Any modern home designer will tell you the importance of bringing natural light into your living space. From the design perspective, it creates the illusion of a bigger space and makes it look more airy, warm, and inviting. And from a psychological perspective, natural light lifts the mood and energises you. No matter the reason, it’s essential to foster a light-filled oasis in your home using plantation shutters and other window treatments that encourage natural light.
Importance of Natural Light in Your Living Space
Light is essential to human function. Exposure to sunlight encourages vitamin D production, boosts sleeping patterns by facilitating the body’s circadian rhythms, and improves focus. In essence, light is good for overall health and well-being. Therefore, it is recommended that you get a safe amount of sunlight exposure on a daily basis to be healthier and more productive.
One of the best ways to get sunlight exposure is to bring some natural light into your home. Large and open windows or window treatments (like curtains and plantation shutters) that enable light to enter your space are to be highly encouraged.
Aside from the incredible health benefits of natural light exposure, it is also energy-efficient. Natural light reduces the need for electricity to keep your home lit, especially during the day, so you can save on energy bills. While these savings seem minimal, they could easily add up over time. It also contributes to making your home eco-friendly.
How Plantation Shutters Bring Natural Light into Your Homes
As mentioned, choosing the right design and layout for your home can significantly impact how much natural light enters your living space. However, plantation shutters offer flexibility because you can maintain privacy in your home instead of opting for large, glass windows that your neighbours can see in. Adding plantation shutters in Melbourne townhomes can be especially beneficial due to their limited space.
You can leverage plantation shutters to transform your townhome living space into a light-filled oasis. Use these tips to maximise the light you can get from these window treatments and enjoy the benefits.
1. Adjust the Slant of the Louvres
The adjustable louvres in a plantation shutter allow maximum customisation when using window treatments to maximise sunlight into your home. For example, you can widen the slant to maximise the amount of sunlight in your space.
Choosing the right angle of the louvres allows sunlight to penetrate inside your home. However, it can also be angled so that you can retain privacy from your neighbours. This technique is more effective than installing large windows or glass walls, which significantly sacrifice your safety and privacy at home. But with the adjustable louvres of plantation shutters, you can get the best of both worlds.
2. Choose Lighter Colours
Another way that you can maximise the amount of light inside your home is to choose light-coloured plantation shutters. White shutters are highly popular because they are practical in terms of designing your home interior. White shutters complement various home interior styles and can work with various colour schemes, giving you more flexibility in choosing your furniture and accent colours.
However, using light-coloured shutters reflects more light, creating a brighter and more light-filled environment. Complementing the light-painted finish magnifies the amount of light that enters your living area. On the other hand, using a dark-painted finish on the shutters can result in a darker atmosphere inside your home.
If you don’t like white shutters, you can choose other neutral hues, such as beige or off-white. There is a bonus of making your space feel wider or bigger.
3. Choose Large Louvres
Aside from manipulating how the shutter louvres are angled to maximise natural lighting, you can also choose the size of the louvres to promote more natural light. In this case, larger louvres work best.
Plantation shutters with large louvres allow ample natural light inside your home, creating a warm and inviting glow. Conversely, the smaller louvres provide only a limited amount of light. The smaller-sized louvres are an excellent choice if you prefer privacy over lighting. Therefore, consider this when installing plantation shutters in Melbourne to choose the right louvre size for your needs.
4. Consider the Tilt Option
Another important consideration when installing plantation shutters is the type of tilt on the shutter. The two types of louvre tilt are hidden and split tilt. These features enable you to choose maximum light control on your living space through the window.
The split tilt is better if you want more control over privacy without limiting the amount of natural light. This shutter type includes a separate tilt control on the top and bottom sections. Hence, you can tilt only the bottom or top portion of the window. On the other hand, the hidden tilt option is ideal if you want a clean, uniform look. This shutter type conceals the tilt rod, which means you won’t see any bars that can obstruct the view of the beautiful shutters.
5. Adjusting to the Time of Day
Aside from maximising the features and styles of plantation shutters, you should also understand the different positions of the sun throughout the day. This information will help you manipulate the angle of the louvres to ensure maximum sunlight in your home.
During the day, you can open the shutters fully if you want maximum natural light inside your living space. However, the natural light also allows maximum heating in your home.
At dusk, you can adjust the tilt of the louvres to minimise heat loss in your home and help keep it comfortable, especially when the temperature drops.
Conclusion
Plantation shutters are crucial in making your home livable, comfortable, and inviting. If you prefer natural light in your home, you should install plantation shutters because they can encourage maximum sunlight to create a brighter environment.
Consider the tips above on maximising the amount of sunlight inside your home with plantation shutters, such as the louvre size, the tilt-type, and more. These tips will help you achieve that light-filled oasis of a living space you deserve.
