Making Sure You Have Sufficient Lighting in Your Bathroom
In planning your interior lighting, whether for a new house or the remodeling of your current house, don’t overlook the bathroom.
Too often bathroom lighting is given insufficient thought, while all the other rooms in the house get the attention. Good bathroom lighting requires both ambient and task lighting. Task lighting helps avoid shadows on the face when grooming and illuminates a specific area, while ambient lighting illuminates the entire bathroom area. Today recessed lighting fixtures are very popular and are often recommended, along with a dimmer switch for adjusting ambient lighting. Being able to control bathroom lighting offers you the benefit of versatility. You can lower the lights for a relaxing soak before bed or turn them all the way up to help you start your day.
The three general types of bathroom lighting are general, or overall illumination for the entire bathroom area; task lighting for grooming, reading in the tub, or exercising; and accent lighting for highlighting artwork, plants, or decorative objects.
If you choose bathroom strip lights, place them on either side of the mirror, rather than above the mirror, to improve visibility for grooming activities like shaving and applying makeup. If you go with vanity strips with globe bulbs, choose frosted instead of clear, as this will help minimize shadows. Use light bulbs that emit a natural daylight spectrum in order to enhance skin tone and the appearance of your bathroom decor.
Choosing fluorescent bulbs for the vanity area will result in energy savings, long life, and good color. A pair of decorative wall sconces flanking the mirror will look attractive. In the morning, dimming all incandescent and halogen lights will help your eyes adapt from the dark to the light. Bathroom lighting should consist of a mixture of task lights for illuminating specific areas and supplementary lighting for general background illumination.
A good designer creates lighting zones that can be operated independently to create different moods. Working areas such as the sink countertop should have high wattage, independent task lights to illuminate a specific area without creating shadows.
For low-level background lighting, recessed strip lights with a ceiling light on a dimmer switch can be used to create the right ambiance. You can have both elegance and functionality in bathroom lighting.
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