensure a soft glow.”We had three installed: One in the living room, another in the kitchen and a third in our entry. They worked beautifully, and to say the difference was like night and day for those rooms isn’t just a figure of speech. We used Solatubes and were very pleased with the quality and performance.Our before photos were even darker than this TDD company's promotional photo. In the bathroom a need for privacy makes no windows almost a benefit, but in other rooms a lack of windows gives a feeling of being shut in, even when the TDDs bring bright and sufficient light.In this townhouse a large skylight dramatically brightens a windowless kitchen.
With skylights there can be a greater risk of leakage simply because of the larger hole cut in your roof. Another consideration is the heat they can generate.

3. Add glass doors

Our original front door had sidelights with amber glass in that bottle-bottom pattern. Our house faced north, so our entry was dim and dark. It led into our windowless dining room, which flowed into the kitchen. Standing at the island in our brand-new kitchen, that dark entry was my view. Ugh.We installed a solid wood 15-pane glass door with matching five-pane sidelights.If privacy is a concern, there are many options, such as etched or reeded glass, for maintaining privacy while allowing light in.

4. Replace interior solid doors with glass or French doors

Interior doors help provide soundproofing, something very important in the prevalent open plans today. However, French doors provide a way for rooms to share light and to avoid shutting rooms off.If the door shown here were solid, it would have felt like a dead end when shut. The narrow French doors make the hall feel open and beautiful.This room is dark, but the French doors with sidelights and transoms create a wall of windows that opens this darker room for a view of the light-filled kitchen.

5. Widen doorways and take down unnecessary walls if you can

This is the townhouse we saw above. The windowless kitchen doesn’t feel dark because of the wonderful skylight, as well as the complete openness to the dining room and beyond that, the living room with large windows. Imagine it with only a narrow doorway between – a different stories entirely.When we redid the kitchen, we tore down the wall between the kitchen and the living room, which opened things up tremendously. We also raised the large archway that led into the dining room.On another wall in the dining room we knocked a hole in our mudroom and installed a single 15-pane glass door for better flow with the rest of the house and to take advantage of the western light.

6. Paint your  rooms deep colours

The inclination with dark rooms is to paint them light to try and brighten things up, but sometimes the best thing to do is to embrace the shadows and go for deeper, moody colours that make a dark room feel cozy.Warm green is a perfect colour for this space. The black doors and brass hardware add to the feeling of richness and warmth. The double French doors open to the light and bright kitchen.