Going through a house revamp project and not sure what style to go for? You want something that suits your personality, that has a wow factor but that is also functional at the same time, correct? What style best suits your home and your personality? Whichever that is, we can all agree that anything looks better with the right amount of natural light.
Whilst any rooflight will bring more beautiful natural light into your home, choosing one that compliments your home’s interior design style will do so much more, providing a distinctive architectural feature that’s totally in synch with the room below it. In this article we look at the most popular interior design styles around at the moment and provide a bespoke rooflight recommendation to match.
Modern & Minimalist
Modern design is all about clean lines, sharp edges, minimalism, simple colours (often monochrome) and modern materials such as glass, steel and metal. Minimalism takes this a stage further and pares this back even more, reducing everything to the barest essentials, with everything having a stripped back feel. With this in mind, you want a rooflight that echoes this aesthetic. Depending on the shape of your room, this might be four square rooflights arranged in a larger square formation, or a large rectangle that opens up the whole centre of the room. Your frame should be a simple black, white or dark grey, allowing the focus to be on the expanse of glass above and the lovely natural light that highlights the sleek look of the space below.
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Square One, The Rectangular One
Contemporary
The current contemporary aesthetic has seen sharp edges rounded off (think iPhone as opposed to a 2012 Nokia or Windows phone). There’s also more use of colour and pattern, allowing you to think outside the box. Literally. A contemporary space suits a mixture of shapes, for instance combining a rectangle and a round rooflight or a pair of long thin rooflights to create visual interest. You can also get away with a bolder frame colour choice, picking something to contrast with of accentuate another key accent colour in the room.
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Round One, The Rectangular One
Mid-Century Modern
This is the new twist on the retro classics of the 50’s and 60’s that are so popular right now. It’s still quite simple and fuss free but uses far more natural and rounded shapes, for example the classic egg-shaped chair or an unsymmetrical coffee table. As this look leans heavily on nature, a rooflight is a natural companion to the look. Experiment with round windows to mimic the curves of your interior or try asymmetrical placement of your rooflights, for instance positioning a long, thin rooflight close to the edge of a room to illuminate a kitchen or dining table.
Style That Suit: The Round One, The Long Slim One
Industrial
Industrial style is very popular right now, leveraging authentic or imitation features and furniture that would have originally been found in factories or warehouses and repurposing them for a raw, unfinished look that is distinctive and appealing. There’s lots of metal, wood, exposed bulbs or heavy industrial style light fittings. This style suits bold statements and the illusion of industrial scale spaces, so you might consider combining a few different rooflights to create a dramatic expanse of sky to offset your exposed beams.
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Unlimited One
Scandinavian
Scandi style is all about daylight, taking white walls, minimal décor and pale wood to create the maximum light reflective potential. This bright, pale space is tempered with natural, textured fabrics and the occasional plant to enhance the “outdoors, indoors” vibe. When creating a Scandi style home, you want to think big, so regardless of shape, go for the biggest expanse your roof will support and consider putting walk on rooflights between floors in multi storey properties to enhance the daylight penetrating potential.
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Unlimited One, The Walk On One
Traditional
Think classic European country house, with dark woods, rich textiles and heaps of old school charm. This style is often found in period properties where the interior has been styled to suit the original character of the building. All the rich colours and detail can lead to these spaces seeming dark or poky if they are not properly lit, so it’s essential that you bring as much natural light into them as possible in order that these gorgeous furnishings be shown at their best. Rooflights do a brilliant job of this but need to be styles to suit the character of the space, so you’d generally stick to square edges shapes and choose your frames carefully, for example a natural wood style finish.
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Square One, The Rectangular One, The Long Thin One
Bohemian
Bohemian style is eclectic, bringing together vintage finds, one offs from independent designers and treasured pieces from global travels. As these homes tend to be total one offs there are no hard and fast rules here, just follow your own vibe and design a rooflight setup that’s uniquely you!
Rooflight Style That Suit: Anything goes, be creative!
Rustic
Rustic is kind of a middle ground between Scandi and Traditional, borrowing the quaint touches of traditional décor and combining them with unfinished natural elements a la Scandi style but with much less emphasis on minimalism and much more on cosy, comfortable living. As with traditional spaces, rustic rooms can be charming but can seem cluttered and dark if not properly lit. Unlike traditional rooms, you don’t need to stick to square edges and in fact a round roof window can keep the soft feel going in these spaces
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Square One, The Round One
Shabby Chic
Shabby Chic is a look that’s become popular in recent years. The pieces of furniture in the rooms are deliberately distressed and accompanies by textiles in whimsical traditional prints and one off vintage pieces of décor and lighting. As with traditional and rustic rooms, great lighting stops the feeling of clutter and allows you to highlight those key pieces that you’ve spent so long upcycling or sourcing from vintage stores. These spaces suit rooflights that almost seem incidental, for example an off centre long thin window or a round one dropping a pool of light onto a room’s key feature
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Long Slim One, The Round One
Regency/Hollywood Glam
With its bold colours, glittering mirrors and plush furnishings, there’s nothing reserved about this high-octane style. If you’re someone that loves the finer things in life and thinks your home should have a bit of bling to reflect that, this is the look for you. The look is high on drama and big statements, so you’d want rooflights to match, big stretches of open sky to bring out the bold tones and textures in the space below. Whilst you’re at it, why not create a cool roof terrace for evening drinks or put rooflights between floors for a dramatic perspective on the rooms above and below?
Rooflight Style That Suit: The Unlimited One, The Rectangular One, The Walk-on One
