ILLUMINATION INSPIRATION HOW TO LIGHT A BATHROOM
Lighting a bathroom can seem daunting when there’s so much to consider – not least the safety aspect – but that needn’t be the case. With a little knowledge under your belt, and a simple approach (no lighting designer needed!), you can very easily create a space that’s perfectly illuminated. Interiors experts Neptune guide us through how to create the perfectly lit bathroom.
cabinets, especially in a more modern space. And speaking of cabinets, internal lighting here is incredibly useful, look for cabinets that already have lights built in.
SWITCHES
Switches play a big part in how effective your bathroom lighting is because, set up right, they’ll allow you to control which lights are on when and set the mood accordingly. Without getting too technical (although it’s good to be informed so you can brief your electrician accurately), each toggle on the switch controls what’s known as a ‘gang’. You can then divide your bathroom’s lights up into these gangs – we’d suggest placing wall lights on one, ceiling lights on another (preferably on a dimmer), and any other feature lighting such as recessed LEDs on a third. That way, you can choose, for instance, to only turn on the softest lighting when you’re getting up in the middle of the night and only wall lights for first thing in the morning.
It also pays to have a separate gang (or even a separate switch altogether, to avoid any confusion) for your extractor fan, so you don’t need to turn it on when you’re just popping to the loo.
EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IP RATINGS
PRACTICALITIES VERSUS ATMOSPHERE
Bathrooms are, all too often, far too brightly lit. The default is usually to scatter the ceiling with spotlights and call it a day. But while bathrooms do sometimes need to serve a practical purpose – for putting on makeup or brushing teeth, for instance – the last thing anyone wants first thing on a dark winter’s morning, in the middle of the night or while taking a bath is to be blinded by overhead lighting.
By all means, put in spotlights, but also consider that practical tasks are generally undertaken at the sink, so a pair of wall lights here might be a better – and more flattering – solution. They’ll give you plenty of light where you need it most without creating a glare, and softly light the rest of the room too.
You may also want to include a light for when you’re reading in the bath. Your by-the-sink wall lights might be enough, but if not, we like to use a cordless lamp on a small stool or table that you can also pop your book or cup of tea on. It’s the simplest solution, and including freestanding pieces like this in a bathroom can help it feel more homely and less clinical.
Otherwise, you may want to add additional wall lights around the room if it’s a bigger space. Recessed LED strips (make sure they’re a warm white colour) can also work well underneath the bath and
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IP stands for ‘ingress protection’ and is a rating applied to lighting so you know whether or not it’s safe to use around water (and dirt, although that’s more relevant to the garden than the bathroom). There are different levels of IP ratings depending on the level of protection, which are indicated by two numbers following the ‘IP’ bit. The higher the number, the better the protection. The first number refers to dirt, so don’t worry about this for your bathroom (we’ve replaced it with an ‘X’ below). The second number refers to water and is the part you need to pay attention to.
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HOME S & INTERIORS I L LUMINAT ION INSPIRAT ION
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