Take your bathroom from ordinary to extraordinary by installing new light fixtures or special ambient lighting. It will be a quick and easy way to transform your bathroom and give it a totally different look. The light fixtures trending today incorporate the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, so, whatever funds you expend by hiring a professional contractor to do the work, will be gained when you see your lower energy bill. Even if you’re a do-it-yourselfer for some projects around the home, it is better for matters involving electricity, to have an professional electrician perform the tasks at hand.
Have a look below at some of your options as to trending bathroom lighting. You will like the look in the tiniest room in your home, plus you’ll also like your reflection with that soft ambient lighting, as you can’t help but look good.
While natural sunlight streaming through the bathroom window is the very best way to view yourself in the mirror, it is not always conducive for readying yourself for work in the early morning hours. Likewise, a rainy or dreary day can take its toll on the natural lighting aspect as well. So, you need to be prepared to make the most out of your available bathroom lighting. This would include general lighting by a bathroom fixture, ambient or accent lighting to fill in the gaps in the lighting so shadows are not present, or task lighting to hone in on a certain area of the bathroom. In a small bathroom, usually more-than-adequate lighting is provided by a single fixture, but in medium-sized and larger-sized bathrooms, sometimes a little extra help is needed. Even if you just replace the single fixture, and don’t add enhancement lighting, your priority should be to ensure that you are using light bulbs that will give you the most-natural light available. More on this later.
Bathroom size and window placement
If money is an object, but you desire to enhance the light in the bathroom, if the fixtures permit it, simply change the type of light bulb. The newer styles of LED and CFL bulbs will cut your electricity bill in half. Don’t be initially intimidated by these somewhat pricey bulbs as they are very long lasting and this accounts for the rather-hefty price.
- LED bulbs are lower voltage and use way less energy than the typical incandescent bulb.
- Compact fluorescent bulbs, a/k/a CFL bulbs will cut your energy bill dramatically. Because of their low wattage, they stay extremely cool, so if you are standing directly beneath them, you will feel no heat emanating, no matter what size the bulb is. CFLs are an excellent choice for the bathroom as the light emitted from this type of bulb most resembles natural light.
- Traditional incandescent bulbs are still available, despite threats to take them off the market many years ago. Some people still prefer these bulbs which are available in different lumens, which, depending on the type of bulb selected, can give off a yellowish, warm-colored light or a bluish, cool-colored light. Depending on which type and lumens you select, your light will look very different, with the former casting a more-pleasant glow and the latter casting a brighter light, more appropriate for reading.
Opt for new fixtures
There are many styles out there, all guaranteed to match your particular bathroom décor. If streamlined and gleaming and shiny silver is “you”, then you’ll find a similar-finish fixture. If rustic or colonial is more your style, a burnished finish is right up your alley.
Traditional bar-type lights
- Bar lights are the most-popular types of electrical fixtures for the bathroom and can consist of as few as a trio of lights, to as many as a half-dozen. You can mount this bar of lights over a vanity mirror or use a pair of bar lights on either side of the vanity mirror.
- Hollywood-style lights are in the same family as traditional bar lights, but, if you want total elegance and glamour in your bathroom, why not consider these special bulbs placed around the perimeter of the vanity mirror, which will give off much ambient light, plus garner all the glitz and glam of a starlet’s dressing room.
- Sconces are smaller than a light bar, and much more-elegant look. Sconces may be used singly but a pair of sconces placed on either side of a mirror will provide enhanced lighting and an elegant look to your bathroom and come in many styles and finishes.
- Pendant lighting is a popular trending look these days. Pendant lighting could be a simple chandelier or a series of pendant lights placed directly over the sink area. These two types of hanging fixtures would thus provide general lighting, as well as ambient and task lighting.
Up close and personal
When light fixtures and ambient lighting are just not up to the task, and more light is needed in the bathroom to fill in darker areas where shadows may occur, you may wish to consider using task lighting to “layer in” more light into the room. A few examples to add enhanced lighting would be utilizing mini strips of light which are strategically placed around the bathroom. Examples are:
- Recessed lighting, a/k/a cove lighting which is often used in rooms where there is a high ceiling and inadequate lighting in general. Here, strategically placed lights around the perimeter of the bathroom, or, to specifically highlight a low-light area, will permit light to be dispersed into the entire room or just where the lights are trained upon.
- Light strips are handy for all bathroom sizes, where dark and shadowy corners due to inadequate lighting occurs. A simple strip of LED long-lasting lights can be placed above and beneath the vanity mirror to provide enhanced lighting.
