Last updated on December 3rd, 2024 at 12:49 am
One design aspect of bathroom lighting that is often swept under the rug is achieved by combining various techniques. Just as lighting is essential for kitchen activities and tasks, similar methods are best applied to a bathroom to produce the appropriate results. Learning how each of these lighting methods can work to your advantage also plays a valuable role in aesthetic beauty and personal style.
Here’s why;
It’s not enough that your bathroom has light fixtures to see what you’re doing, as sometimes it’s better to have select types of lights for everything you need to see clearly. This is why it may be necessary to have one or more light fixtures installed for numerous tasks that cover all of your daily needs.
This article is to help you understand the value of good lighting in your bathroom rather than simply providing lighting in a bathroom area. It also opens up the potential for being introduced to the various types of vanity lights versus lights that are meant to increase visibility for a slew of bathroom-related activities. So whether you’re planning a complete remodel or just looking to make a few low cost upgrades, lighting is worth getting right.
Each section of lights that are listed here that are used within a bathroom represents a choice that can improve daily life. These choices are also important for accenting the subtle beauty and décor you add to your bathroom space.
Enjoy!
Types Of Bathroom Lighting
Ambient Lighting
While many people may assume this provides ambiance within a room, ambient lighting is the available amount of light that a room is being provided with. The overall strength of this available light is often from an overhead fixture and can be adjusted with a dimer to increase the amount of light that fills an entire bathroom.
Characteristics of Ambient Lighting
Time: Ambient lighting can help create a unique mood that changes with the passing hours, making it perfect for creating daily routines.
Mood: An environment where the lighting is fits your mood helps to keep you more relaxed and focused.
Budget: Compared to traditional lighting fixtures, ambient lighting is often less expensive to install, maintain and replace.
Environmental Impact : Low power LED bulbs are incredibly energy efficient compared to conventional lightbulbs. This helps cut down on greenhouse gas emissions while still providing bright, beautiful lighting effects.
| Ambient Lighting | Recommended Distance from Ceiling/Wall |
|---|---|
| Ceiling or Wall Lights | 2-4 feet |
| Recessed Lights | 3-5 inches from the ceiling/wall |
| Spotlights and Track Lights | 4 feet from the ceiling/wall |
Task Lighting
These are lights that are set up for select usage tasks such as doing makeup, fixing your hair, or shaving in a mirror. Task lighting can also be considered exclusive for all grooming needs where you need plenty of light to see facial details and anything that you want to illuminate from the head to your shoulders.
Characteristics of Task Lighting
Boost Stimulation: Good task lighting in a space can help with mental stimulation, especially when combined with adjustable light intensity and color temperature.
Reduced Glare : Task lighting reduce strain on the eyes as it offers more direct light casted on areas that don’t bounce or reflect the light that won’t cause glare on reflective surfaces.
Safer: By providing more light in a work area is beneficial for meticulous things like applying makeup, preforming nail care, etc.
| Task Lighting | Recommended Distance from Ceiling/Wall |
|---|---|
| Desk or Table Lights | >1.5 feet from the ceiling/wall |
| Floor, Wall, and Pendant Lights | >2 feet from the ceiling/wall |
| Spotlights and Track Lights | >4 feet from the ceiling/wall |
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is very separate from decorative lighting since accent lights are fixtures that are attached to a wall. These types of lights are called sconces, yet the list doesn’t end with these types of accents. These fixtures can be hung from the ceiling as pendants or chandeliers, but aren’t limited to tabletop lamps or standing lamps.
Characteristics of Ambient Lighting
Highlight: Accent lighting can be used to highlight or draw attention to a desired focus areas of room.
Mood: Adjusting accent lighting is an easy way to achieve the mood for the room you’re after; cozy, relaxed, bright, energizing, etc.
Highlight Decorative Items : You’ll commonly notice accent lighting pointed at things like paintings, sculptures, ceilings, etc.
| Accent Lighting | Recommended Distance from Ceiling/Wall |
|---|---|
| Desk or Table Lights | >1.5 feet from the ceiling/wall |
| Floor, Wall, and Pendant Lights | >2 feet from the ceiling/wall |
| Spotlights and Track Lights | >4 feet from the ceiling/wall |
Decorative Lighting
When you start to get into highly-decorative lights including LED strip lights, kick panel light strips, and inset wall niches, these are decorative lights. They don’t serve much for the illumination of a bathroom aside from adding ambiance and luxury lighting effects. These lights in particular also preferred to include dimming and color-changing light controls.
Characteristics of Decorative Lighting
Just a touch: Decorative lighting can add a light ambient glow. This really makes having a warm and inviting space easy to achieve.
Good for hanging out: Decorative lighting creates soft ambient light; just like you’d expect to find at your favorite fine dining spot.
| Decorative Lighting | Recommended Distance from Ceiling/Wall |
|---|---|
| Desk or Table Lights | >1.5 feet from the ceiling/wall |
| Floor, Wall, and Pendant Lights | >2 feet from the ceiling/wall |
| Spotlights, Track Lights and Chandeliers | >4 feet from the ceiling/wall |
Layered Lighting for the Win
Use a combination of ambient, task, and accent lighting
If you go into any decent museum, you’ll notice that they use lighting to direct where you’re supposed to look. This is why certain areas of your bathroom will look better by combining a combination of ambient, task, and accent lights. These combinations of lights will also help create texture that ultimately defines the overall look of your bathroom when it’s lit up.
Create a well-lit environment
Having a bathroom that is poorly lit will make it next to impossible to enjoy daily tasks. While it’s nice to adjust the lights to comfort levels for long baths or bath spa moments, having just the right amount of lighting will make any task or visit feel complete and comfortable. Needless to say, if you have dimmable lighting controls, you can adjust the lights to your liking every time.
Highlight specific areas and features
Each of the lighting fixtures will allow for different elements and features in your bathroom to become illuminated properly. Whether this is for grooming tasks or using the bathroom when you need it, there will always be enough lighting available for everything you do in this space. Yet, for the comfort and beauty aspect, select features and areas that are lit up will further give your bathroom a customized touch that feels more like home.
Focus on task lighting
Provide adequate lighting for grooming and grooming tasks
Task lighting is often brighter than any other fixture you place in your bathroom for a simple reason. This lighting allows you to see details that allow you to see details in a bathroom mirror without heavy shadows on either side. This makes it easier to accomplish everyday grooming without straining your eyes at all.
Consider lighting over the vanity, shower, or bathtub
It’s more common to install task lighting around a vanity mirror, yet having this light positioned within a shower or bathtub is equally helpful. This can be highly effective for preventing slips and falls, but also further aids in daily grooming activities. Plus, it may be more convenient to shave your legs in the tub or perhaps shave while in the shower.
Install lights that can be adjusted to meet your needs
Dimmer switches aren’t considered a luxury anymore and are offered with many task light fixtures you can buy these days. Not only that, with LED technology the color temperature can further be adjusted to change the Kelvin selection to get the ideal type of brightness you’re looking for. Kelvin ranges from 2700K (warm white) up to 5000K (cool daylight) and is among the most popular.
Factors To Consider When Choosing Bathroom Lighting
Size And Layout Of The Bathroom
Your bathroom will not be the exact same size as everyone else’s, so it is important to measure the entire space to plan a lighting layout. See our small bathroom decor tips here. Among the most important facts to consider is where lighting fixtures will go, and how they will best be used for illumination. This is easy to estimate for some types of lamps and light fixtures, but not all of them. Here’s why:
Choose lighting fixtures that fit the scale of your bathroom
Consider the size of your bathroom and the size of a light fixture. Try sticking with a scale that isn’t going to look out of place and matches the size of the room itself. Big fixtures are fine if they aren’t overly bulky and don’t limit bathroom space. Be aware that small light fixtures may look cute but end up looking like toy lights rather than accent lighting.
Place lights in strategic locations
All light has a radius that comes out from the fixture itself. Bathroom lights are typically spreading light outward rather than spotlighting anything. Spotlights are not recommended for bathroom interiors unless you are looking to highlight artwork or draw focus to something specific. Be sure to have light coverage that overlaps in at least 3 spots (or corners) of your bathroom.
Take advantage of natural light
A bathroom with big windows is an advantage that all homeowners will appreciate. This is especially a big plus when you can illuminate your bathroom only using natural light. Of course, the sun travels in a direct course over your home, changing where this light will fall. This is why it will help to plan where lighting is needed to fill in natural shadows when there isn’t enough natural light in your bathroom anymore.
Brightness And Light Distribution
The brightness from a light fixture is easily controlled with a light dimmer, yet when choosing the color temperature, this is a matter of preference. Warmer LED temperatures can mimic the soft illumination of old-fashioned incandescent lighting. Then again, there are bright sunlight temperatures that are whiter and brighter for a clean hue of the bathroom light. It’ll be essential to match these lights wherever you like, but obviously well-spaced throughout your bathroom.
Energy Efficiency
In recent years there has been a big push to replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient LED light technology. The cost difference isn’t that much anymore and the results are stunningly impressive. New light fixtures have dimer controls that link to smartphones and Smart Home controls. The best part is the energy savings are practically pennies on the dollar.
Style And Design
Light fixtures for the bathroom come in limitless designs and styles these days. It won’t be too difficult to find a style that you like almost immediately either. Many of the Home Improvement outlets carry ready-to-install fixtures right off the shelf. The hardest part will be to find a style that matches your taste in design and fits into your current bathroom style; here’s a guide on bathroom design style and see some of our favorite before and after bathroom renovation images here.
Safety And Durability
It will be tempting to purchase off-brand fixtures that have attractive pricing and the style you like. Not all imports are manufactured to be safe or have passed UL certification. Even the best knock-off brands can appear to be safe and dependable to install in your home. Always check for UL-certified fixtures that are bought from trusted sources rather than discount lighting suppliers that might be selling you faulty or copycat lighting equipment.
Cost Of Bathroom Lighting
Average Cost Of Different Types Of Bathroom Lighting
The basic cost of brand-new light fixtures will range from $50 to $150 depending on how elaborate or how large they are. Installation is another cost issue that depends on the hourly rate charged by an electrician. This can further cost $50-100 per hour and may include upgrades in electrical wiring and new circuits. For more, see our complete cost guide on bathroom remodeling tasks.
Factors Affecting The Cost Of Bathroom Lighting
If you live in an older house, obviously adding new wiring and access to where older wires are located within the walls of your home is always a factor. Changing and upgrading the controls for lighting will also need to be considered as more advanced light fixtures may have integrated controls that connect to smart devices in your home. These kinds of light fixtures are typically costlier than standard light switch fixtures.
Cost-saving Tips
Always look for energy-efficient light fixtures that will save on electricity bills. They may cost more than regular light fixtures but will be worth cutting down on electricity bills overall. Switch out the bulbs that allow LED lights to be installed if they are still using standard incandescent light bulb products. Regular incandescent bulbs are a never-ending waste of money.
Budget Considerations
Never choose off-brand products that are imported from countries that don’t enforce or include UL certification. These light fixtures can be cheaper but their design and safety could potentially become a fire hazard if they malfunction. Stick to brands that have a proven track record for safety and include a trusted brand name.
Bathroom Lighting Trends
LED Lighting
LED lighting has become a standard trend that is cost-effective and much cheaper than it was more than a decade ago. The quality of LED lights also offers you longer lifespans over incandescent lights of at least 5 to 10 years per fixture.
Smart Lighting
You will find that newer light fixtures are starting to include Smart Lighting technology that connects light units to smart devices in your home. This is a big plus for those who enjoy light controls from a smartphone or voice activation units like Google Home, Siri, or Alexa.
Decorative Fixtures
Bathroom lighting is getting trendier with new light fixtures that are designed to be highly decorative. Even though your bathroom is not visited as often as other rooms in your home, installing decorative fixtures can help elevate the look and feel of your bathroom interior. This is also becoming popular to achieve a luxurious interior that makes a bathroom feel like a palace.
Integrating Lighting With Bathroom Design
Choosing the right light fixtures for your bathroom isn’t just for achieving the right amount of light you need, it can also be aesthetic. Here are some tips on how and why the need for looks and style are equally important.
Choose fixtures that compliment your bathroom’s décor
If you are modeling your bathroom after a specific design, stick to a style that matches the décor. It can bring out similar attributes for other fixtures such as brass facets or vanity cabinet hardware when the colors and surfaces are matched.
Consider incorporating decorative lighting
There’s nothing wrong with adding decorative lighting design to your bathroom for the sake of beautifying a bathroom interior. Vanity lights such as pendants or sconces help add visual flair with interesting and decorative fixtures. Stand and hanging lights are also a fancy way to have a retro or old-fashioned appearance additionally.
Use lighting to create a relaxing and spa-like atmosphere
Professional spas love to use colored LED strip lights around the borders of everything from kick panels to sunken shelving. This is more satisfying when they can change color to suit your mood if you like enjoying spa-like lighting conditions. Don’t forget that dimming controls for these kinds of lights are an absolute must.
Installation And Maintenance Of Bathroom Lighting
Hiring A Professional
If you aren’t experienced enough with wiring anything electric in your home, it’s always best to hire an electrician. They will be able to connect and install bathroom fixtures in a shorter amount of time than you could by yourself. Since they charge by the hour, you need to search around for an electrician that will have the best quote for the job you intend to have completed. If you’re after a partial or complete remodel, Hunt’s Kitchen Design located here in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona can help design the bathroom of your dreams.
Do-It-Yourself Installation
Learning basic electrical wiring is not so difficult if you follow standard safety rules for installing a light fixture. Do additional research by watching tutorial videos that match the light fixture you are going to install. Always make sure that you turn off the electricity where you are working and test the wiring with a handheld voltage meter to ensure you don’t get shocked.
Maintenance And Upkeep
Light fixtures in the bathroom are always subject to moisture and steam from a shower or bath. If you have ventilation fans, these need to be kept clean since dust and cotton fiber can collect on the fan blades. Regular cleaning on light units using a soft cloth to wipe off dust will keep fixtures looking fresh and clean. Try using baby wipes that can be tossed in the garbage to clean off heavier dust deposits.
Safety Considerations
When cleaning a light fixture, always turn off the unit before wiping it down. If it can be unplugged, this is even better. If a light has burned out or isn’t working correctly, turn off electricity to your bathroom or to that unit directly to replace a bead bulb. Many LED light fixtures will have easy access to replace the LED light source right away. Other LED light fixtures may need to be replaced completely.
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