How To Choose Your Bathroom Lighting

The bathroom sees a lot of daily traffic. It should be safe, well lit, and comfortable for everyone, whether members of the household or their guests. A single light source might not do the trick for a larger bathroom setup, and the wrong type of light could create unmanageable glare and hassle in your routine. Each home is different and unique, but there are a few interior design standards that take some of the mystery out of turning your own bathroom into the perfect spa oasis.

Shed the Right Light

Unlike other rooms, the bathroom has a very well-defined purpose. Occupants should be able to go about their daily habits without blindly tripping over a rug or misapplying eyeshadow. This requires clear and unobtrusive lighting.

Every bathroom lighting update has the same goals to create an enjoyable, relaxing space:

• Produce a safe lighting layout
• Ensure equal light distribution
• Minimize accidental shadows or bright spots
• Work with true or warm light colors
• All of these goals are possible without industrial fluorescents and glaring, reflective surfaces. The bathroom, just as any other room in the home, should have a comfortable, welcoming character all its own. The mirror may reflect your face, but the rooms of your home should reflect a little of the whole household’s personality.

Design Variety

From torcheriers to bath bars, chandeliers to recessed pot lights, Hollywood strip lights to traditional vanity lights, there’s no shortage of choice when it comes to finding the perfect lighting solution for your bathroom. Find a style you like the look of and then determine whether it will fit the needs of your space.  

Bath Bar

Bath bar lights offer a more contemporary look to the bathroom. They diffuse the light over or alongside the mirror, offering the perfect width for illumination of the face.

Bath Strip

For a great retro look at an affordable price point, check out the bath strip. The exposed bulbs offer bright light and a characteristic design with a simple installation.

Ceiling Lights

Some ceiling lights are mounted flush against the ceiling and are completely enclosed behind a diffused glass or shade, and some are recessed into the ceiling as can lights, while others hang a little lower and reflect up to help disperse light around the room. There are even chandeliers to add glitz and shine to smaller bathrooms.

Vanity Lighting

Vanity lighting is characterized by multiple lights on a single bar mount. The individual lights have their own shades, and many can be aimed to point in different directions and customize the illumination of the room.

Light Quality

Not all light will treat your spaces equally. In the bathroom, where shade and tone are important factors, it’s a good idea to get the light quality as true to natural as possible. For older homeowners or families who are considering aging in place, keep in mind that as the human body ages, a room can require 4 times the amount of light compared to the needs of younger generations. These issues are more than just determining the wattage of the bulb in the fixture - which only measures the energy the bulb uses - and gets into questions of lumens and color temperature.

The lumens marked on most packaging are an indication of the brightness of the light that the lamp or bulb is capable of. The lower the lumens, the dimmer the light. For a brighter light, look for bulbs with a higher lumen number. If you plan a full lighting system that utilizes different types of light, for instance layering bath bars, recessed lighting, and ceiling lights, keep in mind that some types should be a higher lumen than others.

To determine the “temperature” of the lighting, look at the color accuracy, or color rendering index (CRI), and the light color (measured in kelvins) on the bulb packaging. Many interior designers recommend a bathroom light color of between 3500 kelvin and 4000 kelvin because it best mimics natural light clarity and quality, helping to reduce the bluish tint that can alter our perception of colors in brighter light. A CRI between 80 and 98 will allow you to see the natural range of colors as you would see them in blue-sky daylight, without a harsh glare distorting the color.

When it comes to the color temperature of the bathroom, keep in mind that warmer temperature lighting tends to be more flattering. It reduces shadows, and color clarity blends, hiding blemishes. It is also more relaxing, like the warm colors of candle light, and less likely to hurt the eyes. With light that is close to the white-blue color of daylight, shadows are more likely, shade differences will have a harsher contrast, and colors will reflect whiter.

Light Direction

Layering the lighting means bringing in different types of light fixtures to operate in coordination with each other to meet the different needs of the space. It allows your to be sure every area of a room is properly illuminated, no matter the room or demand. These concepts apply to the multi-purpose bathroom just as much as anywhere else.

Ambient Lighting

This soft, glowing light radiates off of light colored walls, ceilings, and other reflective surfaces to illuminate the entire room. These light fixtures cast a lot of light in all directions, over a larger space, without being too bright. Ambient light in bathroom settings usually comes from wall fixtures set above eye level like wall sconces, or overhead lights with diffused shades, such as flush mounts.

Task Lighting

Bright, direct, downward light applied exactly where it is needed, task lighting is provided by light sources such as track or recessed lights. They can usually be adjusted to point to the working surface or to reflect off of other surfaces.

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting utilizes softened light by reflecting it off other surface features to highlight or change the visual impact of the room. With up and down-lighting techniques, accent lighting can emphasize shadows to add depth, making a room look taller or more open.

Decorative Lighting

Like accent lighting, decorative lighting uses light to add emphasis to a room’s design. Wall sconces can provide unique designs while spotlights and tape lighting are often used to call attention to artwork and other specific creative elements.

To put these to work in your own bathroom, start at the basics:

• Combine recessed lighting with sconces or pendants, or a vanity light over the mirror, to add ambient lighting.
• For grooming and makeup assistance, you have a variety of options, from lighted mirrors or medicine cabinets, to wall strips and sconces.
• For safety, consider a recessed, wet-rated light over the shower or bath.
• To make a room appear taller or more open, use LED strips under mirrors or shelves to add depth through shadow.

Each area of the room serves a different purpose and may benefit from a different type of lighting, so think about the layout and the purpose while you consider your lighting choices.

Light Size Matters

Remember, the goal is to illuminate the face, not create unflattering shadows, so use the lights wisely. There are a few visual tricks that you can use to get the most out of your bathroom lighting layout.

When placing a light over the vanity mirror (or mirrors:)

• Center the light above the sink to help ensure light disperses evenly over the face.
• The light should be installed between 75” and 78” off the floor. (To help keep the glare out of the eyes of even the tallest visitor.)
• Look for a light fixture that is about 25% to 50% of the mirror width. For most vanity mirrors, you can probably start with a light that is around 24” wide.
• For a vanity with multiple sinks, opt for a smaller light fixture over the mirror above each sink. Not only does this add a light boost, it will make the room feel larger.

When placing light fixtures along the sides of the mirror (or mirrors:)

• Side lighting should be installed at around eye level.
• A wall sconce or torchiere should be installed 60” to 66” above the floor.
• When possible, center the lighting alongside the middle height of the mirror.
• To prevent shadows or bright spots, space the lights 24” to 28” apart from other light fixtures.

Moisture Ratings for Bathrooms

Perhaps the most important consideration when choosing a light fixture is the moisture rating. Electrical wiring in bathrooms should be shielded against the moisture of the room to ensure the life expectancy of the light fixtures, as well as the overall safety of the household. Any fixture installed in a bathroom should at least be rated for damp areas, because the humidity of the room can build up even if the light is not exposed directly to water. Any lighting above shower or bath areas, or near the sinks, should be rated for wet conditions. If a room is well ventilated and has a working exhaust fan, it is possible to use dry environment rated lighting near the door or otherwise far away from any water sources, but it’s generally a better idea to use damp or wet rated fixtures.

Choosing Your Bathroom Lighting

The bathroom should be a restful retreat from the stress of the day. Use these lighting tricks to make sure that your bathroom update project does the job, right from the start. Careful placement of the light sources means a happier space, right from the start.