Tips for perfect bathroom lighting

Your bathroom might have a gorgeous theme, the finest flooring, and top-of-the-line fixtures, but if you skimp on proper lighting, your bathroom won’t reach its full potential. Here are a couple of tips for perfect bathroom lighting.

1. Use natural light

Natural light is the perfect choice for bathroom ambient lighting. Large windows are great at bringing in the light, but they can be an issue for privacy or for bathrooms that don’t have exterior walls. If you don’t want windows in your bathroom, you can opt for skylights instead. Whether tubular or traditional, skylights are wonderful eco-friendly alternatives for artificial ambient lighting.

2. Go for multiple layers of light

The biggest mistake when it comes to bathroom lighting is relying on overhead lighting. Overhead lights work great for ambient lighting, but they just aren’t enough for all the activities that happen in the bathroom. Treat your bathroom just like the other rooms in your home, and layer your lighting.

As mentioned above, ambient lighting can be covered by natural light, although you may want to add one or two more ambient lights for when you access the bathroom at night or in the wee hours of the morning. It would be a good idea to put your ambient lights on a dimmer so you can adjust the lighting levels in your bathroom to suit your mood.

Once you’ve covered the ambient lighting, move on to specific task lighting. The three areas that need their own light sources are the shower and bathtub, toilet, and vanity. Lighting for the bath, shower, and toilet doesn’t have to be as intensive as vanity lighting. One thing to remember about choosing lights for the shower and bath is that lights for these areas have to be vapour-proof.

Lighting is quite important for your mirror or vanity, especially if it is often used for shaving or putting on make-up. Vertical lights on both sides of the mirror work best since they won’t cast odd shadows all over your face.

The last layer of light for your bathroom is the accent lights. If your bathroom has spots, decors, or fixtures that you are particularly fond of, call attention to them using accent lights.

3. Avoid dark colours

Light source is not the only factor that affects the quality of light in your bathroom. Your fixtures, walls, and bathroom surfaces also play a big part when it comes to lighting. Dark colours absorb light and make spaces look much smaller, so try to avoid them in vast portions. It’s alright to have a couple of dark fixtures or some dark wall accents, but it is much more advisable to use lighter hues.

Light up your bathroom the right way by having a professional electrician take care of your lighting – get quotes from expert sparkies now!