By Radiant Lighting | 19 Mar 2019 | 0 Comments

The majority of people start and finish their day in the bathroom, that's why the lighting is so important. So we've come up with a few tips to help make your bathroom your favourite room in the house!

The majority of people start and finish their day in the bathroom, whether you’re putting on makeup, shaving, showering, trying to get the best selfie or enjoying a glass of red in the tub after a busy week. Bathroom lighting is super important, it’s a place where lights need to perform at their most effective level and to do so there are a few key factors we focus on.
Placement, CRI, safety and of course your own personal taste all come into play. There is also the option of implementing a number of different lighting options – for example you might need a bright light in the morning to wake you up, but your evenings might call for low lighting to help you relax.

Placement, where is the light most important? This answer changes from space to space but for example a well-lit shower or bath is crucial if you have children to bathe and LED downlights help make that safe and practical for the whole family. The correct vanity lighting helps to make sure your face is illuminated correctly, so avoid installing recessed ceiling lights directly over the sink, as this can cast unwanted shadows. There is also the option of using an adjustable downlight which provides a bit more flexibility.

Even though it’s important that bathroom lighting is practical, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be stylish. You might want to feature a certain space in your bathroom, for example if you splashed out on a luxury shower enclosure then why not make that the star of the room? Maybe you want to add some LED strip lighting recessed into a dropped ceiling, to give your bathroom more of a ‘spa’ feel. Or you might just be really on board with the pendant lighting trend at the moment and because they come in an array of sizes, colours and materials, finding the perfect one to feature in your bathroom shouldn’t be a problem.

The Colour Rendering Index (CRI) is a scale from 1 to 100, indicating how effective the lamp is at rendering colour and it is essential in any room of the home. We recommend a minimum CRI of 90 in bathrooms as this will bring colour and life to the space (Not to mention vastly improve the look of your skin-tone! No one wants to look washed out.)

Finally and most importantly, we need to discuss positioning and safety. So obviously water and electricity together could easily spell danger, that’s why there a few rules to consider in regard to lights being away from water and having certain IP ratings.

Bathrooms are divided into 4 ‘safety zones’ ranging from Zone 0 – The area most exposed to water, to Zone 3 – which is the least. An IP (or ‘Ingress Protection’) Rating classifies the degrees of protection a fixture provides against the intrusion of foreign bodies like dust or water. The first digit represents the level of protection against solids and the second is the level of protection against liquids. So when choosing your lights, you need to select a fixture with the right IP rating for the zone where it will be situated. (A good thing to remember is the higher the IP rating, the more water-resistant it is) If you’re still not sure don’t worry, your lighting design consultant should be well informed of all these stipulations.

After a bit of inspo? Have a look at some of our favourite bathroom designs below: