Bathroom Light Fixture Guide

7 Tips To Improve Your Bathroom Lighting

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If you want to achieve a certain mood in your bathroom, you need proper lighting. Lights are important in every room, even in the bathroom. It is the one room in your house you go to everyday, aside from your bedroom.

There are four types of lighting you can install. The four basic types are accent lighting, general lighting, task lighting and decorative or sparkle lighting. Professional decorators and designers usually combine the first three types of lighting in a room, sometime even the four of them. For the bathroom, task lighting is the most basic and critical lighting fixture you can install. Proper lighting design will greatly assist you in your bathroom routine such as applying of make up, dressing a wound, shaving and when you are putting on your manicure and pedicure.

1st Tip: Task lighting should be placed above the vanity mirror, near the sink. You can also opt to place it at each side of the mirror instead, depending on the aesthetic value of your preference.

2nd Tip: It is highly recommended that you install incandescent or halogen fixtures in your vanity mirror. This way, you are able to control the brightness of the lights by just installing a dimmer.

3rd Tip: Remember that it would be better to ‘over light’ than not to have enough light. If you do not have enough light, you will need to add another light fixture. If you have more than enough light, a dimmer is all you need to control the brightness in the room. Whatever amount of lighting you need, the dimmer will let you achieve it without having to install or uninstall another lighting fixture.

4th Tip: If you can find one, it is best to have neodymium light bulbs as your lighting fixture for your vanity mirror. It closely simulates sunlight that is why it is preferred by many. Neodymium is like an incandescent light bulb but with a slight bluish tint in it. The bluish tint is caused by the neodymium placed inside the glass envelope. This is the reason why it is less yellow than the ordinary incandescent light bulb.

5th Tip: Refrain from using recessed down lights because it causes too much shadow on your face. You can use this type of lighting anywhere else in the bathroom but not in your vanity mirror.

6th Tip: Near your vanity mirror, you might want to install a small lit concave mirror. This will magnify the image on the mirror plus, the additional lighting will help you in specific tasks such as applying your make up or shaving.

7Th Tip: Take also in consideration the lighting for your bathtub, shower or Jacuzzi area. To illuminate these areas, you can use two recessed downlights with special shower trims. If your bathroom is already fully constructed, then a remodel or recessed housing is appropriate. You can also choose to install a shower trim that has a glass diffuser and special gasket or a shower trim with a domed glass diffuser for uniform light distribution.

Choosing Bathroom Light Fixtures

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Good lighting is the key in order to add accent to your room, to give it more depth and character. This is also true when it comes to your bathroom lighting. In the past years, the bathroom is not given that much thought in terms of lighting fixtures. A single simple light bulb is typically all it takes to light the room. Now, with bathrooms becoming more huge and luxurious as time goes by, improved lighting for the bathroom is called for. The creation of new lighting schemes promotes a friendlier and more adaptable atmosphere in your vanity room.

Interior decorators and designers admit that there is no single way in order to perfectly light a bathroom. The combination of light bulbs and light fixtures needed to make the room look inviting depends solely on three factors. Before bathroom remodeling, decorators need to know the personal preference of the client, the size of the bathroom and the decorations inside it.

The Needs Of Bathroom Light Fixtures

To achieve a certain effect in your lighting scheme, you need to use a combination of light bulbs and fixtures. Usually it only takes a good mix of task lighting and accent lighting to perfectly illuminate not just the bathroom but any room in your house.

The most basic lighting your bathroom needs is general lighting. It will illuminate the floor for safety purposes plus it will eliminate any shadow thus giving the room sufficient lighting. This type of lighting is also called ambient lighting. You can achieve this through skylights, with clear windows or with ceiling-mounted fixtures. Recessed ceiling fixtures are more advisable for bathrooms because it causes fewer glares than those lighting fixtures that hang below the ceiling. For the bulbs, you have the option to put in an incandescent bulb or a compact fluorescent. The standard quantity of light per square foot is 2 ½ to 4 watts of incandescent light as dictated by the National Kitchen and Bath Association of the United States. If you want to go green, you can still have ambient lighting by means of putting additional windows so that natural light comes in the room. You can have frosted glass, glass box or even a skylight.

Task Bathroom Light Fixtures

With regards to task lighting, it provides great illumination to critical areas such as the vanity mirror, shower area and sink. More importantly, it adds to the overall lighting of the bathroom. Task lighting will help you do your bathroom routine more easily such as shaving, doing your manicure and pedicure, putting your make up or even when reading while you soak up in the tub. Get moisture proof ceiling mounted down lights for enclosed shower or tub. You can add dimmer to your lights so you can change the mood at your command. For light switches, it should be placed at least six feet away from the tub or shower.

In order to highlight specific decors or features of the room, make use of accent lighting. For example, putting a row of halogen mini-lights on the overhang of bathroom platform steps or on a hanging tapestry adds mood and more interesting effect to the entire bathroom. Remember that accent lighting should be three times brighter than ambient lighting.

Bathroom Wall Light Fixtures

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Adding bathroom wall light fixtures are a simple way to take a bathroom from ordinary to extraordinary.  It’s usually in fancy houses, hotels, and restaurants that designers actually consider installing wall lights in the bathroom.  That certainly doesn’t mean that you can’t bring that level of elegance and sophistication to your home!  Bathroom wall lighting fixtures are easy to install and have much more that aesthetic benefits!

If your bathroom also has vanity light fixtures, you’ll want to match the style of those so that a natural look is achieved.  That’s not to say that it should be the same design, but one that will allow them to complement each other.  If the vanity light is stainless steel and a square design, you’ll want a wall fixture that is a square(ish) and stainless as well.

One of my favorite things about shopping for a bathroom wall light fixture is that you don’t have to limit yourself to the bathroom lights!  Any wall fixture for any part of the house will work.  What this means for you is that your options are almost limitless.  If you find a kitchen light that you absolutely love, you can install that in the bathroom as well.  The electricity is the same in the bathroom as it is in every other room of the house!

Bathroom wall lights are dual purposed.  They look great and give your bathroom a very “finished” feel, and they provide light (imagine that!).  A well placed wall light can direct light towards the mirror in a way that will help light the face in a balanced way to help shaving and putting on makeup.  The perfect setup is vanity lights above and wall fixtures on each side of the mirror, and lights for the shower enclosures.  Most counters have a reflective quality that will bounce light upwards, and light will come from all sides of the face.

Dark paint on the walls also increases the need for wall lights.  Most bathrooms only have vanity lights, and a recessed light over showers.  When walls are painted any color other than white, the light will not reflect very well and the bathroom becomes very dark.  Dark bathroom always feel like dungeons!  Add the extra light with bathroom wall lighting fixtures.

To get the most dramatic effect from a bathroom wall lighting fixture, install a dimmer light switch.  This gives you complete control over the bathroom’s lighting, and can turn it from a place to take care of “business” to a romantic and relaxing getaway.  The best way to do this is with a dual light switch.  One switch is for the vanity light, and the other is only a dimmer for the other lights in the bathroom.  The last thing you want is to have to fiddle around with a dimmer switch in the middle of the night when you have to go to the bathroom.

Unless you already have existing wall fixtures in the bathroom, electrical and drywall work is going to be needed.  The work certainly isn’t difficult and with some knowledge of both of those, most people can take care of it themselves.  If you doubt your skills, I recommend hiring a professional to come and help.  The drywall and wiring work is basic, so you can expect a reasonable price and it should be completed in a day or two.  Professional handymen are a great resource for projects like these, and you’ll save money by not having to hire two separate people.

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