Most residential bathrooms are lit by the vanity lights alone. Often, this is a row of brilliantly bright bulbs designed to help you face the mirror with the best illumination. Vanity lights are near blinding and they cross the span of the mirror. So why do bathrooms always feel under-lit?
The reason is single-source lighting. Bathrooms are complex structures, packing a lot of function into a small space. This creates a "skyline" of sorts, and plenty of shadows when there's only one source or direction of light. The shower curtain causes bathing and showering to seem dark, while privacy nooks can also cause toilets to become ominously shadowed.
One vanity light or even a central ceiling light is only enough for the simplest powder rooms. If you are already considering a bathroom remodel, why not add more light?
Today, we want to talk about all the clever, enjoyable, and useful ways to light your bathroom in addition to the vanity or central light fixture. You'll soon see why and how your bathroom needs more light:
Most of us prefer to conduct self-care in the shower. It's a convenient and easily cleaned space for everything from hair care to injury treatment. The shower looks well-lit and inviting when open, but closing the shower curtain also casts a shadow and blocks the light from your self-care activities.
While some things can be done without looking, some cannot. We need good visibility in the shower to properly complete a modern hygiene routine. Parents and pet owners especially need a bath light for successfully bathing young children or furry friends.
Ambient light above the shower is a great way to improve your bathing experience and the accuracy of your care tasks. Designed with style and subtlety, you gain a shadow-free shower without blinding bulbs.
Another benefit to recessed lighting above the bath is pleasant mood lighting. Both soaking baths and relaxing showers are often enjoyed with the lights turned down. There is nothing like a long soak in the bath with gentle mood lighting to help you relax after a long day.
Even bedtime showers can be more relaxing when you have full control over both the location and level of light in your bathroom. You can also replace the need for bathroom candles or nightlights with built-in bath mood lighting.
With modern and smart light installations, you can set colors and moods for any bathing experience, whether you are relaxing in bed or getting energized for the day.
Bathroom shadows are a well-known problem. A bathroom is a small room with many fixtures that can obscure the light, casting some serious shadows in an otherwise well-lit room. However, lighting techniques have advanced significantly in the last 20 years of home construction and improvement.
Instead of a solitary light or line of vanity bulbs, it's easy to design a bathroom that doesn't cast shadows. If you want greater visibility in the shower without the shadow of the shower curtain in the way, you can safely install the right lighting fixture just for the shower. If the towel rack casts an awkward shadow, you can place a new light to eliminate that shadow.
Everyone sometimes shuffles to the bathroom in the middle of sleep. In this time, we rarely want to flip on the brilliant vanity lights for the sake of others sleeping and our own sleepy eyes.
In fact, the light on can be as blinding as the darkness is obscuring. Here, you have two options. You can install a dimmer switch for the vanity lights or you can install a dedicated nightlight lighting fixture exactly where and how you want the bathroom lit in the darkness.
Additional bathroom lighting gives you options. A light strip and strategically set glowing nightlights can provide convenient nighttime navigation without switching on the daytime-brightness bathroom lights. Small wall or ceiling-mounted lights can glow gently without blinding the eyes. You can even hide your bathroom nightlights recessed in shelves or set underneath the countertop lip.
If your bathroom gets cold in the winter. The tiles freeze and the air, while dry, is also extremely frigid when you step out of the shower. The best answer is to bring heat into your bathroom and a great way to do that is a heat lamp. But where? It can be nice to have a heat lamp in just the right place.
Every bathroom is unique, so the right wall or ceiling will vary by design. You may install a heat lamp in the ceiling just above your bathmat - where you need it most. Or there might be a good spot in the wall instead to warm you directly.
Whatever the layout, you can install an extra fixture just to help a cold bathroom warm up when you need to relax. A heat lamp is a fun and comfortable way to make your bathroom lighting really work for you.
Last but certainly not least, additional lighting can help you light the toilet nook. Privacy designs often include a little wall or separate area for the toilet, away from the primary bathroom space. This is nice for a multi-purpose bathroom, but it often leaves the toilet cast in shadows, because it's on the other side of a wall from the only source of the bathroom light. A shadowy toilet nook can feel ominous or just plain uncomfortable when blocked off from the bathroom lights. Subtle lighting not only makes it easier to navigate and less worrisome, but lighting can also create the perfect reading nook.
You can install several types of lights to eliminate the shadowy toilet nook problem. Strip lights can ring the ceiling above the toilet for soft illumination while a single recessed canister can provide a handy non-shadow-casting source of light. You can even light your shelves if your toilet nook includes open storage spaces.
Bathrooms traditionally are designed in ways that cast shadows. Get rid of your bathroom shadows and make the space really relaxing with a few extra light fixtures. Remodeling a bathroom is the best time to install all the extra fixtures that will make your bathroom more inviting and enjoyable every time you enter. Contact us to consult on your favorite bathroom remodel solutions.