Lighting help for Master Bathroom
1984 home in over 55 community... I'm working with WHAT I HAVE, trying to update & improve storage. Floor tile will be "greige-ish" to blend with rustic LVT floors, very light walls, white vanity (I think), brushed nickel HW ... but I'm OPEN to suggestions ...
Finished size of this Master Bathroom will be 5' x 10.5' -- with walk-in shower, 60" vanity with single sink and entry via pocket door on 5' wall opposite shower. Wall behind vanity and 60" shower wall are EXTERIOR, so no additional storage (like niches) is possible. There is a small window above commode. We currently have DROP CEILINGS over vanity & shower, but are having those removed, so will be 8' ceiling height in bathroom.
I would like to have nice mirror above sink with side light sconces. Planning on a can light in shower. Wondering about additional cans, however already have a/c duct and vent fan, so not sure if room for 2 cans in ceiling. Would 1 help, or look ODD?? Lighting will definitely improve when soffits get removed from ceiling area.but wondering if 2 sconces would be enough light by themselves or I need to re-think and put fixture over mirror??
Appreciate your thoughts. THANK YOU!!
Comments (10)
swampy6
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Modernize existing bathrooms, or build master bathroom?
Comments (24)Many thanks to everybody who answered, you have all been very helpful in clarifying my very muddled thoughts. Here is a hopefully clearer description of the situation: The house is a 50's ranch style, with 3 bedrooms and a hall bath (4.5x8.5 ft) clustered on one side of the house, and the kitchen, office/den and another hall bath (4x9 ft) on the other side of the house, with a great room in the middle. We plan to stay in this house as long as we can, but we are in this city for my husband's work, and if something happens (although unlikely with his kind of job), we know we'll have to move somewhere else; therefore, we'd like to make updates to the house while keeping resale in mind. Our (excellent) realtor said that for resale we should have an ensuite. After reading the comments, I have to clarify with him if he thinks a lack of ensuite will narrow down the market significantly, or if we 'simply' would not get the best price for the house. Most houses in the area are old (in the whole city actually), and we saw plenty without ensuites. We saw two of the neighbors' houses, and they did not have ensuites. This is what we considered: 1. Redo the bathrooms with the existing footprint (not that we have room to change anything inside), but we can go far into making them pretty, 2. Add a door from the master bedroom to the hall bath next to it, and close access from the hall. This I think would be a bad idea, not only because the people in the other two bedrooms will have to go across the house to the other bathroom, but also because the master bedroom will end up with windows on two walls, three closets on another, and two doors on the fourth side. Not restful. 3. Add another bathroom next to the master bedroom where the closets are, with one closet door transformed into a bathroom door. This bathroom would be 4.5x12 ft, although it could go to 5x12 if need be (but no more, because we'll hit a big window), which will have a shower but no bathtub. We talked to a professional who said it will fit fine with the caveat that the toilet will likely be the first thing you see in front of the door because of the current clearance requirements. 4. Build an addition. This again I think would be a very bad idea, since it would be blindingly expensive and the house is already on the higher side of square footage for the surrounding area. We will of course fix everything that is broken. The interior doors are the original 50s doors, hollow core dark wood look with lots of scuffs and holes, and they were cut short to fit the now non-existent carpet, so I would qualify changing them as fixing what is broken (and they bug me every time I look at them... ). The windows are a perk; we are still divided on those. I tend toward option 1, while my husband is going for option 3, although he agrees we do not need another bathroom. The reason I feel ill equipped to make this decision is that I'm originally from Europe, and even after so many years here I feel mildly perplexed about the North American love affair with bathrooms. Our previous rental was built in the last ten years and had a huge ensuite which I didn't like. I found it hard to keep as clean as I thought it should be, and it was so large I felt as if I was doing my business in public. Given the bathroom pictures on Houzz, I'm clearly in a minority. Your comments help ensure that I don't miss anything that might otherwise be obvious, so thanks again. And extra thanks to whoever makes it to the end of this post......See MoreI need help lighting master bathroom please.
Comments (1)Some comments The fan should be placed well inside since the purpose is to reduce the humidity and odors. As the bathroom will be used at night as well, the solar tube will not add to the lighting at night unless you intend to have a light in the tube. Without knowing the light output of the various fixtures, it would be difficult to know whether there will be enough light. The vanity is the most important area to light well in a bathroom - correct color representation, no shadowing of the face from the light position....See MoreMaster bathroom needs help
Comments (3)We're also doing a mb reno-ish. In fact the plumber is here as we speak..But, we will be doing a lot of stuff ourselves. If I had your bathroom (really, you KNOW a ton has to be done here), I would have someone in to give me an estimate for a remodel. Then I would see what I can do myself. I love my tub, so I would assume yours would stay, but I would rip that one out (myself...after the plumber capped off the water supply) and I would shop for a lovely freestanding one-- The shower looks okay, but probably needs to be tiled. I might postpone that for a year or so as re-doing just the shower it won't affect the rest providing you're keeping size the same. The vanity, even paint won't save, so get out the sledgehammer again and get rid of it. Same for the soffit. Now this is where it gets a little iffy. The wiring probably comes from the wall and then down. So I would keep my fingers crossed that that is ALL that's up there. It looks like the lights are in the right place, so I would rewire new lights after repairing the drywall myself. Floor is another issue and one that I think is well worth the payment of having ripped up and re-tiled. Trust me, it's a headache. So...it depends on your skills. I don't think you'll be happy with a band-aid fix, but there is LOTS that you can diy. Once again, this is if it was my bathroom....your needs/wants will be different....See Moremaster bath -- help with selecting bathroom lighting around vanity
Comments (1)Do you have any photos of the space? I’m getting ready to update my master bath as well and have decided on an LED backlit mirror in addition to several can (recessed) LED lights for even more lighting. I’m big on makeup and want the best lighting as well. Not the prettiest but as far as my research goes the best. Go on Wayfair and search, there are quite a few with excellent reviews....See Moreswampy6
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoswampy6
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
Karenseb
3 years agoI like the shelf idea and taking 10 to 12 inches from the closet for the shelves. You could do shelves on top and storage below (handy for shampoo, toilet paper and misc. Display your shells above. Keep the 5 foot vanity. I love countertop space.
Move the shelf down to the middle of the wall. Room on one side for bath towels and room for entry door on the other side. (I love pocket doors, but would rather do a standard door on your bathroom.) This helps expand the space in your closet which would be better at 7 feet wide than 6. I had a somewhat narrow closet once that was more open in one area and that made a big difference when dressing in the closet or looking at the clothes.
I noticed earlier that you said the shower can't be made wider because the shower floor is below the bathroom floor. Can't the floor be raised so that the shower enclosure could be made about 4 inches wider?
If you do a shelf, put one of the smaller led lights centered in front of the shelves.
swampy6
3 years agoswampy6
3 years ago
Tara Dunnerstein