Most homes have a “feel” or theme that permeates through every room.  This theme is a reflection of you and your family’s personalities that makes it not just your house, but your home.  Many homes have bathrooms that feel like you stepped into a strangers house and there is no continuity from the other rooms.  This is incredibly important to keep in mind when shopping for bathroom lighting fixtures, your bathroom should feel like every other room in your house.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what the theme is of your home, look at it like you’ve never been there before.  Look up, down, left, right and make a note of everything that you see.  There will be some common themes, or at the very least, common shapes and materials.  If many of the fixtures and bedroom table lamps in your home are silver, make note of that.  If round fixtures and lights are your thing, note that as well.  If your wall mounted shelves are of a modern look, make note of that.  These different qualities of the stuff in the rest of your home will help you determine what will go into your bathroom.

After you have an idea of your home’s theme, or at least common characteristics, write all of them down.  Those qualities are going to become your shopping checklist for your next bathroom light fixture.  You’re going to be looking at qualities like color, texture, shape, and material along with more abstract feelings like modern, contemporary, rustic, vintage, and even kitschy.

Take your list and narrow it down to five or six different things.  Those are now the qualities that you look for in your new light fixtures, and if it doesn’t fit your list it won’t fit in your home.

This technique, obviously, could be applied to anything that you put into your home.  Most people benefit from this little exercise when it comes to bathroom stuff because many people look at a bathroom like it’s just a place to take care of business, rather than an extension of the rest of the home.  Spend the extra few minutes to do this and you’ll find the perfect bathroom lighting fixture the first time you go shopping!

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3. Bathroom Vanity Light Fixtures

Vanity light fixtures come in as many shapes and forms as there are styles of homes, and the one that you’re looking for is out there waiting for you.  In this article we’ll take a look at some of the different types bathroom vanity light fixtures, how to get the best results from them, and how to install them.

Styles of Bathroom Vanity Light Fixtures

Like I said above, most people think that a vanity light fixture is five or seven bulbs above the mirror.  How wrong they are!  I’m sure that you have a pretty good idea of what the “style” of your home is, be it modern, contemporary, country, etc.  There are bathroom light fixtures that will meet the needs of your home and help prevent the room from feeling like a forgotten artifact in the design of the house.

Modern bathroom vanity lights are usually sleek, elegant, and sophisticated without being snobbish or pretentious.  This modern look is very popular with new and young homeowners who are looking for their home to grow in sophistication as they are in their personal and professional lives.  I feel that that modern light fixtures fit well with calm and muted colors, such as greys and browns that will offer a clean look and feel to any bathroom.  Most modern vanity light fixtures are silver, brushed aluminum, or stainless steel.  In some homes these materials may feel cold and harsh, but when the entire home has a modern feel to it, these textures fit in perfectly.

Contemporary bathroom light fixtures are a bit more conservative than their modern counterparts.  Again, these bathroom vanities share the same materials such as chrome, stainless steel, or brushed aluminum, but many also come in gold and bronze options that give a bathroom a much warmer feel.  These light fixtures pair well with bathroom vanity sinks and are perfect for the growing family that is working to make their house feel like a home.  Contemporary bathroom fixtures will pair well with the bold colors that young families love.  Hunter green and navy blue both pair excellently with the silver and gold finishes and give a bathroom a warm feeling.

Getting The Most From Your Bathroom Vanity Light Fixtures

There is a little bit more to vanity lights than installing it and flicking the switch.  When you’re still in the planning phase you must consider the way that the light is going to shine onto the face when it’s in front of the mirror.  If the only light in the bathroom is coming from a light fixture directly above the mirror, harsh shadows are going to be cast along the length of the face.  Applying makeup and shaving is going to be difficult without being able to clearly see the face.  For best results, there should also be some sort of light coming in from the sides of the mirror.  In bathrooms that are painted white and have light colored countertops, this isn’t an issue since the light will reflect off of those, but for those with dark walls or counters it can be difficult.  This problem can be resolved by simply adding another small light on each side of the mirror.

Installing Bathroom Vanity Lights

If you already have a vanity light installed above the mirror, installation is as easy as turning the power off, removing the existing sconce, and installing the new one.  If you don’t have preexisting wires, it’s much trickier and may require professional help.  The electrical work isn’t difficult, and neither is the drywall, but there is a lot of room for error when working inside walls to run wires.

After the sconce has been installed, your choice of light bulbs is almost as critical as the light fixture choice.  Choosing a bulb that is too bright will make your bathroom feel like the Vegas strip, and too dim will cause it to feel like a dungeon.  The wattage that you need depends directly on how many lights are on the vanity.  I recommend 60w for three lights, and 10w less for each light added.  Your results may be different depending on the size of the bathroom and the colors of the walls.

If you’re working to make your house as green as possible, avoid using CFL bulbs in your vanity lights.  Fluorescent light will cause the skin to have a yellow tint on it when looking in the mirror.  Yellow skin will at least make it hard to put on makeup, or at the worst make you think you have jaundice!  Instead, halogen bulbs offer a clean, white light and much better energy efficiency than traditional bulbs do.

This post should act as the foundation to your bathroom vanity light fixture shopping list.  Vanity lights come in many shapes and sizes, as well do bathrooms.  It may take a few installations and removals before you find the vanity light fixture that you are absolutely happy with.

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