Shanghai is a very pleasant city during springtime; there is nothing better than enjoying the sun and beautiful weather. However, there is a potential downside to living in a crowded city of high buildings – your apartment might be on a lower floor and suffers from a lack of natural light!

If you are among those who like sunny homes and bright atmosphere but live in a house where you have difficulties reading a book mid-afternoon without turning the light on, don’t despair! Here are a few tips to make a house brighter without affecting your electrical bill in the least.

First, check that there are no obstacles obstructing entry of light. For instance if you have mosquito netting installed on your windows, keep them open or take them off during the months you don’t require them. Even a net will reduce the quantity of light entering a room. Moreover, if you have creeper vines on your outside walls, make sure that they don’t obstruct the windows. Avoid having high cabinets nearby windows – they also decrease quantity of light.

Second, try to use clear colours. It may sound obvious, but many apartments suffer from a lack of light due to dark floors and furniture. Walls do not necessarily have to be white; try using clear colours such as pastels – perfect for walls – and leave white for the doors, curtains, mouldings, etc. Walls in front of windows should always be clear since they reflect light.

If your floor is dark, cover it. You can use sisal carpets – many different varieties can be found on Yishan Lu – but be sure to choose natural colours like beige tones or light greys. Use clear fabric for your couch too; there are many fabric markets in town where you will find nice linen and cottons for a few RMB per metre. You will need to provide the original sofa cover to have it copied and it should only take three or four days to make. If your dining table is made out of dark wood, put a lightly coloured table cloth on it; the same principle applies to your bed spread. Making these simple changes should leave your home’s interior looking refreshed!

If an abundance of white is too dull for you, ask a handyman to paint vertical stripes on the walls – alternating pastel colours with white will brighten up your interior. Alternatively, you can just paint a large horizontal stripe in the centre of the wall and hang your favourite paintings on it, it will help emphasise them. Also try using white frames for your paintings and photographs.

Another good tip is to use mirrors throughout your home. A mirror on a wall in front or perpendicular to a window, by reflecting it, will give the feeling of having more windows inside the room, increasing the quantity of light and the room will look bigger too. If the external wall is very thick, you may also add mirrors on the window jambs.

Last small detail for everyone – use white flowers – any small white element inside your home will magnify the quantity of light by reflecting it!

Domitilla Lepri is the owner of Shanghai-based DL Architecture, a firm specialising in renovation and interior decoration. If you have an interior design question you’d like her to answer in a future column, please email her at [email protected].