Illumination and how you light up your bathroom is a crucial factor that determines how the room you’re remodeling or designing is going to be perceived.
The bathroom is a private space that needs to be a pleasant environment other than a functional one, and the more time you spend inside of it, the more you’ll need proper illumination.
Although illumination is considered a very important step in designing any other room in the house, oftentimes lighting up the bathroom isn’t seen as a priority, so much so that a landlord might easily forget about that detail and settle on random lamps.
However, in recent years, bathrooms are becoming a more important part of the house, and they’re getting larger and more elaborate.
For this reason, knowing how to choose the right illumination methods for your specific type of bathroom is essential to successfully refurbish or design a bathroom that will leave everyone satisfied.
In order to make it easier for people to understand how they can light up their bathrooms, we’ve prepared this simple and brief guide that includes tips and ideas on how to valorize your bathroom using light. You’ll find suggestions on how to illuminate specific areas of the room, as well as particular items and products you can use to do so, therefore, keep on reading and find out how to take your bathroom to the next level.
Four Different Types of Light
Before we start going into the details of bathroom illumination, we should talk about the four main types of light that can give your bathroom the best atmosphere for this kind of room. These are: Task, Accent, Decorative, and Ambient.
- Task: This kind of light is the one that allows you to better see yourself, therefore it should be used near the mirrors. A good way to install this kind of light is by using a pair of scones mounted on either side of your mirror, more or less at eye level. This way, you’ll be able to get a shadowless illumination and create the best conditions to put make-up on.
- Accent: If you enjoy having artworks in your bathroom, then accent lighting is the best way to show them off. More specifically, recessed directional lights can illuminate each element you wish to put on display.
- Decorative: This kind of lighting has a decorative purpose more than a functional one. It’s seen as an accessory and, in order to get the right feel, it’s recommended using a single pendant when your bathroom is square-shaped.
- Ambient: This light acts as a fill, especially in rooms with high ceilings where you can install lighting fixtures along the walls.
How Much Natural Light Do You Have?
Now that we’ve gone over the main lighting styles you can choose from, let’s see one of the most important questions you need to consider before choosing which lighting type you want to pursue.
Natural light is one of the best kinds of light you can get, and it’s free, however, due to privacy reasons, most bathrooms don’t have large windows.
If your bathroom windows provide enough light as it is, then that’s awesome, but, if you don’t have the chance to make the most of the natural light you get, then you should think about installing more mirrors and decide which parts of the room need more illumination.
Where Do You Need Additional Light?
The next thing to decide is where to place additional illumination. Obviously, you’ll want the areas you use the most to be well illuminated, therefore, putting a spotlight over a towel rail isn’t going to be as useful as installing several of them above the shower area.
Shower lights are always a good idea. They don’t only provide illumination, but they also can make your showering experience more comfortable and relaxing for your eyes.
Also, don’t forget to put lights near your mirrors, or to purchase an illuminated mirror, to have an even better-illuminated bathroom. There is plenty of mirror models available, but, in case you’re out of ideas, you can always contact some bathroom designers and installers to get useful insights on how to remodel your bathroom.
Bathroom Lighting Ideas
There is plenty of beautiful ways and styles you can use to illuminate your bathroom, however, sometimes it’s just not easy to come up with a solution for your bathroom’s specific situation. For this reason, we’ve summarized a couple of options you might want to consider if you’re out of ideas. Keep on reading to find out how you can light up your bathroom, or you might also want to get in touch with some companies that deal with bathroom design and fitting in London to get more direct advice.
Try Out a Nice Mix of Bright and Soft
As we’ve mentioned earlier, if your bathroom doesn’t get a lot of natural light, then it’s essential to have powerful ceiling lights. However, we can admit that this kind of brightness might not be ideal whenever you’re trying to relax in the bathtub.
Downlights offer a great compromise; they are individual ceiling lights that can give a modern look to your bathroom, and you can install them anywhere in the room.
This solution allows you to choose the areas where you want more light, therefore choosing the brightness level of the room.
Moreover, downlights are available in different colours. Meaning that you can perfectly fit this lighting method with the rest of your bathroom renovation.
Introduce Brightness Through a Focal Point
An impression of brightness can simply be created by installing a light source in a specific focal point. When your eye is drawn to a single, bright point, the whole room is consequentially going to seem brighter. Not to mention that the light is going to be reflected on the other surfaces of the room.
You can choose an outstanding piece of furniture as your focal point, such as a free-standing bathtub, and then you can install spotlights around its perimeter. Additionally, you can also focus the light on items that are at eye level to get great illumination results.
If you’re not sure of which items you want to use as focal points, then remember bathroom design specialists are always ready to take a look at the room and help you out.
Don’t Be Scared to Use Recessed Lighting
Harsh lighting is a common occurrence in a lot of bathrooms, however, this kind of light can be considered too bright by many people. Needless to say, your bathroom experience might not end up being as relaxing as you were hoping for.
A good solution could be to install recessed lighting to give the room a cozy glow without the risk of casting shadows the way direct light does.
Keep in mind that you can also add a dimmer switch to set your lighting preferences every time you use the bathroom.
Don’t Give Up Style
Although bathroom lights need to be practical, it’s still absolutely possible to install stylish light fittings. A lot of bathroom-specific light fixtures would look just as good in any other room, therefore, there’s no need to think you’ll have to give up a stylish look for your bathroom. Remember that spotlights are always a valid option since you can angle them however you like and, if you find yourself short of ideas, you can contact bathroom design companies to get some specific directions.
Conclusion
There is plenty of bathroom lighting options out there. If you want your bathroom to look bright and shiny or if you’d rather go for a cozy and relaxing atmosphere, thanks to the many solutions available, you can rest assured you’ll find the perfect lighting fixture for you. Whatever you decide, always remember that lighting up mirrors is most likely going to be a good idea to make the most of the light you have in your bathroom and, if you have a window that provides natural light, try to exploit it as much as you possibly can.
If you just can’t find what you are looking for, then try to take a look at companies that deal with bathroom installation in London to get their useful advice and ideas on your specific situation.
We want quality bathrooms to be available to Landlords and tenants at
affordable prices. Find out more about the Landlord Bathroom Company here: https://landlordbathrooms.com/our-company/