Imaginative & Creative Lighting Ideas for Your Bathroom
Every bathroom has a good lighting potential, no matter how dimly lit it may seem. So, whether you are considering a major renovation or simply want to lend function to your wash retreat, start by finding smart lighting ideas for the bathroom to transform its look.
Strategically placing mood lights around the washroom can transform your bath while helping you create a soothing and interesting atmosphere.
Many interior designers will recommend using light fixtures like antique sconces, overhead lights, and flush mounts, but truly effective lighting ideas are not limited to these time-tested solutions.
First and foremost, you need to decide what effects you really aim to achieve. Once you know what you want, you’ll find that there’s no shortage of ideas when choosing lighting design for the bathroom. Browse through our favorite ready-made or DIY bathroom lighting ideas to find ideal inspirations that will suit your personal bath.
1. Install Bulbs Inside the Ceiling
Lighting ideas for the bathroom ceiling vary with the style and atmosphere you want to create through the 24 hours of every day.
You want adequate lighting at hidden corners and around the mirror without shifting the focus of the room from the windows, especially when you set off for work every day before sunrise. At the same time, you also need your space to look stylish when taking a relaxing bath.
By installing lights in the ceiling, you ensure a luminous atmosphere, with the lights reaching every corner and direction so that even at night, having a bath won’t be a hassle.
2. Create a Focal Point with Task Lights
A task light could be the extra highlight to create a functional and beautifying effect in your washroom.
While not many people will use your washroom, it doesn’t mean you should overlook its aesthetic appeal. The bathroom plays a significant role (just like your bedroom) in helping you relax. So, while installing lights, aim to create feature highlights in easily overlooked or functional areas to make your shower space stand out.
Technically, by installing bulbs in the ceiling, you can easily ensure every part of the room has sufficient lighting. Still, ideas like this won’t always suit small bathrooms. Plus, an expenditure like this can take a toll on your finances, especially if you’re on a restricted budget.
Rather than trying the extra-bright LED lighting ideas for bathrooms, highlight only specific features to create a sophisticated contrast with ease. For instance, place two decorative wall light fixtures beside the mirror to make everyday shaving and make-up tasks easy, or accentuate a wall with shelves to make your space seem bigger.
3. Light Up the Vanity
Sometimes, one central light source won’t give the effect you need in spaces like the vanity area. In this case, you’ll need to get a layered or task light to promote the functionality of your vanity space.
Lighting ideas for your bathroom vanity normally involve you installing statement wall lights beside or above the vanity area to create a shadow-free flattering lit spot.
4. Install a Large Pendant
Gone are the days when simple LED lighting ideas for the bathroom were the best art pieces to integrate into a shower. Now, it is fairy-like pendants that look like mini-chandeliers that add a unique appeal to your home and give it modern sophistication in tune with trendy standards.
While pendant lighting ideas for the bathroom may seem like an overly large statement, don’t be afraid to go big even if you have a small space. You’ll be surprised at how easily a large pendant can blend with a small space and make it very much in vogue.
5. Make a Statement with Chandeliers
A statement light over the ceiling may not be easy to integrate into an oversized shower or small bath, but it’s not totally impossible. You just need to find the perfect all-out glamor lighting fixture that works for you.
Chandeliers are one of the best statement lighting ideas for the master bathroom, which homeowners with large shower space should definitely try. A well-chosen chandelier helps you create a look that takes even the simplest-looking master bath from lackluster to luxurious in an instant.
Then again, some chandeliers come in space-friendly sizes and designs. Hence, chandeliers can also be a striking addition to small bathrooms. Simply select the design and size that suits your space.
6. Install Dimmer Light Bulbs and Switches
Easily switch between bright light to softer tones for a more relaxing atmosphere.
If it is not illumination that you really aim for but aesthetics and mood, a good way to achieve this is to use dimmers to create a spa-like sanctuary.
Dimmer lights help you create a serene and intimate atmosphere while making your small bath feel spacious. What’s more, such a solution allows you to have the best of both worlds, thanks to the dimmer switches that make it possible to brighten and lower the way your bulbs shine.
7. Get Creative with Wall Sconces
Bathroom lighting ideas for small bathrooms don’t have to be all about practicality. If you want your lights to be decorative, antique wall sconces make this possible.
Wall sconces, although used in the traditional ages, are still on trend today because they both serve as task lighting and, above everything else, look beautiful.
Wall sconces sitting on both sides of the basin can make your double sinks look classically elegant. If you’ve got a single sink, they’ll also prove effective in keeping your vanity area lit adequately, free of shadows, and aesthetically pleasing.
8. Integrate Traditional Lanterns
Who says traditional lanterns won’t match up to modern trends?
The style of these lanterns makes this washroom look like an 18th-century French bath, and they hang over the mirror and vanity area like a true work of art. Add the brown-colored cabinets and beautiful glass shower by the side, and there’s no doubt that this small shower space embodies the elegance of the Age of Enlightenment.
9. Install Strip Lights Behind Mirrors
Simply put, install a backlight to illuminate the mirror.
A backlight is a feature you’d always find in places like the living room, especially behind TV units. In your washroom, it plays a vital beautification and functional role behind the mirror. Install it and see your mirror and vanity area light up instantly.
10. Waterproof Lights
If you successfully avoid moisture in your bedroom and living room, the shower is the place where water drops are plentiful. With electric appliances like bulbs, moisture could damage your beautification efforts. The best way to avoid this is to install waterproof lights over the ceiling.
FAQs
Here you will find the answers to commonly-asked questions.
The best lights for bathrooms are those that illuminate your space, help with specific functions, and act as decorative accents.
Illumination Effects: these lights are typically called ambient lights. They provide overall illumination so that it reaches the hard-to-see corners of your shower space.
Specific Functions: these lights are called task lighting. They make it easy to perform specific tasks like shaving, brushing, and make-up. Task lighting is one of the cool bathroom lighting ideas that are best integrated around mirrors, vanity, and cabinets to remove shadows that may disrupt basic tasks.
Decorative accents: as the name suggests, these lights serve as decorative fixtures to beautify both large and small shower spaces. Decorative accent lights would fit well under the vanity or on bare walls to create a focal point.
Technically, adding decorative features to any part of the house means that you have to consider available space, size, and, above all, the goal you aim to reach.
For most bathrooms, it’ll be easy to find decorative bathroom lighting ideas for double sinks, vanity areas, mirrors, cabinets, and showers without so much effort. However, for the vanity area, task lighting ideas are the most suitable choice of illumination since they ensure a properly lit area. All you need to do is install LED lights beside the mirror and vanity area.
In hard-to-see corners like cabinets and shelves, installing small LED bulbs inside these spaces can be a simple yet effective solution.
Overall, when making placement plans for light fixtures, don’t focus strictly on decorative accents. Be sure to consider practicality, and you’ll transform your bath without much effort.
Conclusion
Lights can make or break a room’s overall ambiance. They can make the room feel airy, bigger, more beautiful, or radically change a relaxing and bright room to a dull, lifeless space. On the other hand, a beautiful light assembly that works for large master baths won’t always sit right in a small washroom. It all boils down to finding the right ideas for bathroom light fixtures that work best for your space.
From task lights beside the vanity area to traditional lanterns, antique wall sconces, dimmer lights, statement chandeliers, pendants, and over-the-ceiling bulbs, the simplest lighting ideas for a bathroom may be that easily overlooked feature you need to enliven your shower.