Great Lighting Ideas for Your Bathroom

Bathrooms are a great place to add additional lighting. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, selecting the right lighting in a bathroom can help to make the bathroom more comfortable and more functional. There are many different types of lights, each suited for a specific task in the bathroom. Wall Sconces (light fixtures which are mounted on the wall) are great for providing atmosphere light. One great advantage to using a wall sconce in a bathroom is that they don’t tend to take up a lot of room, with space always being a premium in a bathroom. For symmetry and balance you will usually want to mount Wall Sconces in pairs. One classic application of this idea is the traditional light fixture on each side of the medicine cabinet.

Another bathroom lighting option is the light bar. This can be fluorescent, or can also be of the globe lamp type. Most of the globe lamp type bathroom light bars feature 5 bulbs per fixture. While fluorescent light bars are very energy efficient, incandescent globe light bars can be energy hogs. With an average of 100 watts per bulb a globe lamp bar can burn upwards of 500 watts per fixture. This is a tremendous amount of electric to use for lighting a small room. One tip is to replace the globe bulbs with compact fluorescent replacement bulbs for energy savings. Not only will you save energy with compact fluorescent bulbs, but you will also prevent a lot of excess heat being produced in the room, a welcome thing on a hot summer day.

If you have the room in your bathroom, and you really want to kick up the elegance level – consider installing a chandelier. Often this is a design tactic to add sophisticated air that is used in five star hotel bathrooms. Its important to ensure that they type of chandelier you are selecting for you bathroom project is appropriate. Bathrooms are perhaps one of the more difficult rooms to keep clean, especially when you take into account how much personal care products such as hair spray and powder tend to get flung around a bathroom. Look for a chandelier that will be easy to clean and maintain.

When you are thinking about your bathroom lighting project, ensure that for safety, you have sufficient light in your tub or shower enclosure. One important consideration is that what ever fixture you select, ensure that it is rated for a wet environment. Steam from a shower enclosure can wreck a lighting fixture that is not designed to deal with it. Usually a recessed light is the preferred type of fixture for a shower. There are other types, but the beauty of the recessed light is that it makes it easy to clean. A more exposed fixture could become an area to grow mold or mildew, or even worse rust staining the enclosure.

If you are not comfortable working around electric, it is always a good idea to consult a certified licensed electrician to install any lighting project. One tip to help save costs is to purchased the light fixture yourself, and just have the electrician install it – thereby saving the electrician’s mark up on the fixture.