In this final article of this series on lighting tips, we’re taking a look at an important, but often less thought about, room in the house: the bathroom.
And the other articles in this series are super helpful as well! Get some advice on lighting your kitchen, read about how to light your dining room, and the article that started it all: tips for proper lighting in your living room.
Functional Lighting In The Bathroom
Taking care of ourselves means having a clear vision of what we’re doing – and as the smallest room in the house, not to mention the most private, our bathrooms don’t always enjoy a lot of natural light.
Luckily, getting a ceiling light to cast enough ambient light around such a classically small room is a relatively simple thing to do. That said, you can modify how intimate or illuminated your bathroom feels by adjusting the brightness of that main lightbulb.
However, a lot of experts advise that you try and match your lighting in the bathroom to as close to natural daylight as possible. That means steering away from overly white or too heavily colored lighting options.
It also serves the function of giving you more accuracy when getting prepared in the mirror every morning. If you do your makeup or shave your facial hair in lighting that doesn’t match the outside world, you can accidentally think you leave the house looking a certain way – only to have real-world lighting tell quite another story!
The bathroom is the one room in the house where task lighting rules the roost. Sure, you can use lighting to accentuate some decor if you have it in the room to showcase – but the key goal of this room is to preen and pamper ourselves, as well as take care of the calls of nature!
Lighting Around the Bathroom Mirror
If you don’t already have one, absolutely ensure there’s a wall lamp, lighting strip or a pair of standing lamps either side of your bathroom mirror. This is the part of the house that simply cannot be left in the dark.
Note we’re suggesting lighting on either side of the mirror, instead of a light over the top of your bathroom mirror. A light atop your mirror casts all the illumination on your forehead first, and drags shadows down your cheekbones, under your brow and nose, and beneath the jaw.
Not only is that sometimes unflattering, but it also is an example of how lighting in your bathroom can give you a false impression of yourself compared to natural outdoor lighting – which a light either side of your mirror is more effective at simulating.
Accent Lighting in Your Bathroom
Not all of your bathroom lighting decisions need to be so clinical, of course. This room is also where many of us enjoy a long solitary soak in the bathtub – an indulgence often made that much sweeter by low lighting.
A few gentle accent lights in the ceiling or along the walls can work wonders here – or you can carefully place a standing lamp close to the tub and leave all your other bathroom lighting off when it’s time for that soak.
How well can you see in the shower? Older homes with less modern showers often don’t have embedded lighting in their ceilings or fixtures. Task lighting here can help you focus on keeping yourself clean – consider some waterproof adhesive lighting for the shower to help here.
Lighting Is Important But Should Be Fun, Too!
Wherever in the home you roam, lighting can be as much about form as it is function. Hopefully the tips in this series have helped stir up some creative juices and given you food for thought as you decorate your home. And when you’re ready to pick out home decor and furniture, come to our showroom to see everything we have in person!
So where will you be letting your light shine at home first?
