Having a place to go and unwind from the stresses of life is a must for everyone and the bathroom is a great place to use as your sanctuary. The benefits of relaxing in a herbal bath cannot be underestimated. Bathroom lighting is one of the most important factors in achieving this relaxing environment, so how do you plan a lighting scheme to create your mini spa?
Look at your lighting needs
There are different types of lighting necessary in a bathroom and a single fixture in the middle of the ceiling fails to fit any one of them! If your bathroom is small, you need lighting that gives a sense of lightness and space. You need task lighting for applying make up or shaving. Finally you need mood or ambient lighting for relaxing times in the bathroom (also great for bath times to relax the children and get them ready for bed).
Space lighting
For a bright daylight feel you need to spread your lighting around the room with a number of low wattage semi flush or full flush mount ceiling lights. If there is a large window in your bathroom then make the most of the natural daylight that you already have with a large mirror, light coloured walls and a simple window treatment, with either a roller blind or frosted glass for privacy. For small or deep recessed windows, a roller blind or frosted glass is all you need.
Task Lighting
For close up work like shaving or make up you need a balance light that casts no shadows. So a dressing mirror with surround lights is the best solution. If you prefer not to have bulbs around your mirror, you can find mirrors with a light fitted just behind the edge. This results in a halo effect around the edge of the mirror and creates the same balanced light for close work.
Ambient and accent lighting
Getting ambient bathroom lighting right can be a bit daunting but it need not. This can be easily integrated with your other lighting needs. For instance, get a dimmer switch for the ceiling lights and you have instant ambience. If you have alcoves, place spotlights inside them and in the shower to highlight a fancy shower head. A really clever and low cost option is to fit your bathroom ceiling lights close to a wall and let the light wash the feature wall to give a hotel bathroom effect.
If you have twin bathroom sinks you can highlight these by having a light directed onto each one.For a more ambitious design, source tiles with integral lighting to give a great effect to your bathroom floor or fit a light behind an opaque wall panel to create a wall wash effect.
The perfect bathroom lighting need not be a mystery; no worse than choosing your bedroom furniture even. Simply make sure that you have your lighting needs covered and you can have a practical beautiful bathroom by day and a mini spa by night.