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The place you start your day, preening and primping so you’re 100% ready to handle whatever life throws at you, and the place you end your day in preparation of a decent night’s sleep. Getting the lighting just right in your bathroom will allow you to turn up the volume in the morning and have a low, slow soaking bath as the warmth and the bubbles team up to unwind you from a busy day. We’ve got some innovative ideas for how to use lighting to make your private sanctuary a beautiful and highly functional space – let’s look.
For most people, vanity lighting is what comes to mind when they think about bathroom lighting ideas. These lights are the most important in your bathroom, as they do the heavy lifting to provide just the right light hitting your face (perfect for washing, brushing, or applying makeup). Above the vanity you have one or more mirrors, typically, and either a light above the mirror or two lights on either side. If you have the space on the sides of your mirror(s), one of our favorite bathroom vanity lighting ideas is to use damp-rated sconces like the Lark Shea vanity lights on either side of your mirror. Selected for their clean lines, add T10 bulbs as shown here for a fantastic light that will frame your face perfectly.
Once you’ve got your vanity lighting handled, you’ll need to light the rest of your bathroom. You’ll want to add recessed ceiling lights to your list of bathroom ceiling lighting ideas, as they provide an unobtrusive ambient light that can be strategically placed throughout your bathroom. We like the tried-and-true construction of the Progress Lighting remodel recessed ceiling lights for their air-tight housing (no conditioned air seeping into the attic).
With the advent of LED lighting, we have can add reliable, resilient LED edge-lit mirrors to our favorite vanity lighting ideas. The clean light, bouncing off your back wall provides a flattering illumination for all those close-up mirror tasks while also providing ambient lighting for your vanity area. The “aura” around the Bailey Street Home round edge-lit mirror has multiple colors of white to choose from, but you should note that the Light is non-dimmable.
Add this look to your list of bathroom vanity light ideas – adding a backlight LED mirror provides a white led “glow” all around the mirror’s perimeter, creating a sleek, modern look while providing indirect ambient lighting for your vanity area. With multiple color options, the Eurofase backlit mirror provides a huge 55” of width to completely cover your vanity area in diffused white light.
Wall sconces are the perfect addition to your bathroom or powder room; they provide ample lighting, take up little space and look amazing doing it. If your bathroom wall lighting ideas include a double vanity with double mirrors, consider adding three sconces (one between the mirrors and one on either end) to add the perfect lighting that makes your beautiful mirrors pop. Though shown here in a Champagne Bronze finish, we feel that the Kichler Lighting Clyde sconce looks amazing in a two-tone Black and Satin Nickel finish, the perfect way to wow your guests that should definitely be on the short list of powder room lighting ideas.
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Here’s the heaviest suggestion we have for your bathroom light ideas – USE A DIMMER. Using a dimming switch will allow you to change the brightness in the room anywhere from, “Why, hello there handsome” to “we’ll get this grout clean if it’s the last thing I do!” Make sure to select a dimmer that will work with your lamps/bulbs – some LED lights require special ELV (electronic low voltage) dimmers or can’t be dimmed at all… make sure to pair your bulbs to the dimmer. May we suggest adding a sophisticated, long tapered sconce like the Savoy House Monroe sconce to add a cosmopolitan influence to your daily routine.
There’s an important safety note to add to your bathroom ceiling light ideas… and it’s a safety rating. All lights in your bathroom should be damp rated (able to handle some mist/steam), but the light in your shower must step it up a notch and be wet rated. Wet rated fixtures are sealed so well they can even be used outdoors – but the high humidity and water vapor that reaches this light daily is extreme enough to require a wet rating. Add the Nora Lighting LED ceiling light for a super-easy installation that is safe no matter how long that hot shower will last.
If you have cabinets in your bathroom (think medicine cabinets and the like), under cabinet lighting should be on your list of LED lighting ideas for bathrooms. Whether you add small round “puck” lights or LED strips, LED lighting here is easy to do and provides a very sophisticated lighting treatment. Paired with a dimmer switch, you can lower the light to a barely-there nightlight for those 3:00am bathroom excursions push them up full to increase the direct lighting on your countertop.
For an added oomph to your ambiance, consider using full color LEDs to augment your style with full color lighting rather than the boring old white. Here you can’t just use a dimmer or smart wall switch to change the light… you need lamps/bulbs that have built-in color-changing technology. Using a smart app, you can change fixtures like the WAC Lighting sconce through the full gamut of colors (red/blue/green and everywhere in between). Add this gorgeous splash of color to your LED lighting bathroom ideas now!
Though this is a gorgeous image, we would never suggest putting any electrical device (including lighting) suspended on a tall stick near a bathtub. On a good day, this is dangerous – don’t do it. We can 100% get behind adding a freestanding floor lamp to your bathroom light fixtures ideas listing… they’re portable, there’s no installation and many have directional lamps that can shine the light exactly where you want it. Some larger bathrooms have relaxation areas or reading books that are just perfect for freestanding floor lamps.
You’ve seen this idea a thousand times, but it’s still one of the most efficient uses of space when you are looking at small bathroom lighting ideas. Lighting above the mirror provides strong front-lighting for brushing/washing/makeup application and looks amazing doing so. Here, the Kichler Lighting Brinley bath vanity fixture brings mason-jar styling with a sophisticated Champagne Bronze finish, vaulting it to the top of our vanity light ideas.
The incandescent bulb provided with the Hinkley Lighting Luna 15609 pathway light can be replaced at any time by selecting a GU5.3 lamp of your liking (again, we’d suggest LED for the win!). You’ll love how the light cascades down the (included) contemporary styled radius front die cast faceplate.
How do you add your steam room or sauna to your bathroom lighting ideas? Start with practicality – the fixtures you select will need to be built for saunas and be fully waterproof and heat resistant. Paradoxically, although LED lights are typically cool to the touch (nowhere near as hot as incandescent lights), they don’t tolerate heat well. You may consider using a standard halogen bulb instead or be prepared to change your LED bulb more frequently. Since LED bulbs can last 25 times as long as incandescent bulbs, even with the enhanced heat you still may get your LEDs to last 15 times longer than incandescent.
You’ve heard of towel racks and heated towel racks… but have you considered adding lighting to your towel racks (it’s one of the more modern bathroom lighting ideas these days)? Consider purchasing a towel rack (or hand-towel rack or even a toilet paper holder) that has integrated LEDs, some of them initiated by movement, to create a small amount of light right where you need it. You could even add a micro-LED strip to existing towel racks to create your own custom solution.
The best friend of 4-year-old boys everywhere, night lights provide safety and security for wary bathroom travelers and provide illumination. Modern LED night lights have motion sensors and can light up only when someone enters the bathroom to save energy. Not that LED lights use much energy; some are expected to use less than $0.07 per YEAR in energy, not much to pay for the added peace of mind they give.
We’ve looked at fifteen beautiful bathroom lighting ideas, each designed to add just a little illumination to this oh-so-necessary space. Think of each of the ideas we’ve presented here and narrow it down to two or three that would fit your bathroom the best. Remember that damp rated fixtures are a must, with wet-rated ones required in direct moisture areas (showers, saunas, hot tubs, and steam rooms). Then peruse our huge selection to choose from hundreds of options to select the style and size of lighting that is perfect for your space.