Lighting plan for master bath. Wall fixture? Sconces?
I've been to two different lighting stores to get help on light placement for our whole house reno, including the new master bath addition. It seems that there are different lighting theories out there for bathrooms.
Here's my layout. The ceiling peaks at the dotted line at about 10-10.5' tall.
I like rooms to be well-lit. I'd also like the bathroom to not be lit up like a Christmas tree all the time either. I was thinking of putting two can lights over the shower. There will be a separate Panasonic fan.
I also plan to put a chandlier or large pendant hanging over the tub after our final inspection, of course. The ceiling height there is about 9.5'.
I get confused about the lighting around the vanity. I need sufficient lighting for applying makeup, but not to the extreme of a special wallmounted mirror/light or anything. Do people put lights above the vanity AND wall sconces? Only one or the other? Ceiling fixtures also?
What's the current way of placing fixtures?
Comments (14)
brianadarnell
12 years agobrickton
12 years agoRelated Discussions
What lighting fixtures in your master bath?
Comments (8)I have a similar setup as Alley for my side of the bathroom, just one sink though. I have to keep the bulbs at 75 watts or they are just too bright. My husbands side across from me is about 6ft and he has 1 - 4 light fixture. I am in my 30s and still go to the end of the counter that is angled to get closer to the mirror when doing my eye makeup. It's not that the lighting is bad, it's that I need to be closer to the mirror so I don't stab myself in the eye. My mom came to visit last week and brought her full size makeup mirror so maybe it's hereditary :-). I would totally add a swing out LIGHTED mirror that has magnification though for makeup and shaving at least by one sink. Below I think would be ideal with the sconce and overheads above the counter, obviously on separate switches....See MorePros / Cons: Sconces or Ceiling Fixture for Master Bath
Comments (2)You need both but at least in my experience, nothing replaces a great lighted mirror with a magnified side for makeup. I have somewhat of a unique design because I like to do makeup and grooming sitting down comfortably so I removed one of the sinks and replaced it with a lower height vanity with a bench. That portion of the mirror has a take on the retro Hollywood type of lights. There is ample illumination with just the canned lights unless I forget to actually turn them on when I take a shower because a portion of them are on motion sensors so they turn off unless I remember to actually manually turn them off when I take a long relaxing shower and sit on my bench :-)....See MorePerplexed by proportions: master bath mirror and sconces
Comments (8)Geez Louise, I'm back nearly 3 months later, still pondering this--yikes. Until now, I'd planned to cover most of the vanity wall in a plain wall mirror. But now that my GC covered the entire wall (!) in Porcelanosa Madagascar Blanco tile, I almost hate to cover it up! So now thinking of doing a pared-down single mirror or a pair of mirrors (something I was not keen on previously). But proportion seems a foreign language to me. I cannot figure out what size or shape mirror would look right in this space. Help? FWIW, the floating vanity (which will have clear-coated walnut drawer fronts) is 56" wide and is mounted 36" above floor. The Porcelanosa tile tops out at 7 feet and there's a sloped ceiling above. That giant light switch box is even more annoying in person, yeesh....See MoreHelp: Master Bath Wall Color, Vanity, Mirror and Light Fixtures
Comments (7)Like Jan and Beth said, you putting the cart before the horse. New home - live there for 6 months to a year before doing any major renovations. During that time prioritize your needs, wants and like to have renovations and figure out the budget for renovations. Every renovation you commit to will take twice as long as you think it will and cost twice as much as you think it will. Budget should be dependent at least in part to the amount of time you believe you will live in the home. You should also be exploring your style and color selections. Once you have a solid budget you will know what things must stay and what you can afford to change and what elements you don't want to change. Once you know what has to stay you can design around those elements. Do they work with your preferred style and colors? What compromises will you need to make to create a cohesive home? I am not a contractor, but if you are planning on expanding the shower I am pretty sure the old shower has to be re-tiled. The whole shower has to be water sealed and that seal is under the tile. I don't think you can save the tile in the niche....See Morebreezygirl
12 years agobrianadarnell
12 years agoBreezy- I am glad to help. We have tons of natural light in our new house, which I only know because we don't have power yet. So we rely on the natural light when we are over there all the time. I went against what others have recommended and did both recessed and sconces on the vanity for two reasons-
1. I wanted really good light for makeup, etc.
2. The recessed cans can sometimes be really warm when I am getting dressed and drying my hair. For that task, I wanted sconces only so that I could turn off the recessed lights.
3. I wanted the recessed because I didn't want to be able to see the sconce lit up on the wall from our bed (if we were to leave it on during the night)Hope that helps. Your electrician should be able to help you too. I told them where (for kitchen and bath) I wanted to have recessed and they helped more than anyone else in measuring distances, etc.
brianadarnell
12 years agobrickton
12 years agohouseful
12 years agobrianadarnell
12 years agoalku05
12 years agobreezygirl
12 years agokellied
12 years agobreezygirl
12 years agobrickton
12 years agoHere is our not so finished shower, but I wanted to show you what one 6" can with a PAR45 bulb looks like all lit up. I don't remember the exact wattage on the bulb, but it's a lot of light for our 42 x 54 shower. If we did smaller cans, then two might be fine, but with the 6" can it's a lot of light from just one, I think two would be blinding, especially with our glossy (ooh shiny! it makes me happy) tile.
With just the shower light on in the bathroom:
Sneak peak at our floor mosaic (sorry couldn't resist, it also makes me happy) We'll pretend I'm showing how much light hits the corners of the floor:
Renée Soronen