Velux Sun Tunnel Skylights: The Before and Afters!

Yesterday was the beginning of Project Let There Be Light here at the cottage!

For the past year, we have done a lot of updating to our new home, trying to make dark spaces light and bright...removing dark window treatments, choosing paint colors with high light reflective values, changing light fixtures. And it has all helped. But the cottage has a roof line that slopes heavier to the back of the house. And while the front of the house gets light in the morning, where there is only one window at the office, the back of the house only gets a little light for about one or two hours in the late afternoon.

The main floor family space could be gloomy, even on a nice day. But on rainy days or wintry days? I was doing everything I could with lamps and lights and candles to cast out the gloom.

So I decided to call in the experts: Leakpro Roofing in Ann Arbor. Tom helped us come up with a plan for skylights in the great room space, and sun tunnels in the interior bathrooms. I decided that if a company was going to cut holes in our roof, I wanted it to be roofing professionals that know what they're doing.

Today, I'm showcasing the bathroom transformation. And it is amazing!

Here is the guest bathroom before. It comes off the short hallway to the back bedrooms.

The hallway has a tendency to get dark, too.

But not anymore! Look at the bathroom now!

Wow! Light!

See that round "fixture" in the ceiling? It's not a fixture. It's the Velux Sun Tunnel! That's 100 percent natural light, folks!

And the poky hallway now has light, too, thanks to the natural light from the bathroom.

What a difference!

Here's the sun tunnel in the master bathroom:

The sun tunnel has the look of a flush mount pot light in the ceiling. These small interior bathrooms used to be pitch black. You could not use them at any time of day without turning on the lights. But now? Natural light! I'm guessing this will reduce our electric bill, too. I also found that it offers a nice moon glow effect at night.

Wondering how it works?

The "tunnel" part is actually highly reflective tubing that goes through a shaft cut into the roof. It bounces natural light from the roof to the interior ceiling, where the flush mount fixture nicely diffuses it.

And from the outside of the house you can see two rounded domes. Those are the light catchers.

Tom, the owner of Leakpro Roofing, said that initially, we will keep hitting the light switch to turn off the light, only to realize that the lights are not on...it's the sun!

Of course, the natural light has also highlighted the bathrooms, and now I'm realizing how badly these two rooms needs painting and updating. New light fixtures, new sink fixtures. I guess that will be our next project!

I'm so happy with these Velux Sun Tunnels!

Tomorrow, I will show you the skylights in the great room. They are coming by to finish up that project later today.

Thanks for stopping by the cafe!