Top 5 Ways To Make Your House Safer At Night
When your house incorporates essential elements of night-friendly design, it helps you and your family feel safer and more secure, even if you arrive home at 2 in the morning. It also makes your home simply safer to walk around in at night — whether you’re up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom or stuck in a power outage.
Here are 5 things you can do to make your house safer at night.
1.) Make sure lighting options are everywhere
Naturally, lighting will be your biggest concern. Save for power outages, you should have the option to turn lights on easily in every room (remember, you’ll need to find the lights in the dark). The best way to arrange this is to have a central, overhead light in each room with a switch next to each doorway. Illuminated light switch are even better.
For rooms that don’t have wiring for an overhead light, you’ll need lamps. Try to put them close to doorways or entrances. Otherwise, someone looking for a light will need to enter the room in the dark and search around for a lamp, and this could easily lead to a fall. Also, avoid using lamps that have the on/off switches on the cord. It’s better to choose lamps with on/off switches near the bulb, or alternatively, use an appliance remote system.
2.) Have non-electric lighting as well
In addition to electric lighting, you should have backup or emergency lighting available as well. This will be useful if there’s a storm or other event that causes a power outage.
The best options are, of course, flashlights. Every room should have a flashlight, and again, these should be easily accessible from the entrance or doorway to the room so that you don’t have to walk and rummage around in the dark. Even just a small flashlight loaded with new batteries will do for each room. If you’re worried about these being accessible in the dark, however, tap lights are great options as well.
3.) Consider motion sensors
Another great option for quick and easily accessible lighting at night is the implementation of motion sensors. Motion sensor lights aren’t just for outdoors. They can be used with great effect indoors as well.
In homes that have staircases, they are a great addition, as they can light only the stairs at night. This eliminates the need for lighting the entire hallway and possibly waking up other members of your family.
And naturally, there’s no need to switch anything on with motion sensor lights. When you get within a certain number of feet of the sensor, the light will automatically turn on and light your path.
4.) Remove floor obstacles
To have a truly night-friendly home, it is essential that you remove floor obstacles each evening — especially in places where you’ll be walking the most. This includes hallways, staircases, and other frequented rooms like the bathroom and the kitchen. Clean up children’s toys, pets’ toys, boxes, blankets, pillows, and other items.
Additionally, consider what rugs you have on your floors. Area rugs or throw rugs — especially those on slippery surfaces like wood or linoleum — should have a slip-safe backing. If this isn’t already on your rugs, you can always purchase a non-slip rug pad to go beneath your rugs.
5.) Adjust your home’s color scheme
Finally, consider changing the color scheme of your home so that it’s more easy to navigate at night. You don’t need to paint your home in glow-in-the-dark paint, although that is always an option.
Instead, think more about contrasting colors. For example, if you have dark carpeting in your bedroom, use a light-colored quilt or comforter on your bed so that it’s easily visible at night. Also consider changing the color of the trim and baseboards in central rooms and hallways so that it contrasts with the color on your walls and the color of the floor. This can help guide the eye as you walk around at night. White is always a good color choice that will show up in the dark.
As you can see, there are numerous modifications you can make to your home to make it safer at night. This may not be a goal that’s at the top of many homeowners’ list, but it’s certainly something that should be. A “night friendly” home will improve you and your family’s safety, security, and peace of mind.
