Things To Consider While Planning A Lighting Design For A Bathroom
Written by Scott Rodgers on October 7th, 2009 in Misc.
A well planned lighting design is very essential for each and every room of the house including the bathrooms. Many homeowners think why to spend much on bathroom lighting when it is not being used as much as other rooms. But, it is important to light up the bathrooms well because it becomes easy and safe to walk in and look for any thing and secondly it will give you a more pleasant and a relaxed feeling.
Natural light is a very important component when considering a lighting plan for homes. So, if you have sufficient amount of natural light entering your bathroom, it is good and you just need to think about the lighting when it becomes dark. On the contrary if there is no provision of natural lighting, you must select artificial lighting fixtures that look good, and the light is bright and pure as sunlight. A variety of halogen and incandescent light sources are available in the market these days.
These days dimmers switches are becoming very popular. Through these switches you can control the intensity of light and can create any kind of environment. These help in saving energy and also increases the life of the fixture. But remember you need to have compatible dimmers for different light sources. Like, incandescent dimmers work for incandescent and halogen lights.
Normally, a well-lit bathroom will incorporate the following types of artificial light arrangements ” ambient lighting, accent lighting and task lighting.
Ambient lighting is the general lighting and the main purpose is to illuminate the over all space. You can go for a chandelier for a more fancy look. You can also have a number of small but bright lights along the walls of a bathroom. Recessed lights will also look good there.
Accent lights are used to highlight specific features of an area. If you have any art work like a painting in your bathroom, you can highlight it using accent lights. You can even use these lights to highlight a decorative wash-basin or beautiful tiling.
Bathroom is mainly used for applying makeup, shaving, etc. So, to perform these tasks properly, task lighting is used. So, one thing that should be kept in mind is, it should not create shadows. The best place to get them fixed is on the either sides of the mirror.
Electricity and water can be a very dangerous combination. So, one should be very careful while dealing with them. It is always advisable to take the help of a professional electrician. A qualified electrician will know what fixtures are safe to use in a bathroom and which is the best place to install them from safety point of view. Normally, light fixtures should be placed at least 6 feet away from the bathtub or shower.
