Of all the rooms in the house, the bathroom is usually the first one to be renovated and the most typical bathroom renovation is to improve the bathroom light fixtures. There are countless different types and styles of lighting for your bathroom.  Today you can even buy a touch sensor lamp for your bathroom.  So, when you attempt to remodel, try to decide what type of atmosphere you want to create in your bathroom. Do you intend to have your bathroom be a place of relaxation and long baths? Maybe you should think about installing a dimmer switch. Or do you just wake up, shower, shave and get one with your day? Then you might want to lean the lighting in your bathroom towards purely practical purposes.

Lighting is one of the most important elements in design. Even if the rest of your bathroom is completely the way you want it, if the lighting is a little off, you still won’t tie everything together the way you want to. So make sure to look at several different websites and examine all your options before you attempt to remodel.

The Ideal Bathroom Light

Ideally the light in your bathroom should be functional, practical, and also decorative.  The light fixtures need to fix with the other fixtures used in the bathroom to create a universal feel and tie the room together.  But they should blend this style with functionality so that your bathroom is well lit for anyone who needs to shave, apply makeup, or simply just use the shower.

Ease of use should also be a concern when coming up with your bathroom lighting scheme.  This lights you need to use for things such as putting on makeup, shaving, or showering need to be within arm’s reach and easy to turn on and off.

Bathroom Vanity Lighting

The vanity lighting in your bathroom will decide more than anything else your bathroom’s usefulness.  For the best light, bulbs should be placed around the face to minimize shadows under the chin and eyes.  Keep in mind the size of your mirror and how strong the lights are.  Generally, the best way of lighting the vanity is by placing lights on either side of the mirror at around forehead height.  Now that you have your lights placed right, make sure you are using the right size of bulbs.  The bulbs in the bathroom mirror light should be incandescent or full spectrum bulbs that mimic the sunlight to bring out the best in your complexion.  The florescent bulbs, including the compact ones that are becoming more and more popular for their energy saving properties, can wash out your complexion and even make your face look a tint of green in the mirror.

The lights on your vanity should also ideally have a dimmer switch attached to them.  This would allow you to turn them up when you’re doing things where you need to see the outlines of your face such as shaving or applying makeup.  However, it would also allow you to turn down the bulbs and use them as a general bathroom light when the need arises.

However you choose to install the bulbs in your bathroom, you should make sure that the light will never be reflected back from the mirror back into your face.  Also do not place any lights or wires anywhere where there might be even a slim chance someone could get electrocuted by them.

One final tip, one of the best ways of lighting your shower is to use two bathroom ceiling lights, know as down lights, mounted in the area above either the shower stall or tub.

Great looking lights improve the look and feel of any bathroom and it’s easier than ever before to replace the lighting in the bathroom in your house.  Most new bathroom lights have very simple wiring and come with detailed installation instructions making it possible for even the more home-improvement-challenged among us to install the lights for ourselves.  Just remember to plan out your lighting scheme beforehand, have a good set of lights around your vanity, and try to make sure that no one gets electrocuted, including yourself!