Bath Lighting Guidelines
First evaluate what you've got.
How much light have you got? Is it enough? If not, how much do you need? Good
grooming starts with proper lighting at the mirror. The important thing to remember
is to light the face, not the mirror. In a perfect world, the light should come
from both sides as well as the top. The illumination should be soft and shadow
free to make grooming easy and comfortable. For ample light without glare,
choose a shielded fixture. To obtain a sparkling effect, use clear cut-crystal
glass but with lower wattage or dimmed lamps. Naked bulbs on the top or
sides of a mirror may look rather glarey, but in low wattage, they can be a good
accurate makeup light (although certainly not my choice.) For all-around
bath lighting, place a long fixture at least 24" across the top of your mirror
at 78" above the floor. Or, set one on either side, at least 28" apart.
For longer vanities you can use bath strips that come up to 72" or place
mirrored strips end to end. For more information on your light source and
a chart comparing how long your bulb will last and how much light you will get
from each, go to the Lamp Chart. The best light for applying makeup is shed
from the sides of a mirror. The best for shaving is from above. In both
cases, there are many ways to do this effectively. Lay out your bathroom
with these fixtures. If you print this, you will get 2 pages, one with graph paper
to lay out on and one with sketches of your fixtures to lay out on it. Just measure
your room and lay out your pieces. You can use this to plan a remodeling job or
just to see how much lighting you'll get. Click these links to download
sketches & graph paper. They will open in a new window. Just print them to
start re-designing your bath. sketches
graph paper Because so
many different things are done in such a small place, laying out your bathroom
requires a lot of thorough planning and design. First look at your current
bathroom. Is there enough storage? Are the floors safe when wet and easy to maintain?
Are the electrical circuits GFCI protected? If you plan to make any structural,
wiring or plumbing changes, don't wait to find out what code is. As much
as possible, use existing plumbing and wiring. You can make big changes without
having to more your fixtures. Moving the drainpipe for the toilet, for example,
is difficult for a do-it-yourselfer and expensive to hire out. | 
