Of all the rooms in the home, the bathroom is usually given the least consideration when it comes to planning adequate interior lighting. For years, a single ceiling fixture (or two), was considered sufficient enough to provide ample light for showering, shaving, applying makeup, etc. But we spend more time in our bathrooms today. They have become more of a retreat—a place to relax and recharge.

Proper lighting in the modern bath requires careful thought and planning for varying purposes. Vanity lighting for instance, demands a deliberate scheme of design. Recessed ceiling fixtures installed directly over the mirror are very common but not very useful. For grooming purposes—they’re awful. Overhead recessed lighting generally consists of floodlights that produce very focused lighting. Unfortunately, very focused lighting creates shadows.

The primary purpose of vanity lighting fixtures is to illuminate the head and face. Softer focus, or diffused lighting fixtures mounted on either side of the mirror, work best for casting an even light across the face. However, many of today’s bathroom mirrors are quite large and positioned in a way that make sidelights impractical. Of course lighting can be mounted directly to a mirror, but at much higher cost.

When adding lights to either side of the mirror isn’t an option, mounting the proper type of fixture directly over the mirror may be your solution. An above the mirror light should be a minimum of 24 inches long, capable of spreading 150 watts of light evenly over the length of the fixture. Although not as preferable as sidelights, properly positioned above the mirror lighting will also help eliminate shadows under the chin, eyes and cheeks.

Skin tones are rendered most accurately with crisp, white light. Halogen bulbs and neodymium light bulbs are excellent choices for this purpose. (A neodymium light bulb is an incandescent light bulb with a slight bluish tint to it. The bluish tint, created by a thin coating of neodymium inside the glass bulb, causes the light bulb to provide less yellowish light than a standard incandescent light bulb).

Whether your vanity lighting is to the sides or on top of the mirror, it’s critical that the light fixtures you select provide more than enough light. One of the simplest techniques you can use to ensure that you will always have enough light is to "over light" the space, then use dimmers to control the amount of light that you want or need at any given moment.

The lighting designer’s best friend is a dimmer. It provides absolute control over the lighting and allows for easy adjustment of the mood of the room. As an added benefit, dimmers allow you to conserve energy. Of course how often and how much you dim the bulb determines your total savings, but a bulb dimmed just 10% will last twice as long as a bulb at full brightness.

When it comes to bathroom lighting there's one thing you never want to forget: the bathroom is a place where things get done. Virtually every light in a bathroom serves a specific purpose. Remember you don't want your lights to be too strong or too dim, and lighting that comes from the sides is generally more flattering than lighting that comes from above (there's a reason lights run up and down the side of mirrors in Hollywood dressing rooms!). Properly placed vanity lighting can add both beauty and functionality to one of the bathroom's most important areas.

A lot certainly has changed since December of 1879.

 

Lighting Your Vanities