Bathroom Lighting Considerations

Many modern bathrooms have transformed from just a place to get ready in the morning to little sanctuaries within the house. With lavish baths, steam showers, personal spas, and other touches designed to inspire complete relaxation, a soak in the tub can now be a total escape from the rigors of the day.

These changes should be reflected in your bathroom lighting. If your bathroom is designed for a bit of R & R, your lights should be designed for the same. However, mood and style can't come at the expense of bathroom lighting's practical purposes. After all, most people still need to be able shave, put on make-up, do their hair, tie their ties, and handle the myriad other tasks that take place in front of the bathroom mirror before work each morning.

Task lighting is lighting that is focused on a particular space specifically to make a visual task easier. You can approach your lighting design for your bathroom mirror as a piece of task lighting. Keep in mind that you want to surround your face with light. If you go with a recessed light above the mirror, as many people do, you'll find that it casts shadows on your face, making personal grooming a difficult endeavor.

Also, you want to choose lenses and bulbs that eliminate glare, provide the warmth (towards yellow on the light scale) or coolness (towards blue on the light scale) of color that you find most appealing, and offer ample light distribution. Generally, a translucent lens is going to be your best choice for glare reduction, as clear lenses often create additional glare. Effective lenses and bulbs can be found at relatively low prices, so when setting your budget, your major cost issues will most likely come from your selection of fixtures.

When lighting showers and tubs, your options are more varied. Recessed lighting can create a clean, comforting look, while other fixtures, such as sconces and chandeliers, can add a true sense of style and charm to your bathroom.

Good bathroom lighting creates a comforting, facile space that makes daily personal hygiene and grooming more easy and enjoyable. For that reason, it's never a bad idea to sit down with a contractor who can aid you with your design concept as well as your installation.