I live in a log cabin and its soul crushingly dark at all times of day even with artificial light sources.

I live in a log cabin and its soul crushingly dark at all times of day even with artificial light sources. Whats the consensus on painting the white pine siding on the ceilings to improve interior lighting mimicking drywall in conventional homes which have better natural lighting?

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    i do to, parts of the year.
    do not paint logs, never ever even think about it. its not the logs thats the problem its your lights, windows and idea that it must be light thats the problem.
    you paint your logs its basicly ruined, it will look crap and cant be undone you can only repaint another color when you get tired of it and you will. resale value will also take a huge dive.
    and why does it need to be light like a dentist office? its comfy to have natural levels of light instead, you only really need your pic related levels of light for doing fine work or reading, that can be fixed with a proper lamp right there.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      The sections that I would be painting are basically wood siding. Only the exterior walls of my house are actual hewn logs, the interior bathroom/kitchen/bedroom casing is stickframe with wood paneling, so it would be reversible by means of buying new knotty pine paneling.
      Not so much wanting a dentist office harsh lighting, but you have to admit, it takes a toll on the psyche to live in whats essentially a cavern 24/7. Sometimes its nice to be able to see the floor and walls without a flashlight. All the brown wood absorbs the sunlight.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        no i dont agree with it, i usually have no other lights on than the tv and fireplace. less tiresome on the eyes and instead of living in a bubble i can actually see whats going on outside, and it doesnt frick up sleep schedule so much. i still got plenty of lights available when needed.
        this is pretty far north i get perhaps 4h daylight around christmastime but i doesnt get dark during summer.

      • 1 year ago
        Bepis

        My wife watches this home improvement show where they’re paiting all of these brick houses white and making the roof and shutters green for a “cottage look”, it’s fricking horrible.

        But in your case, if it’s just some 70s-80s tier wood panels, I don’t think it will be too shitty, maybe leave that beam natural wood. Google some pics of similar wood siding painted white and see what you think because it’s not going to be easy to undo.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Overall, I have a similar situation. However, instead I bought better lamps. I chose lamps, with conical open top shades, which give a nice easy light surrounding them, and a full light effect on the ceiling. Thus I get the best of all worlds, good lighting around the floor level and light shined on the ceiling to prevent cave-ification. I also make sure my logs on the interior are well taken care of, with a luster that catches light, which helps compound the effect.

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    the feng shui in that room is awful

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >he said, refusing to elaborate further

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        not him and i'm no expert, but just from my limited knowledge
        >bigger couch has back to a large window
        >love seat has back to a large glass outside entrance
        >desk up against and facing wall
        loft area looks mega cozy though, probably good fung shooey up there.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          oh that's not a loft area is it, it's just a beam. too bad.

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    1. tube skylights , super easy to install abought a 100 pop, put the tube on the side of the house near the roof, dont waste time putting in the roof unless u want nicer, u can make an l tube and hook them up, just a hole. these are amazing even in low light days

    2. amazon, leds are cheap as frick, i have one of those tape led things that change color

    3. buy full spectrum flourecent, 600k these are white light amazing, they light things up

    4.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    lol multiple reasons
    1. Light is a science, you need to take in consideration how colors react to light (i.e. white reflects, black absorbs)
    2. Clutter and poor placement of furniture can block the reflection of light
    3. Light bulbs are not all equal. You can have Warm bulbs to Soft to Cool etc
    4. Direction matters; a great way to provide ample light, is to place it where there are excessive dark corners or install those circular LEDs atop the ceiling.
    5. Lastly, light placement. More lights don't = bright.

    Anyways, here is how to brighten your room:

    Bright or White colored decor, especially on your couches, and furniture. Highly recommend LEDs like in my pic related for your ceiling, remove all those junk fixtures, even with the brightest light bulb, the ceiling will still be dark. The section where you desk and plants are, install LED strips on all the ceiling corners. With the strips remember placement, you want the light to reflect off the wall for additional brightness, don't just point them down. Either up or sideways., looks like the panel there could allow an up directional placement. Get new curtains.... If you have any sense in decor, WALL LIGHTS. Install a few wall lights (that point upward) and use soft white so when your other lights are off you have a comfortable brightness.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Your only real options are to throw more light at it or accept the coziness. Dark spaces with lots of things in them require a lot of light to look bright. My 20x20-ish garage has nearly 400W of well-placed fluorescent light in it, because it's got unfinished walls and is full of tools It still needs dedicated lighting over the work benches. Everything is either dark or forms cavities that light can't easily bounce out of.

    You probably don't need quite that much, but you are going to need quite a bit with all that dark stain wood and black/brown furniture. Honestly, the camera might be deceiving me a little, but it doesn't look that bad to me. If it's not a workspace where good lighting is important, why jack up the power bill just so your eyes don't have to adjust when walking out of the midday sun?

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    One of the biggest misconceptions about perception of space is the idea that white walls and ceilings make things appear larger and less cramped, and that they can fix subpar lighting.

    What they *can* do in the latter situation is to diffuse available light so that it isn't swallowed up and effectively useless, but the right light source(s) and diffusers can do the same thing, and avoid the drawbacks of expanses of white.

    The main one of which is that rather than making spaces automatically look larger, light color make things appear closer than dark colors do...

    making walls/ceilings appear closer = the effect of a smaller space. Commercial spaces very often paint ceiling areas matte black to create a sense of almost infinite volume, the same as you get when looking into a dark night sky...the largest visible space anyone can view.

    Strategically placed light colors can have benefits in diffusing light and that can make a space appear less restrictive, but the idea that more white= more perceived space is exactly ass backwards.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I suppose you can argue all that, and perhaps it is true for you. But when I primed and painted the dark paneling on the walls and ceilings of my trailer with a typical wall beige it made it immensely more livable instead of being dark and gloomy. It's probably subjective to a degree, and I might be unusual.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >black to create a sense of almost infinite volume, the same as you get when looking into a dark night sky.
      this is a misconception. black/dark ceilings close in a space, when you have tons of empty vertical space due to a more open roof, you darken it to bring it down. tall white spaces appear infinite, dark finite

      sorry you tried

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      The so called "garage lights" those LED aluminum cast hinged things are monstrously bright and fairly efficient. I don't know if its what you want, everything glows with reflected light so not exactly cosy also do not look directly at light you will go blind. I like them because my eyes aren't great and gave me back ability to do fine work inside.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Aim them up towards the ceiling instead of down, they won't blind you & the brightness of the room seems almost the same

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >home has soul
    >occupant doesnt

    Interesting

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Pine isn't a nice wood, paint it

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    why not skylight tube things. A friend of mine slapped one up above their kitchen since the house beside them was so close and shaded things. Looked great.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I doubt those hold up well to squirrels, wind, hail and torrential rain

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Aim some lights up at the ceiling to brighten it up & get a bunch of big mirrors to put behind lights; this teally opens the place up. I found all of mine at the dump

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    At least paint the ceiling white

  13. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Hmm

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