To prevent eyestrain, reduce the contrast between a computer monitor and a room’s ambient light.
Make the most of natural light in your home to safeguard the environment and reduce electricity use during the day. Open the curtains wide to let the morning sun into your home and it will provide a positive energy boost at the start of the day.
It makes sense to situate the kitchen and living area where they get the maximum amount of daylight. But unless you have designed the house yourself, that’s not always possible. Even so, there are plenty of tricks to help you make a dark home (or an overly bright one) more appealing.
• A dark and windowless hallway can create a gloomy first impression. Illuminate it evenly, perhaps with recessed lighting along its length.
• If natural sunlight only penetrates the part of the room that is close to a window, capture that elusive light with a mirror and reflect it wherever you wish.
• Very pale-colored or well-illuminated walls give a room an expansive feeling because they appear to reflect the sunlight. They can also make a room appear larger and more friendly.
• By designing windowsills and patios to look like a continuation of the interior furnishings, you can cleverly enlarge a room. The natural light will evoke the same colors inside as well as outside.
• Dark walls absorb light and therefore seem visually closer to the observer—an optical trick that you can use for large or long, narrow rooms.
• To reduce glare, place the TV out of the path of direct sunlight and reflected light.
Although bright, sunlit rooms are generally pleasant, too much sunlight can be stifling in the heat of summer. Here are some ways to cool things down.
• Shutters deflect sunlight when placed on the outside of windows.
• Equally important is protection from glare. Antiglare devices such as louvered blinds and interior shutters go on the inside of windows and usually have adjustable wood or plastic slats that direct the light up or down, or otherwise control it.
• Panel curtains mute the direct light from the outside yet still allow light to enter, keeping all areas of the room free from glare.
• Antiglare screens reduce eyestrain when using a computer monitor on a sunny day.