Every bathroom lighting plan should revolve around a combination of the user's personal preference and high quality bathroom fixtures. Comfort, accessibility and beauty are all important characteristics in a bathroom design. However, it is also important to incorporate personal creativity. It can come in the form of art, fixtures or other personal additions, Creativity serves a valuable purpose as to how much you can fully enjoy your bathroom experience. One of the best ways to be creative is through the use of unique and beautiful lighting. There are numerous ways to accomplish this, all of which coming with their own unique takes on lighting. This guide will highlight some of the best ways to incorporate creative and beautiful lighting in your bathroom.
Why Light is Important to Any Bathroom Design
- Increased Visibility - Sufficient lighting is important for the overall visibility of your bathroom design. With increased visibility, comes comfort and accessibility to make the bathroom environment much easier to use.
- Warmer Environment - Light helps you feel much more comfortable in your bathroom. Both natural light and artificial light can help with this in their own unique ways.
- Natural Light - The incorporation of natural light helps with both cost efficiency and lighting the room. Natural light is definitely recommended if it is possible in your unique bathroom design.
- Artificial Light - Every bathroom should have some type of artificial light. This type of lighting can come in hundreds of different forms, giving you plenty of different bulbs and fixtures to choose from.
- Convenience - Lighting makes every element of your bathroom easier to use. Light allows you to see where you are going and access each one of your fixtures and accessories with ease.
Beautiful Natural Lighting
The incorporation of natural light in any aspect of your home is very important for a healthy living experience. Natural light gives you a connection to the outdoors while simultaneously saving you money in the process. There are two main ways to go about this. The easiest way is through the use of windows. If your bathroom already has a window, make sure that you have proper curtains for it. Make sure that you let the light through whenever possible. If you are concerned about your privacy, consider using frosted glass instead of clear glass. This will still allow the flow of natural light while giving you the privacy you need.
Another way to incorporate natural light is a little harder to do, but very effective and rewarding. Skylights will give you the same effect as windows, but with much more privacy and potentially much more light. If your home will allow you to incorporate skylights, you should definitely consider it as a great opportunity. These are the most common ways of including natural light in your home. If you can do it with some other effective method, you should do what you can to make your bathroom benefit from it. Natural lighting is proven to have multiple different health benefits, so you should pursue this method if you can.
Utilize Windows Where You Can
Light and a connection to nature are two very important aspects of both a home and a bathroom design. If your bathroom is capable of incorporating some kind of window, it would greatly benefit your bathroom and home design. Windows allow your bathroom to let in some natural light as well as adding a great stylistic benefit. There are a number of different window shapes and sizes you can use in order to create your perfect bathroom design to maximize the level of comfort and relaxation you can experience in your bathroom. This can sometimes be a long process, so it is important to be patient and take your time with it. All in all, incorporating the right windows for your bathroom will be a rewarding process and give your bathroom the natural light and design elements it needs to reach its full potential.
Depending on the size and shape of your bathroom, you have a number of possibilities as to what kind of windows you can have. If you have a bigger bathroom for your master bath, you have a lot more options. For example, if your bathroom is very large, you can consider including wall windows in order to have a complete connection to the outdoors as well as a large amount of natural light. Make sure that you install blinds, curtains or shades so that you can keep your privacy. Keep in mind, this will only really work for very large bathrooms, with some exceptions. If your bathroom is medium to large, you can include windows that are a bit higher up on the wall than normal in order to maintain a level of privacy. If you have a small bathroom, smaller wall windows or hopper windows could be the best option for you. Below, we will highlight some of the most popular and effective window types that you can think about incorporating in your bathroom design.
Stand Alone Light Fixtures
Individual lighting fixtures can be very beautiful pieces for a bathroom design. This includes fixtures such as floor or wall lamps mainly. Lamps can come in many different designs and styles. This gives you almost an infinite number of possibilities of how you want to model your bathroom design. Whether you want a modern design or an industrial design, you will be able to find the perfect light fixture for you. It is important to note that you should make sure you have the proper amount of space to accommodate a lighting fixture. You should also make sure the lamp that you want is able to survive is a wet bathroom environment. This is important for the longevity of your lighting.
Floor lamps, countertop lamps, light fixtures, bathroom fan lights and alike are all examples of effective stand alone light fixtures. These light fixtures can not only serve as an effective light source, but if used correctly, can be a beautiful piece as part of your bathroom design. Something to strongly consider before making this decision is whether or not your bathroom has enough space for certain types of lighting. For example, a floor lamp light fixture could add a beautiful design aspect to your bathroom, but it may end up taking up space that you could be utilizing for something more important. If you have a bigger bathroom with an excess amount of floor space, a standing lamp could be a great aspect of design for your bathroom.
LED Lighted Bathroom Mirrors
Lighted bathroom mirrors are great bathroom light fixtures that incorporate two things into one. The combination of a mirror and LED lighting gives you a unique way to conserve space while simultaneously adding a sleek design aspect to your bathroom. Lighted mirrors can come in several different shapes, mainly rounded and rectangular shapes as well. LED lighting is also incorporated in many types of counter top mirrors, most commonly in the form of magnifying mirrors.
LED lighting provides a sustainable option for lighting in your bathroom, saving you money along the way. These mirrors are highly recommended for any bathroom lighting plans that can accommodate them. The best thing about these types of mirrors is how incredibly versatile they are, being able to be implemented in essentially any bathroom design. High quality LED lighted wall mirrors will cost around $1,000 depending on the size, materials used and other similar aspects of these bathroom light fixtures.
LED Lighted Wall Mirrors
If you want a bigger mirror, try a wall mounted LED lighted mirror. These mirrors are great bathroom light fixtures. The LED lighting gives you a clear and clean image in your mirror, similar to a magnifying mirror. The main difference between a wall mirror and magnifying mirror is that the wall mirror is much bigger. It also doesn't have magnification and has more lighting capabilities. Depending on how you want to design your bathroom, both of these styles can benefit your bathroom in their own unique ways. Wall mirrors are perfect vanity lights for a great bathroom lighting solution.
LED Lighted Magnifying Mirrors
LED lighting incorporated in mirrors is one of the best two-in-one combinations that you can incorporate in your bathroom lighting plan. If you want to start small, try a lighted magnifying mirror. These mirrors can be mounted on your wall or your countertop. This gives you the versatility and maneuverability that you might need for a number of different tasks. These types of mirrors are perfect for makeup, shaving and other similar tasks that require a clear and close view of what you are doing. Of course, magnifying mirrors shouldn't be treated as main lighting fixtures, but as compliments for your bathroom lighting as a whole. This is a great vanity light solution for small and large areas.
Importance of LED Lighting in Bathrooms
LED lighting is becoming more and more common in many bathrooms. It has proven to be both cheaper, longer lasting and more effective than traditional lighting. LED lights are extremely efficient as far as energy usage goes, consuming up to 90% less power than traditional lighting. Since the electricity usage is dramatically lower than traditional bathroom lighting, the power cost is lower. In addition, you generally will never have to replace LED lights as they last up to 50,000 hours. In general, you will most likely pay more up front, but you will definitely experience the benefits for years to come.
LED lighting comes with a number of benefits that other types of lighting do not offer. First, LED lights do not heat up as much as incandescent lighting, making them safer to the touch. Along with safety, LED lights are often brighter and directional. This means that they can accentuate parts of your bathroom effectively and efficiently. This is a great benefit in addition to other bathroom lighting. As mentioned before, one of the best benefits of LED lighting is how it is being increasingly incorporated with other fixtures such as mirrors, vanity lights and medicine cabinets, giving you a few more options as to how to light your bathroom without using only ceiling lights.
More Unique Bathroom Lighting Ideas
Candles
Candles are one of the most elegant and eye catching ways to illuminate your bathroom. With a number of different ways to go, candles give you so many possibilities in terms of both decorating and bathroom lighting. For starters, candles are a source of light. They can be used to set a relaxing mood or as a beautiful and atmospheric source of light. One of the best perks of using candles is the thousands of different scents that you can use. This will give you a great way to personalize your design and boost your comfort levels, especially if you like to take baths or just take your time in your bathroom.
You should always have at least one candle in your bathroom lighting scheme, just in case the power goes out and you need a source of light. You should always remember that candles are a small fire hazard. Just be cautious about the number of candles you have, and remember to put them out when you're finished in the room.
Chandeliers
If you are looking for a beautiful bathroom lighting fixture for your master bathroom, a chandelier could be just what you are looking for. This will often scare some people away because a chandelier is often associated with extremely high prices, but chandeliers come in many different styles with a range of affordable prices. Of course, you will absolutely find high-end and beautiful chandeliers that are on the more expensive side, but chandeliers can be implemented in a number of different budget plans. With a number of different designs and styles at your fingertips, this can be one of the most luxurious and beautiful bathroom lighting fixtures to include in your home, let alone your bathroom.
Depending on your bathroom lighting design, you can find a great piece of artistic lighting. Chandeliers are generally placed in the center of your bathroom, but can be placed in other areas as well, depending on your personal preferences. Aside from how beautiful they are, chandeliers are incredibly effective at lighting up the room as well as for vanity lighting. With several different bulbs on one fixture, a chandelier is especially effective at illuminating a large area. This is definitely worth consideration in master bathroom lighting plans, but if you have a smaller bathroom, this may not be the write option for you.
Dimmable Light Fixtures
One of the most popular and rewarding improvements to your bathroom lighting is through the use of dimmer switches. The ability to brighten or dim your bathroom lighting can completely change the atmosphere to give you a variety of different moods and tones. They are relatively easy to install as well, being quite similar to a normal light switch. You can incorporate this feature in all of your light fixtures or just a few. If you do use dimmer switches, one of the best ways to do so is through your ceiling lights. This gives you the ability to control the exact amount of light in your bathroom.
You can also find some very beautiful and affordable stand alone lighting fixtures that will allow you to incorporate some individual adjustable lighting. This will give you the most versatility in terms of the mood you want to set. It also gives you the perfect amount of light you want in your bathroom at any given time. Dimmer switches are also quite affordable, and can typically be installed fairly easily if you know what you are doing. You also need to have the correct types of light bulbs for dimmer switches. Many light bulbs are compatible, such as LED, fluorescent, halogen and incandescent bulbs, so it should be fairly easy to find the bulbs that will work best for you.
Bathroom Fan Lights
One great way to incorporate a two-in-one light fixture is a bathroom fan light. The combination of a fan and high quality bathroom lighting is perfect for any bathroom design. Bathroom fan light bathroom lighting fixtures that combine two essential elements of a bathroom. Ventilation is brought into your bathroom with the fan, and bathroom lighting comes along with it. This is something to consider when planning out the lighting in your bathroom design.
Things to Remember About Bathroom Lighting
Bathroom Lighting Needs to Follow Safety Regulations - Electrical codes call for at least one ceiling mounted lighting fixtures in each bathroom. It is recommended, but not required, that this be a lighting/fan combination. Outlets also need to be placed in safe locations as well. There is a separate guide to electrical outlet placement, so make sure you know where to put yours if you are renovating for a new bathroom.
Brightness Matters - Having lighting in your bathroom is good, but it also needs to be bright enough. Bright light bulbs are great, especially when they are utilizing dimmer switches. It is crucial that your lights are bright enough for you to freely access each nook and cranny of your bathroom comfortably.
Plan a Budget - Lighting can get somewhat expensive if you go in blind. Plan out the most energy efficient method to maximize the cost efficiency of your bathroom design. LED bulbs are great to start with and then you can plan around that one factor.
Choose Lighting You Like - If you don’t like your current lighting situation, even if it meets all requirements, think about changing it up. Having a lighting layout that you like will allow you to fully enjoy the environment of your bathroom design.
Light Every Area - It is crucial that every area of your bathroom is properly lit. This includes your vanity area, shower and every other commonly used area. This will lead to an increase in both accessibility and comfort for your everyday routine.