Life is all about balance. Through finding balance, you find calm. This ethos of balance and calm should be the resounding echo around your home *insert zen-like soothing voice repeating the words “balance” and “calm”until fade*. I know this is the case for me – when we moved into our new home we pretty much had a blank canvas to play with. We realised quite quickly that it’s not just your choice of paint and furnishings that can have a dramatic effect on your house. You can paint with light and shade through your choice of windows and blinds. So click this way and discover how these choices can impact on your mood and the feel of your living space too…

Let there be light – the impact of windows and glass:
If you are wanting to totally transform and open up a space, being smart with the ways you use natural light is a key factor. Taking a scroll through the Glow Glass website for inspiration, it’s clear to see (no intentional window related pun intended) that how you use glass around your home can impact on it majorly.

Got an oppressively dark room? Try opening up the ceiling and flooding a once dark and dreary living space with a well chosen fixed glass roof light. These are available in bespoke sizes to suit any space and can hugely change the feel of a place, with a range of finishes from clear, opaque and solar. Fancy AF!

Want to bring the outside in and have the potential of opening up your dining space? Try incorporating a set of room changing bi-folding doors into your kitchen or dining room. Playing with glass and how it can both open up or section off a space, through its adaptability can really change the way you use the room. And did I mention that you can get electrically heated bi-folding doors? Therefore in a cold room they can replace underfloor heating or even a fire if you so wish. Now that sounds like my kind of cosy! Personally I am loving door frames with a grey surround as our home seems to becoming a one woman crusade to make it the housing equivalent to “50 Shades of Grey”, but they also come in stylish black or classic white too with a beautiful choice of matching and contrasting handles. They are also made with toughened glass and a five point locking system – safety first fillies!

Heck – you might even opt for a walk on glass floor in your upstairs hallway in order to spread more sunshine downstairs. And don’t worry – you won’t go crashing through as it’s toughened glass which you can get with an anti-slip finish. Plus you can make it opaque or decorative finish if you want the light, but not the fear of walking over it and potentially flashing anyone!

You could even consider the use of glass balustrades on your stairs to allow light to travel around the home easier or to provide uninterrupted views from your balcony into the garden.

When you start to look at your home and the potential these changes can make if you view the way light “lives” in your house, it can open up a lighter and brighter way of living. And drink in the sense of peace and calm!

Welcome to the dark side – the impact of shade:
But what about the yin to “light’s” yang – shade? It’s time to get real shady with you…!

As beautiful as light is, sometimes you want to block it out in an utterly practical sense. Whether your bedroom is so light in the mornings it wakes you up before your alarm or you need a space to be cooler in temperature, shades are the answer. Whether you opt for Venetian, roller, vertical, wooden or aluminium, there is bound to be a blind to suit your space and how you want to control the light that enters it accordingly. Whatever the size you are after, you can make it happen with bespoke, made to measure blinds, from a company such as Ambition Blinds, who also offer their blinds at 50% off all retail prices. So you can make an impact on your home with impacting on your bank balance in the process.

I like to also think of blinds not just in a purely functional fashion, they can BE fashion. Especially roller blinds as they have the surface area to take pattern and/or colour. I like to refer to them as “movable wallpaper” as they can become a fourth wall in your room simply by pulling them down, adding extra interest to your decor by toning in colour or clashing in print!

They being said you can nab yourself some rather sleek and eye-catching Venetian blinds to add a pop of colour to your abode. I’m thinking that we might add some in some of our rooms in a contrasting colour to our paint to really add impact! You are guessing right if you think I am thinking grey btw…

By combining and playing with light and shade in your house, you can create a unique, cosy, functional and stylish space by harnessing the qualities the two mediums can have. Go, play! And find out how much impact you too can make.

If you are after more interiors and homeware, click to find all our other posts.

Until next time fillies,

Leigh at Fashion Du Jour LDN HQ x

P.S. Want to follow all our first home renovations or just want more FDJ LDN-ness in your life? Well get subscribing to our mailing list! Just click the “Subscribe” button at the top right of the page and you’ll get our posts as soon as they go live. You can also follow us on Bloglovin’ if you like. And be sure to check us out on social media! Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

*This post is in collaboration with Glow Glass and Ambition Blinds – all choices, wording and opinions are our own as always though fillies.