Naturally bright

Is your home dark and gloomy? Perhaps all you need is a well - placed window or door...
When asked by Time magazine for advice on how to make ones home a better place to live in, Italian architect Renzo Piano responded with...Clean the windows and see if you can make them wider. Its about luminosity. That sounds like excellent advice to us. In fact, natural light will not only cut your energy consumption, itll also boost your health. Renovating your house provides the ideal opportunity to introduce more light into your home.

Hit the roof

Youve moved walls, added a room or possibly just a veranda, and now you notice that your interior seems a bit darker. What to do? Toplights, clerestory windows and skylights bring light into a room from directly above. Options include panels that slide or swing open, or tubes that trap sunlight and direct it downwards. Your choice depends on your needs: do you simply want more light, or a combination of light and air?

Break out!

Your old Victorian home has an enclosed veranda thats not really serving any purpose - apart from darkening the adjacent room. The solution? Break through the intervening wall - few things are as easy or as satisfying.

Door delight

Your beautiful old house has an uninspiring, solid front door that blocks the light from outside.
Replace your door with an authentic door and frame combination that lets in more light. If you cant find the right style at conventional retailers, head for your nearest salvage yard where youll find beautiful old - fashioned doors complete with fanlights and possibly even sidelights or side windows. These offer an easy way to let in more light, while simultaneously creating a striking focal point.

Adding a veranda

You want to add a veranda without impeding the flow between indoors and out.
The easiest way to connect the veranda and the house is by installing folding doors - they open up completely, unlike sliding doors that only open partway. Also make provision for light when planning your roofing structure by, for example, building a pergola rather than a solid roof - or consider see - through roofing sheets above the doorway. If youre building from scratch, speak to your architect about the correct orientation of your home. Bellvilie architect Janine de Waal says the point is to enjoy as much light as possible throughout the year and as much heat as possible during winter - cutting your electricity bill in the process. Ideally, the living areas of your house should face north.