8 Best Bathroom Lighting Ideas in 2022
Lighting your bathroom isn’t something that you decide on a whim, and replacing the lighting may prove a costly job, here are all the tips you need to ensure that you have the best bathroom lighting ideas for your home in 2022.
When considering lighting options for your bathroom, you’ll need to consider the following three elements, functionality, practicality and your own personal preference for style.
For a room we use so frequently, getting the lighting right is vital. Whether you’re redesigning your whole space, or just looking to update your current lighting in the room, you’ll need to take the layout of the space into consideration. Lighting needs to be thought through when you’re designing your bathroom, and changes to design, later on, can be costly. Here we share all the tips and advice to ensure that you get the most out of your bathroom lighting.
1. IP Rating
When you’re choosing your bathroom lighting, the first thing to have on your mind is IP rating. If you’re planning on installing lighting in zones one or two of your bathroom, ie. areas where there is water or water sprays, then you will need to have either a rating of IP65 for lights in areas such as the shower or above a bath. IP44 will be required for areas surrounding water, where there could be splashes of water. Zone 3 requires no IP rating, so you can buy any standard light fitting for these areas.
2. Ambient lighting
As much as you’ll need functional lighting in your bathroom so you can see when you’re getting washed and dressed, you might also want to consider ambient lighting for this room. Whilst you may not be using this type of lighting everyday, it’s there for those moments of calm when you’re enjoying a relaxing bath.
Ambient lighting might be placed around the bath or in alcoves or niches to allow for a subtle glow that creates a soothing atmosphere.
You could even use dimmer switches to help give you the subtle glow, rather than bright lighting that usually comes with LED lighting fixtures. This allows you to have the option of both functional task lighting and ambient lighting in one.
3. Mirror lights
It’s highly likely that you’ll have a mirror installed above your sink in the bathroom, and the best way to make a feature out of it is to light it up beautifully. This allows you to be able to see when you’re getting ready as well as being a design feature in the space.
There are a couple of options to choose from when it comes to illuminating your mirror, you could pick a mirror that has lighting installed in it, or simply run some LED strip lighting along the back of the mirror. Or you could pick two wall lights and hang them either side of the mirror too. This allows you to pick a light fixture that works with the theme of the room.
4. Pendant lights
Pendant lighting isn’t something that we usually see in bathrooms, however, if you have the space there’s no need to shy away from a distinctive and statement-making pendant light in your bathroom.
To really add the drama, if you have the space, you could hang a large chandelier over a free-standing bath tub.
5. Special lighting features
Make the most of the features in a bathroom, such as the shower, a bathtub or the sinks by incorporating lighting into the design. You could install spotlights into the floor surrounding your tub to give it a warm glow all around. Another idea is concealed LED strips along a shower recess to give a decadent feeling.
6. Wall lights to add features
Wall lights used as features, or to highlight certain areas of the bathroom, can really help to punctuate a well-designed bathroom. Choosing lighting fixtures that fit with the theme of the room, with sleek designs for a minimalist bathroom, ornate fixtures for a more traditional feel and gold lights to give a luxurious look.
7. Go bare
LED vintage bulbs have become a permanent fixture in well-designed homes, giving a beautiful minimalistic look. They’re a great choice if you really can’t find the perfect light fixture for your bathroom, and they still add an interesting element despite the fact that they’re bare.
8. Always choose LED
LED energy-saving bulbs should always be your first choice when it comes to lighting in the bathroom, or in fact any room in your home. The bulbs last much longer and they don’t use as much energy compared to halogen bulbs, both of which will save you money in the long run.
When it comes to choosing the best bathroom lighting for your home in 2022, the most important things to take into account are your own personal style choices, function to ensure the room is well lit for safety reasons and practicality too, allowing you to use the space for what is designed for. Good lighting in your bathroom is lighting that serves its purpose, once you have that, you can have fun with the design choices you make.