Make The Most Of Your Bathroom With Wall Lights
The bathroom’s a funny old room, isn’t it – filled and fought over at peak times then sadly neglected for the rest of the day – perhaps that’s why bathroom lighting comes as an afterthought in many people’s interior decor plans.[DFR::c998dfae-80dc-32aa-8032-153faea8e664-2687-af|align_right_1]
Ironically, the way you choose to illuminate your bathroom is probably more important than for any other room. In fact, poor bathroom lighting can set you off on the wrong foot for the rest of the day.
Why wall mounted bathroom lights? Because they offer the combination of ambience and functionality that every bathroom needs – what use is a bathroom that isn’t functional? But, by the same token, who wants to spend more time than necessary in a room that’s starkly lit?
And – worthy of a separate paragraph- make sure you understand the bathroom lighting regulations, which are, quite necessarily, strict on what lights you can have where. It’s been said before but it won’t hurt to say it again: water and electricity do not make good bedfellows!
If, like the majority of us, you are the proud owner of a less-than spacious bathroom, you might find that wall lights – especially if they are linked to a dimmer switch outside the room – provide all the lighting you need. Well chosen and sited lights will not only afford good general light levels they will also provide more than adequate task lighting.[DFR::94f5b096-2027-8fda-7524-b9059c9ecdb2-2687-af|align_left_1]
For task lighting in particular, the closer you can get to ‘daylight coloured’ light the better; both halogen lamps and LED lights will help in this respect. The real secret to good bathroom task lighting though is the position of the lights. Get it wrong and you’ll see ugly shadows beneath your eyes when you look into the mirror – even if you don’t have any! To eliminate shadows, light needs to come from all directions and illuminate all the planes of your face equally; that is the theory behind those oh so glamorous movie star dressing room mirrors.
Light fittings around the mirror should cast light in four directions, that is, from above and below and from either side, in order to eliminate those pesky shadows. Hollywood style mirrors had their basis in functionality! To achieve this happy state of affairs in less than movie-star style, place one wall light above the mirror, and one either side at around eye level. If your mirror is large, say 1 metre across or more, you will find that the side lights don’t provide adequate illumination. In this instance, an overhead light will fill in the gaps.
Having got the task lighting right, you can move onto setting the general light levels, as well as start thinking about simple mood lighting; both of which can be achieved with the same three wall lights. By using separate switches for the various lights you will build in versatility. Soaking in the bath? Switch on the central wall light and use the dimmer switch to lower the light levels; putting on make-up for a night out on the town? Those three wall lights around the mirror, up full, will ensure you don’t go out with lipstick on your teeth!
And, when its time for romance, just add candles.
Tags: bathroom wall light, bathroom wall lighting, Bathroom Wall Lights
