Want to create a healthy home?

Sunlight is one of the most underutilized and overlooked aspects of home design. Most people focus on paint colours, flooring and accessories without considering how much natural light shines through their windows each day. It might be the easiest way to improve sleep, mood and productivity.

Here’s the thing.

The EPA reports that the average American spends 90% of their life indoors. That’s a big impact on your health and wellbeing. Your home should work with you to improve your quality of life, not work against it. There is huge power in natural light. Your home is no exception.

The good news is it’s easy to optimize your home for natural daylight. And the results are instant. It costs you nothing. And you’ll feel the benefit every day of your life.

In this post we will cover:

• Why Natural Light Matters for Your Health
• The Science Behind Sunlight and Sleep
• How Natural Light Affects Your Mood
• Simple Ways to Maximise Daylight in Your Home

Why Natural Light Matters for Your Health

Natural sunlight is not only good for your mood. It also triggers biological processes in your body that help your body work at its peak.

Sunlight coming into your home is a signal to your brain that helps regulate hormones and other vital biological processes. Serotonin (the happy hormone) and melatonin (the sleepy hormone) are particularly sensitive to light levels in your home.

When light and interior design combine with a lack of daylight, your circadian rhythm (sleep cycle) gets all messed up. Natural sunlight, on the other hand, improves your mood, helps you sleep and even acts as a natural antiseptic to keep germs and bacteria at bay.

The benefits of getting sunlight in your home go way beyond making your house look pretty.

Understanding the lighting effects on human health is critical for creating healthy living spaces and with Lightopia you can get just the right natural light with artificial lighting balance.

Think about it like this…

For millennia, our ancestors spent most of their time outside. Our bodies evolved to sync up with nature’s light and dark cycles. Homes, offices and buildings have broken this link. By designing spaces with sunlight in mind, we can realign ourselves with these ancient rhythms.

Natural light exposure is essential for vitamin D production and optimal immune system function. Modern humans need sunlight more than ever before.

Research shows that daylight also helps sanitise indoor air and surfaces by killing bacteria and inhibiting the growth of mould and mildew. This natural cleaning can help make homes healthier for everyone who lives there.

The Science Behind Sunlight and Sleep

It gets better…

Did you know your internal clock (circadian rhythm) is completely reliant on natural and artificial lighting to help it know when to tell you to stay awake and when to tell you to go to sleep? When you’re constantly exposed to low or no natural light, your production of melatonin gets out of whack. Bad news if you want to fall asleep at night.

One study even found that office workers in windowless environments got less than 7 hours of sleep per night. In comparison, those with access to daylight through windows averaged an extra 46 minutes of sleep. That’s not a huge difference on the surface. But extrapolate that over a week and you get over five hours of cumulative sleep improvement.

And there’s more…

If this has such a profound impact on office workers, imagine what having more daylight at home can do to help you get a full night’s rest? After all, you spend far more waking hours in your house than at work.

When your body gets lots of natural light during the day, it helps establish a healthy circadian rhythm. The result is:

• Improved sleep at night
• Increased energy levels during the day
• Better concentration
• Less chance of sleep disorders

The solution is simple really. Let as much natural light in as you can during the day and minimise exposure to artificial light after dark. Your body will love it.

How Natural Light Affects Your Mood

You know how you just feel better on a sunny day?

There’s a reason for that. Sunlight on your skin makes your brain release serotonin. This ‘happy hormone’ is responsible for your mood and mental wellbeing. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is even triggered by a lack of exposure to natural light.

Studies have shown that access to natural light during the day improves cognitive performance. So better mood is not the only benefit. In fact, research links daylight with up to 18% higher productivity and better test scores among students.

If you work from home this is huge. Sitting in a naturally lit space will boost your productivity compared to a room flooded with artificial light.

Position your work area next to a window and watch what happens to your concentration and output.

Simple Ways to Maximise Daylight in Your Home

Are you ready to let the sunshine in?

Whether you’re renovating or just tweaking a few details, there are some simple strategies that will get more natural light into your home.

Window Placement and Layout

If you’re building or renovating, think hard about where you put your windows. South-facing windows provide the most hours of sunlight per day. East-facing windows are great for catching morning light and naturally waking you up.

Remove Heavy Window Treatments

Curtains are great. But they block light too. Opt for lighter sheer curtains or blinds that you can open up completely during the day. Let the sunshine in and wake you up naturally to reset your circadian rhythm.

Reflective Surfaces

Mirrors can be magic. Place a mirror opposite your windows and it will help bounce sunlight deeper into a room. Light-coloured walls also work by reflecting light. White and pastels reflect more light than dark or textured surfaces.

Skylights

Windows aren’t the only way to bring natural light indoors. Skylights are another way to let sunshine into rooms that don’t have good window access.

Rearrange Furniture

In many cases, it’s as simple as moving furniture. Move your sofa, desk or reading chair closer to a window to soak up more natural light. Avoid blocking windows with tall furniture that stops light reaching into the centre of a room.

Clean Windows

Dirty windows block light. Windows caked in dust can reduce light transmission by as much as 40%. Cleaning your windows regularly helps make sure you’re getting as much light into your home as possible.

Wrapping Things Up

Natural light can be a powerful ally in creating healthy homes. It impacts your sleep, mood, productivity and general wellbeing in ways that electric light cannot.

And the best part is that it doesn’t take much to make a difference. Natural light is a free and simple change to your home that will have an instant impact.

To recap:

• Maximize window exposure wherever possible
• Use mirrors and light-coloured walls to spread light
• Remove barriers that block sunlight
• Place living areas and workspaces near windows
• Add skylights to brighten dark rooms

We spend 90% of our time inside buildings. The quality of light is more important than ever before. Start making these small changes today and feel the difference natural light can make to your health and happiness.