At Select Design & Build, we approach home design as an opportunity to connect your indoor living experience with the beauty of the natural world. Nowhere is this more impactful than in mountain and high desert environments, where sunlight, views, and surroundings play such an important role in how your home feels and functions. Whether you’re building on a ridge, a canyon lot, or open desert land, maximizing natural light isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about energy efficiency, comfort, and well-being.
In this blog, we’ll explore how intentional design choices can help bring in more daylight, elevate your space, and keep your home comfortable year-round.
Start with Site Orientation
Every property has its unique characteristics. The angle of the sun, surrounding terrain, and views should all influence how your home is positioned on the lot. One of the best ways to increase natural light is to orient your main living areas, such as the kitchen, great room, and primary suite, toward the south or southwest. These areas receive the most consistent and desirable sunlight throughout the day, especially during cooler months.
On the other hand, minimizing large west-facing windows can reduce glare and overheating during summer afternoons, which is particularly important in high desert climates. Strategic orientation is one of the first steps we take when designing a home that naturally captures light while staying efficient and livable.
Go Big with Windows and Glass Doors
One of the most transformative ways to bring natural light into your home is by incorporating large-scale glass elements. Floor-to-ceiling windows or expansive picture windows can turn an ordinary room into a light-filled retreat. In mountain and high desert regions, glass also serves a dual purpose, offering sweeping views of surrounding landscapes while illuminating the interiors with daylight.
Multi-panel sliding doors or folding glass wall systems are also popular in modern desert homes. These allow light to pour in while creating seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces. Whether you’re entertaining on the patio or enjoying a quiet morning indoors, natural light plays a key role in how you experience your home.
Add Skylights and Clerestory Windows
In spaces where traditional windows aren’t possible, skylights and clerestory windows offer another way to invite daylight inside. Skylights are ideal for interior rooms like hallways, bathrooms, and closets that might otherwise feel dim or enclosed. Clerestory windows placed high above eye level introduce consistent light while maintaining privacy and usable wall space below.
These high windows are especially effective in homes with vaulted or tall ceilings, helping draw light deeper into the room while reducing the need for artificial lighting during the day.
Choose Reflective Finishes and Light Colors
The materials and colors you use inside your home can have a big impact on how natural light behaves. Light-colored walls, ceilings, and flooring will reflect more sunlight and brighten up the entire space. Soft neutrals like sand, white oak, warm grays, and linen tones are ideal choices in desert environments and work beautifully with the natural surroundings.
Reflective surfaces like quartz countertops, polished concrete, and satin finishes on cabinetry can also help amplify incoming light. Even small details, like metallic hardware or a glass-tiled backsplash can subtly enhance the overall brightness in your home.
Embrace Open Floor Plans
Homes with open layouts naturally allow light to move more freely between rooms. By minimizing unnecessary walls or barriers, sunlight can reach further into the home and brighten multiple spaces at once. This is especially helpful in larger floor plans where interior rooms might otherwise feel closed off.
At Select Design & Build, we often incorporate open-concept living areas that combine the kitchen, dining, and great room into one cohesive space. This not only maximizes natural light but also creates a more social, connected experience for families and guests alike.
Invest in High-Performance Windows
Bringing in more light doesn’t mean sacrificing comfort or energy efficiency. Choosing the right windows is critical in desert and mountain climates where temperature extremes are common. We recommend double- or triple-pane windows with low-E coatings, which reflect heat and harmful UV rays while allowing visible light to pass through.
These high-performance windows help regulate your indoor temperature, lower energy bills, and prevent furnishings and finishes from fading over time. In certain areas, smart-tinting glass or thermochromic windows may also be used for advanced control over privacy and glare.
Design for Indoor-Outdoor Living
Natural light and outdoor living go hand-in-hand. By extending your living space to the outdoors, you can make the most of your property while increasing light access throughout the home. Covered patios, courtyards, and pergolas can be placed just outside main living areas to act as transitional spaces filled with filtered light.
Using the same materials such as tile, wood, or stone between indoor and outdoor spaces also helps create a continuous flow and a sense of expansion. We often design homes where exterior doors align with sight lines and window placements to capture light from multiple angles throughout the day.
Build with Purpose and Possibility
Maximizing natural light is more than a trend, it’s a lifestyle choice that improves how you feel in your space every day. It’s about waking up to soft morning light in your bedroom, cooking in a kitchen that feels vibrant, and enjoying golden hour as it streams across your living room floor.
At Select Design & Build, we carefully consider every element from site selection to final finishes to help you design a home that lives beautifully in its environment. Whether you’re dreaming of a mountainside retreat or a high desert escape, our design process ensures your home is bright, efficient, and always in harmony with the landscape.
Ready to get started?
Let’s design a space that brings the outdoors in and makes the most of the natural light where you live. Contact Select Design & Build today to schedule a consultation.