Buzz
Whether you're settling into a new residence or using the winter months to upgrade your living space, several factors influence your decorating approach. Beyond budget and room functionality, the orientation of your home and its rooms plays a crucial role. Discover how to identify this and understand its significance.
Steps to Identify Your Home's Orientation
If you're unsure about your home's direction, a compass (including the one on Google Maps) will help. For houses, stand at the entrance and note the compass's indication.
For apartment dwellers or those focusing on a specific room in a house, determining the direction isn't as simple. While you could check the building's orientation from the entrance, this might not help if the room you're decorating is on the opposite side.
In decorating, the key is identifying the direction of natural light. To do this, use a compass while facing the primary window(s) that let in the most sunlight.
The Importance of Orientation
No single direction is inherently better, as Megan Devine notes in her BobVila.com article. Each orientation has unique advantages and challenges, so it's about recognizing these and adapting accordingly.
Beyond natural light, a home's orientation affects energy efficiency, heating and cooling expenses, maintenance, and energy flow. While we focus on decor, Devine’s article offers deeper insights into how orientation influences a home in other ways.
Leveraging Home Orientation for Decorating Decisions
As previously mentioned, the orientation of a home or room influences the quantity and timing of natural light it receives. Here are some strategies to incorporate this knowledge into your decorating and design plans:
Selecting Blinds and Curtains
Rooms facing east receive morning sunlight, which is excellent for maintaining circadian rhythms. However, those who prefer not to wake up at sunrise might opt for blackout curtains or blinds. Conversely, for west-facing rooms, lightweight curtains can provide privacy while allowing sunlight to gently wake you.
Choosing Colors
The timing of natural light in a room can guide your choice of colors for walls, furniture, and decor. Here are two examples from Devine:
Design experts often recommend avoiding red and orange shades in west-facing rooms, as these spaces receive sunlight primarily after 2 p.m. Bold or dark colors are better suited for south-facing rooms, which enjoy consistent light throughout the day, balancing intense tones.
Arranging Furniture
With many of us working from home—even if it's just a temporary setup in a room or hallway—consider the natural light in your workspace. For instance, a west-facing room with limited morning light may require ample lamps or artificial lighting to ensure visibility and help you stay alert as you begin your day.
Incorporating Mirrors
For rooms with limited natural light, strategically positioning a mirror (or multiple mirrors) can enhance the available light, eliminating the need for additional fixtures.
