At House & Garden, we think a lot about what makes a house look and feel good and function well. We think about fabrics, curtains, furnishings and fittings, but we also consider the bones of a house. How big are the windows? How much light does a room receive and at what time of day? These are key considerations not just when choosing a paint colour – different tones suit different rooms depending on whether they face north, south, east or west – but for your general health and wellbeing in a house.
It’s no secret, especially after the last 18 or so months, that rooms with good light and ventilation boost our mood. Fresh air helps to avoid brain fog and drowsiness and daylight makes us happier and healthier. Therefore, perhaps our windows really are the most important part of a house. This is something that VELUX has known since its inception in 1941. Founder Villum Kann Rasmussen named the company well: the ‘ve’ is short for ventilation and ‘lux’ is the Latin word for light. So VELUX truly stands for an airy, bright room.
Not only that, but VELUX understands the importance of nature too – another key factor in interior design that has been gaining ground in recent years. Biophilic design is big in Scandinavia, where the days are shorter and having a relationship to the world outside is paramount. It is about bringing the outside in, both through windows and doors that allow easy access and sweeping views, but also through the materials used. Rather than filling a house with plastic and concrete, think wood and stone. This is twofold for VELUX, a brand created to transform attics – formerly uninhabitable, dark, unventilated spaces – into light-flooded rooms in their own right. They created skylights that allow you to sit on a sofa or lie in bed and watch the outside world, thus bringing the natural world into the house.
Secondly, the materials used reflect VELUX’s commitment to sustainability. Most of the company’s window frames are made from more than 99 per cent wood – even the white ones – and at the end of a window’s life cycle, it can all be recycled. Not that this happens often, seeing as they are designed and built to last an average of more than 30 years. These are the types of designs you see so often in the houses that grace the pages of House & Garden; products that are built to last, by companies committed to leading a more sustainable life.
It is perhaps the biggest movement in the design industry right now: the movement to make and package everything from and in better materials and to do so in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible. These things don’t happen overnight, but the commitment to change has to start somewhere, and for VELUX, the journey is well underway. The aim is, by 2030, for the company to be carbon neutral and to have halved their emissions. Right now, they are working on eco-friendly packaging options and the very essence of their long-lasting product already puts them ahead of the curve. ‘It’s in our nature,’ the company attests.
A better indoor environment has been something we’ve all thought about in the wake of the pandemic as we’ve looked at how to carve out more individual spaces within our houses as they become places to work, relax and socialise in. Perhaps it is time to turn an unused attic space into a master bedroom and en suite, with skylights for stargazing in bed and watching the sunrise from the bathtub? If family life is becoming too crowded but a move isn’t possible, an attic can be opened up with VELUX windows and turned into a teenage retreat, or a home office for everyone to make use of.
It is about adding value to our lives through space and light by choosing designs that do something well. A window may seem like the most simple thing in the world – and really what is more basic in a house than windows? – but it makes every bit of difference to how we live and breathe, as well as what we see. You can open up an entirely new avenue with one simple addition.
Explore how to live sustainably at VELUX.com
