How to Present Your Best Self: 9 Tips on Selecting the Perfect Bathroom Lighting

Pointers for Choosing Perfect Vanity Light Fixtures

 

The right lighting is essential – especially in the bathroom, where we groom ourselves to make our appearance to the world each day. It’s the place where we start and end our days, so it’s critical to get the lighting right.

We all know how disastrous the impacts of bad lighting can be! Think about it: you are feeling pretty good about yourself while out shopping; then, as soon as you step into the cramped dressing room that’s dimly lit with a hazy fluorescent light, suddenly things don’t look so good.

Lighting impacts perception! Because of this, ensuring that you get things right at home isn’t really as easy as just installing any old light fixture in your bathroom.

The proper lighting can help you see better while shaving to avoid cuts and nicks, help you decide if the socks you’re holding are really both black (or if one is a sneaky Navy Blue), and even make sure that you’ve thoroughly cleaned up your child’s scraped knee after a skating disaster.

For more daily use, the right light in the best spots in your dressing area can help you to present your best self to the world before you leave your home.

And, lucky for you, we’re here to tell you exactly how to do it with nine suggestions!

 

1. Height is Everything

Obviously, you don’t want to be hitting your head on overhanging light fixtures in your bathroom so you need to make sure theyre not too low, but there is still more to consider when installing bathroom vanity lights.

You want to be sure that all light emitted from the mirror fixtures illuminates and flatters your face. Because of this, if you decide to install any lighting on the walls (which is always a great idea and highly recommended) in addition to the ceiling, then you should make sure that the fixtures hit at about eye level.

If you install more than one (or if it’s a longer fixture, like a light strip) be sure that the middle of the fixture is at eye level.

For an adult of average height, this is usually about 65 to 70 inches up from the floor.

 

2. Backlighting is Best

One of the best things you can do to help mitigate shadows and make getting ready in the morning easier to accomplish is to install a backlight.

This doesn’t mean physically backlighting your bathroom mirror (which is also a nice thing to consider doing), but rather to place light across from it. This way, you can better see your shoulders and hair while getting ready, no matter the time of day.

However, it’s important to adequately cover up the lighting in order to avoid a direct, harsh glare in the mirror. You can do this by adding a nice frosted pane or even a fabric accent to the fixture.

 

3. Dimmers are Essential

It’s so important to have the right bulbs for bathroom vanity lights.

You should choose the warmest light possible to really highlight the space. Experts tend to lean towards lights that are at least 150 watts (or the equivalent). However, for the best use of the space, make sure that the lights on the ceiling come with a dimmer.

For example, you might need harsher light for things like plucking your eyebrows or removing a splinter, but if you want to take a relaxing bubble bath or are getting ready very early in the morning, you will thank yourself for having the option to make the light softer and more accommodating.

 

4. Highlight the Correct Areas

Adding spotlights (sometimes called “downlighting” by those in the biz) is a nice addition to bathroom lighting; however, you need to make sure that you are emphasizing the correct areas of the room. It doesn’t really do you a lot of good to have a spotlight shining directly on the floor.

Think about it: what on the floor do you really need to see better?

Unless you plan to install a floor mirror specifically to examine your shoes each day, then you are better suited to use the bathroom light fixtures to highlight other areas of the room instead.

For example, spotlights can emphasize or add light to areas like countertops, opened drawers, or other areas of the bathroom that need a little extra illumination, like cabinets.

 

5. Floor Lighting is Flattering

While it’s quite silly to highlight the floor as a feature of the bathroom, the lower half of the space can actually be quite useful in creating ambient light.

This softer light can also be useful in the middle of the night, or first thing in the morning, when you don’t want to hurt your eyes with a harsh, sudden adjustment to the full lighting of the bathroom.

Whether you choose your lights to be motion sensitive or switch activated, it’s a great idea to install them underneath the vanity or on any steps leading into the bathroom.

 

6. Diffuse, Diffuse, Diffuse

When shopping for a bathroom mirror with lights, it’s important to “spread the love.” This means spreading light evenly throughout the bathroom, instead of concentrating in in one area.

The key word here is evenly!

It’s important to pay extra attention to symmetry when you are lighting a bathroom. Let’s say, for example, you install a lighting fixture on only one side of the mirror; suddenly, half of your face will be in shadow every time you try to shave or put on your makeup. There’s no need to make grooming yourself this difficult – just put in two lights.

Another thing to consider: let’s all take a lesson from those dingy dressing rooms. One of the reasons we look so terrible in department store mirrors is because the harsh light shines down from directly above us.

This kind of light casts shadows in all the wrong places. This is definitely not the kind of light you want while you’re getting ready. Instead, consider placing the overhead lighting in your bathroom slightly back from where you plan on standing most of the time (e.g. right in front of the vanity).

 

 

7. Watch Your Bulb Type

Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

Being trendy is fun, but being functional is even better. When youre designing and installing your bathroom light fixtures, it’s important to think about the long-term use of the room.

This is because you don’t want to redo your bathroom as trends come and go, or when you discover that the bathroom mirror with lights that you picked out doesn’t really give you enough light to get ready each day.

To avoid this, it’s important to watch your bulb type.

If you don’t want there to be a terrible glare in your bathroom at all times, then you should try to avoid clear glass shades on your lighting fixtures, or even just exposed bulbs, unless the bulbs are oversize globes expressly designed to be exposed in a fixture.

Lights with clear shades, though potentially striking inthe right decor, can be extremely harsh and make it difficult to see what you’re doing, leading to garish make up, mismatched socks, or a patchy beard.

 

8. Cover Up Correctly

To avoid the problem of exposed bulbs, you’ll want to choose stylish shades for your vanity lights. It’s important to remember, however, that it’s easy to go wrong here as well.

For example, many homeowners might think that a solid metal shade is a stylish choice for bathroom lighting. And, while these metal lamps might work well for outdoor lighting, or mood lighting in more social areas, in the bathroom you’ll simply be left fumbling in the dark because of the way that they restrict the light.

Instead, try using frosted glass or fabric lampshades to cover bulbs in a bathroom setting. They tend to evenly distribute the light throughout the room in a both a flattering and functional manner.

 

9. Let the Natural Light In

Something many homeowners might overlook is the use of natural light in the bathroom. After all, when getting ready for the day, it is in our best interests to see ourselves in the very same light we’ll be bathed in as soon as we step out the door.

Some of the best bathroom light fixtures are skylights, large windows, or multiple smaller port windows in a row. If your bathroom is on the north or south side of your home, you can use your vanity lights to highlight the indirect sunshine, giving the room an extra bright, extra cheerful, and open feeling.

 

Because we use the space for so many different things, bathroom lighting fixtures should create a space that is both functional and flattering. And with these tips, this task should be easy to achieve!