Bathroom Lighting Buying Guide
Proper interior bathroom lighting provides comfortable, adequate, un-shadowed light. There are several styles of bathroom lighting, and proper placement of your lighting is important for best results.
Styles of Bathroom Lighting
Bath and Vanity (also called a bath bar) has two or more bulbs and is installed over the mirror and sink. The number of bulbs you will require depends on the length of your mirror.
Adding Sconces to the sides of a mirror can help even out the light on your face and eliminate shadows during activities such as makeup application and shaving. In addition, sconces add a decorative touch to help complete your overall bathroom design.
Ceiling Lighting is used in addition to the lighting around the mirror. Ceiling lighting helps to illuminate the rest of the bathroom and can be used in the center of the room or in alcoves to improve overall conformability and safety.
Lighting Placement
The purpose of mirror lighting is to surround your face with light. A Bath and Vanity fixture is intended to cast light downward, while the sconces are intended to illuminate from the sides. The bath and vanity fixture should be about the same width as your mirror. When hanging the fixture, take into consideration the relative heights of your family and install the lighting at about average forehead height. An average height in most homes is about 66″ from the finished floor. The mirror should be hung 1-5″ below the bottom of the fixture. The sconces should be equal height on either side of the mirror and positioned to fill in the sides of your face with light.
Most bathrooms will also require at least one ceiling fixture to properly illuminate the remaining area of the bathroom. If your bathroom has additional alcoves you may want to consider adding small fixtures in those areas for even overall lighting.
Matching your lighting and plumbing fixtures
Consider the finish of your bath faucets when purchasing your new light fixtures. Most manufacturers offer a variety of finishes to match bathroom faucets, lighting and accessories for a cohesive overall design.
Lighting Ideas For Your Bedroom
Bedrooms are used for far more than simply sleeping. They provide places to read, work out using exercise equipment, watch TV, or spend time relaxing alone or with your partner. It’s important to have the right lighting for all these different activities – more light will be needed for working at the computer, say, than for relaxing in bed. To achieve this balance, you’ll need to have both portable and fixed lights in your room.
Different types of people also have different lighting needs. Couples need individually controlled bedside reading lights so they can go to sleep at different times. Teenagers and students need adequate light for studying. Babies’ nurseries should be fitted with a dimmer switch or low-level light so that parents can check on their child without waking them. Plug-in nightlights are ideal for young children to help them find their way in the dark.
Older people need more light to see properly and their eyes are also more sensitive to harsh lighting. If you’re older, you should make sure your lights are sufficiently bright but covered with a shade to reduce glare. If you do your make-up sitting at a dressing table, this should be horizontally lit from both sides, otherwise shadows will fall across your face.
Choose your bedroom lighting to complement your furniture and decor. If your bedroom is romantic and traditional, go for bronze or antique fixtures and fittings, or for a contemporary look, incorporate spotlights in the ceiling or floor.
Your central light needs to be high enough to reach all areas of the room, so don’t buy a fixture that hangs too low. Before choosing your bedroom lighting, first measure the dimensions of your room and take them along to a lighting showroom. The staff will be able to help you select lights that are the right size for your room.
Bedroom lighting options
o Dimmer switches can be used to adjust the main central light and wall lights in your bedroom to suit your mood
o Recessed lights, or downlights, are light fixtures that are installed into a hollow opening in the ceiling, so that the light appears to be shining down from the ceiling. They concentrate the light downwards, either as a broad floodlight or narrow spotlight
o Uplighting from the floor draws attention to a particular feature, such as a potted plant.
o Directional lighting sheds light on an area of the room where more light is needed, such as a workspace or exercise area
o Track lights are a series of light fixtures attached on a continuous track device which contains electrical conductors. They are useful for highlighting artwork along the walls
o Sconces are a type of light fixture fixed to a wall. Sconces were originally used to hold burning torches and tend to be ornate, so would suit a more dramatically styled bedroom
o Occupancy sensors react to the infrared heat energy given off by people. The sensors can tell if there is somebody in the room or not and switch the lights on and off accordingly. This saves you fumbling for the light switch in the dark and avoids wasting electricity from forgetting to turn off the lights when you leave
o Closet lights are small, fluorescent lights mounted inside a walk-in closet above the door to help you see to choose your clothes
o Candles create a romantic atmosphere in a room, but only use them if you’re sure you won’t fall asleep and leave them burning
o Fairy lights add sparkle and a feminine touch to your bedroom. Run them along the walls or drape around a feature such as a mirror
Bedside lighting
The simplest solution for bedside lighting for couples is to place individual lights on bedside tables or cabinets. Choose shades that are white inside and a warm colour outside and use a clear bulb to give off warm tones of light. Other options are to mount bedside lights on the wall, or to fix them into the bedhead. However, depending on how tall you are, you may find you have to lie at a certain angle to be comfortable. Make sure they have separate switches so you can turn off your light without reaching over your partner.
Finally, remember that your bedroom may be used during the day and pay attention to the natural light in the room. If blinding sunlight creeps into the room when you’re trying to work, use Venetian blinds or muslin curtains to diffuse it.
Lighting and Your Emotions (Part One)
Do you feel unhappy in your home and you don’t know why? Maybe you need to let the light shine! Add new light to your rooms for an instant uplift.
Lighting affects you more than any other design detail in your home. Your choice of lighting fixtures, light bulbs, and color of light makes a difference in your emotional and physical comfort. Lighting is both an art and a science.
Correct use of lighting benefits you in many ways. Besides allowing you to see, lighting sets the emotional atmosphere. You spend most of your day in activity. You need good lighting for these activities, to see clearly, to prevent fatigue, and to support your happiness.
Lighting helps change a room for different uses more easily than any other design detail. We can light a room for the occasion or the activity of the moment. The change and variation provided by lighting enhances the rhythms of our daily lives.
From flickering candles and twinkling party lights to advanced micro-lighting systems, lighting gives us either a comfortable or a miserable emotional atmosphere. Understanding the effects of different lighting helps you select the exact fixture and light source to create the desired emotional setting.
EIGHT PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO LIGHT
1. Poor lighting causes eye fatigue and headaches.
2. Absence of natural daylight triggers depression and poor immune defenses.
3. Bright light stimulates us, while low levels of illumination quiet our senses.
4. Dim lighting or harsh contrasts produce eyestrain.
5. Too much artificial light and overly-bright rooms hurt our eyes and make us feel jittery.
6. Insufficient lighting is linked to emotional stress and to physical ailments.
7. An excess of unnatural light does not replace the calming effects of natural daylight.
8. Uncovered light bulbs cause irritation and disturb tranquility.
Notice how too much artificial lighting or too little supplementary light bring about the same harmful side-effects. Choose your lighting design carefully to assure emotional and physical comfort. Look for types of light fixtures with covered light bulbs. Use daylight-like light bulbs in combination with colored light to set the mood.
Consider another fact: people feel more comfortable with lighting from many sources. Combinations of lighting add variety and vivacity to our lives. Contrasting mixtures of brightness and darkness cause dramatic and lively changes in our home ambiance. Uniform lighting is good for working, but it is boring. Blending light sources halts insipid monotony in our rooms and in our lives. Selecting from a gentle radiance, a warm glow, to a bright, intense light involves understanding the effects of lighting on our emotions.
For these reasons, take care when selecting your lighting. Choose varying lighting effects to bring about your changing harmonious space.
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Moroccan Lighting – Moroccan Lamps And Lanterns
Imagine coming home after a long day’s work and slipping into a living room oasis where you’re bathed in soft reds, yellows and oranges while resting on a plush cushion, next to a set of mini palm trees, breathing in the scent of Jasmine incense, listening to light jazz flutes. Selecting furniture isn’t just about functionality anymore; it’s about creating a comfortable habitat where you can relax, de-stress and enjoy your downtime.
Finding the right lighting is the key to creating an ideal atmosphere. As early as 5,000 BC, the Chinese have been building homes in correlation with the sun to provide optimal light, warmth and energy. Historically, Morocco has hosted groups of diverse people from all directions – Phoenicians and Carthaginians from the East, Sub-Saharan Africans from the South, in addition to Romans, Vandals and Andalusians from the North. This Diaspora of culture comes together and can be clearly seen in these colorful Moroccan lamps and lanterns.
What makes Moroccan lamps truly unique is that they’re not mass-produced in a sterile factory — but rather, each shade is made of sheep or goatskin and is then dyed and stretched over a solid iron frame, where it is hand-painted with a needle in brilliant colors, in the decorative tradition of Henna tattoo artistry. Dating back to the Bronze Age, Henna design mimics the Henna plant, which has a plethora of long, thin stalks and tiny blossoms. Much like the tattoos, the lamp designs showcase fluid black lines and shapes, outlined by tiny dots.
Moroccan lamps, varying in shape, size, color and mood offer the opportunity to turn your living room into a stunning art museum. The African Berbers were primarily an agricultural people, so the curved “Berber” floor lamp is painted with a classy, simple style in neutral colors. Tall, slender styles like “The Pharaoh’s Light”, “Red Sun” or “Orange Magical Arabian Nights” capture one’s imagination, while dazzling with dancing patterns, vibrant colors and swaths of vacuous space that instinctively pulls the eyes toward it in wonderment. End table lamps like “African Sun” or “Fez Sun” provide multifunctional use, emanating a soothing glow, while the glass top holds a piece of art, a plant or a tea set for entertaining guests. When you behold a piece like “Ocean Sun,” breathing moonlight into the room with its purple hues and oceanic design, you know that this lamp is not just for providing light, but is a piece of art that will compliment other furniture and themes in the room.
Moroccan lanterns made of stained glass resemble the sort of Church d
Discount Kichler Lighting – The Affordable Choice
For many people, having the ideal lighting is of critical importance. Outside lighting can help you see when walking up to your front porch at night or parking your car. You can have lighting that is designed to make a lighted walkway for your kids, relatives, or friends that come over at nighttime. Correct outdoor lighting can help you avoid the dangers of accidents that happen when someone cannot see properly. It can also warn away strangers and burglars.
Indoor lighting includes lamps, ceiling lights, and other types of lights needed throughout your home. When you are searching for the perfect lights for the inside and outside of your home you want to make sure that they fit into your budget and are reliable. One of the best types of lighting that you can buy is lighting fixtures manufactured by Kichler Lighting. Kichler offers very high quality lighting people love to install in their homes.
Kichler lighting fixtures can give a home a completely new feel and appearance. Imagine a dark yard in the middle of the night, as apposed to a yard highlighted with lights. Outdoor lights make it difficult for strangers and burglars to enter the yard undetected, as well as make the yard appear more pleasant and homely.
Inside a home, Kichler lighting can have the same affect. A room can be transformed from being dimly lit to being very bright, or it could have lighting fixtures set up to direct light in a particular direction and accent specific architectural features. Lighting is used by film directors to “set the mood,” which is technique you can use in your home. People respond to their surroundings and with lighting, you can impact your visitor’s moods by installing Kichler lighting.
Many people want to have Kichler lighting in their home, but they find that they are unable to afford such high quality light fixtures. However, you can now purchase your Kichler lighting at a discount price through Lights2You.com.
Fiber Optic Lighting – Go Commercial at Home
With more and more companies, retail shops, and grocery stores turning to fiber optic lighting, you’ve probably already encountered this light source without even knowing it. With rising electricity prices and a drive toward energy conservation, fiber optic lighting may be coming to a home near you soon. Although some individuals have already gone this route in their home, fiber optic lighting is an investment and does cost more than traditional lighting configurations.
Museum curators have already been using this technology to light sensitive materials and exhibits. Fiber optic lighting uses bright, white light that can be focused on these sensitive materials without the harm that ultraviolet light can cause. This technology also allows for bright light without the heat that other forms of lighting can cause.
Retail and grocery stores have also been making use of the technology. In grocery stores, fiber optics can be used in refrigerated displays without melting the ice or causing temperature issues. Retail stores use the technology because items can be displayed in bright light without color fading or discoloration.
Although the technology remains expensive, its uses will likely make it more popular in homes in the coming years. Popularity and advancing technology in the area will also likely create lower, more accessible prices. Due to the light produced and the ability to use near sensitive areas, many homeowners will find the technology useful in updating their lighting or creating configurations in new homes.
Some individuals are turning to the technology for hard to reach lighting. Today’s popular high ceilings and other inaccessible areas make changing light bulbs difficult. With fiber optics, light is carried to hard to reach places while the single bulb can be placed in a closet or other easy to reach, but out of sight place.
Fiber optic lights can also be used outside without the risk of electric shock or overheating. The fiber optic cables can be placed in fountains and pools and placed around decks and patios. The lighting is safer than using electric lights in these areas.
As fiber optic lighting becomes more accessible to the average homeowner, more individuals will choose to use this type of lighting in and around their home. Although disadvantages still exist, including cost and some technological issues, the advantages will soon outweigh the issues, particularly as the price drops. If you’re looking for a light source that can be used underwater, outside, or to highlight antique areas or items that you have, consider using fiber optic lights.