One of the most invigorating ways you can apply the PrairieMod Principle of "Bring The Outside In," is to consider the decorating power of sunlight. The Sun has been a vital part of human existence since the dawn of time. But very rarely do us modern folks stop to consider it (other than to bathe in it on our vacations). So what does sunlight have to do with decorating a house?
Sunlight is one of the most aesthetically pleasing and natural ways to decorate a room. In respect to your house, it would do well to consider the power of the Sun. Not only can it passively heat your house in the colder months of the year (saving on energy bills) but it can be used to liven up the color schemes in your home as well. Sunlight accentuates how your eyes perceive colors, so you can have your rooms work with it to achieve different moods, textures and effects. Take some time the next free day at home that you have to watch how the sunlight travels across the different rooms of your home. Try and do this for a few weeks, months or a year. What you'll notice is that at different times, the mood of a room changes with the intensity of the sunlight present. It can radically change how a single color is perceived: a red can suddenly be bright, mellow, warm, deep, etc. It all depends on how much sunlight is present.
In my particular case, I chose a buttery yellow color for the walls of my living room and dining room after watching how the sunlight passed through during the day. Because I'm in a suburban setting (I'm boxed in on both sides by neighbors and my living room windows face South) not much light filters in during the day. So, I chose a lighter, warmer color that becomes brighter during the day--working with the sunlight that comes in. The room then mellows out at night; staying bright, but also rich and cozy. I needed to bring as much of that sunlight in and have it maximize its effect. If I would have painted the room a dark color, the sunlight would have been absorbed and thus lose its luster.
The other power of decorating with sunlight is one of its side-effects: shadows. Shadows cast by objects that are integral to your home's architecture or placed in a room can add some exciting and sublime aesthetic features. It's amazing how something we take for granted can be the most beautiful addition to a room. Pairing dried plants with natural sunlight produces the ultimate effect in "Bringing The Outside In," really cool shadows cast on the floors, on the walls, on furniture. Shadows can also be cast from plants outside the house's windows, or from interesting window pane designs. All it takes is some creative thought and some consideration towards principles.
So take some time out of your busy modern life to notice the subtler things--like sunlight and shadows. They can add beauty to your life and home by working with their natural, often overlooked, rhythms.
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