Before you get started on a bathroom renovation choosing your lighting should be near the top of your list. Lighting can make or break any space but especially in a bathroom.

Good lighting should surround your face with light to prevent shadows from making you look tired & puffy. The best way to achieve good bathroom lighting is to be sure you have even illumination throughout the space. This requires layers of light.

Color temperature will also come into play so if you haven’t already, be sure to read my earlier blogpost Healthy Home Lighting for tips on that.

When lighting is good we take it for granted, but when it’s bad it causes us to feel glum & we might not even know why.

A bathroom renovation is a perfect opportunity to create the best lighting. It doesn’t even require anything elaborate, even simple lighting can make a space glow and feel fantastic.

Here’s the plan…

Start with what you have and build from there.

Natural Light

Windows and skylights offer the perfect way to light any space, especially a bathroom. Natural daylight will always be the best lighting. But often there is only one window in a bathroom which can throw the lighting off by lighting up half your face when you’re standing at the vanity. If this is the case and you have the opportunity to add another window to even out the light distribution by all means do.

But in most situations, you will need to work with one window throwing the light off balance. I happen to have this in my master bath. Since our vanities are near the window on opposite sides and the window faces east, we both end up with half of our face naturally lit.

To counterbalance this we added bath bars on both sides plus a ceiling fixture to help illuminate all angles. We have all our lighting on dimmers which allows us to adjust the light based on the time of day and what we might be doing. For brushing our teeth it doesn’t need to be as bright as it does for my husband shaving or me plucking my eyebrows.

One of my clients has a window & a skylight in their master bath which provides wonderful daylight overall. Since neither are near the vanity area we added recessed lighting in the soffit over the vanity & sconces on the mirror to surround their faces with light. We were careful to add the recessed lighting near the mirror and not directly over where they stand to avoid unwanted shadows.

Start by considering your natural light sources.

Vanity Lighting

When searching for lighting for a bathroom, be sure to start with the vanity lighting. I love sconces when there is space for them. They do a great job of evenly lighting your face and preventing unwanted shadows.

Start by figuring out what size your mirror/s will be then see how much space you have to work with on each side & in the center if you plan to use 2 mirrors. Ideally, it’s nice to have at least 8” of mounting space allowing for a larger globe to fit the space nicely.

There are some sleek 4-5” wide fixtures that can fit in tighter spaces but often the lighting isn’t sufficient enough to illuminate your face properly. These can work well in a powder room but for a bathroom, you will want to be sure to have other sources of light to help balance the light. If you haven’t already, be sure to read my earlier blogpost Home Lighting for Your Health & Well Being for calculating the proper foot candles for your bathroom.

Bath bars are good for over the mirror when you can’t fit sconces. I prefer to use 2-3 light bath bars and double up on them if you have a wide 2 sink vanity. This is a prettier way to treat the vanity wall and still does a nice job when paired with a ceiling fixture in the center of the bathroom.

This might be the most important decision on your lighting list

Ceiling Fixture

It might be tempting to eliminate ceiling fixtures if you have a light fan. Whether you do light in the fan near your shower or near your commode is a personal preference but don’t count on the light to help light the space. If your bathroom is large enough I recommend that you add a ceiling fixture. It can be recessed lighting, a flush or semi-flush fixture, or a beautiful chandelier. Lighting up the center area of the room will help you achieve the goal of even light distribution.

Shower Lighting

There are wet-rated recessed fixtures for the shower area that you should add. For a tub & bath combination, 1 is sufficient but if you have a larger shower you should add 2. You might not be looking into a mirror in your shower but you are certainly doing intricate tasks like shaving your legs and other personal care.

Lighting for a bathroom should include preventing accidents.

Accent & Safety Lighting

Cabinet lighting is another place to add soft LED lighting to illuminate the details of your cabinetry and create ambient lighting when bathing. LED lighting can also be added to the toe kick of your vanity to illuminate the walkway. This is great when it is paired with a motion detector especially for the middle of the night bathroom trips.

I hope this has helped you with how to choose your lighting for a bathroom renovation. Remember to consider your natural light sources first, then move to the vanity, then to the ceiling, and don’t forget to consider additional lighting for accenting & providing safety.

Now it’s time to start shopping.

When possible go to a local lighting retailer who can guide you with all the details you need to know and an ideal lighting plan. Shopping online is always an option but be sure you take into consideration the size of the fixture, the number of lumens it offers, whether it is LED, incandescent or incandescent halogen…don’t even consider fluorescent. More information on that is available in the posts I mentioned above.

Style-wise, work off of your plumbing fixtures which I recommend you select first. If you haven’t already, please be sure to read my earlier blogposts

What You Need to Choose for Your Bathroom and How to Decide On Your Bathroom Finish.