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LightingBathrooms
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Bathroom Vanity Lighting

7 years ago

We are working on updating our small bathroom (125" x 95"). In this room are the standard builder's tub/surround, an area next to that with bifold doors that has free standing washer and dryer, on the opposite wall is the toilet, a 48" vanity and the door. All woodwork/cabinet is the standard golden oak. There is no window and very little natural light comes in from the hallway. I'm drawn to darker and cooler colors. We are looking at a fairly dark floor and then a quartz countertop that is mostly white but with lots of color in it (Current favorite is Cambria Bellingham but that could change depending on what remnants are available when we actually get all the pieces figured out and can get started). Anyways, we want to update the lighting. The current one is 35 inch wide with the round bulbs. If we update to a LED bar light, do we want to keep the same length? I know they are brighter than the old bulbs so I don't want to blind people in this small space but yet we want to see well. I don't mind it being brighter than it currently is but don't want to go overboard. This is the only light we use in this room (there is a flourescent one in the laundry closet but it does nothing for lighting the rest of the room)

Featured Answer
  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I'd go with a 40" or so lamp over the mirror. Examples:

    Add a dimmer if you discover the light is too bright or want to control the brightness.

    Comments (6)

    • 7 years ago

      Is there a mirror over the 48" vanity? If so, what is it's width and how much space is there between the mirror and the ceiling?

    • 7 years ago

      We also had that style of light in our bathroom. We had it rewired and turned a light sideways on either side of the mirror. You can put the dimmable led lights in them so it is not as bright.


    • 7 years ago

      There is a mirror over the vanity and it's 40 inches wide. There is 25 inches between the top of the mirror and the ceiling.


      The side lights won't work well. One because there is only a few inches between the mirror and the wall and it would look really crowded on the one side and 2, that would require getting an electrician to rewire it. I don't really have the budget for outside work beyond the countertop so I'd like to stick with a single fixture so I can just do the swap out myself.

    • 7 years ago

      Confused. Initially you wrote, "The current one is 35 inch wide with the round bulbs" which led me to believe there was a 35" wide lamp over the vanity. Then you wrote, "The side lights won't work well" which leads me to believe there are lamps on either side of the mirror. Are there three lamps? Maybe you should include a photo.

    • 7 years ago

      You are correct there is a 35 inch wide one currently there. The side lights comments was in reference to Randy Brock's comment/picture with the two side lights. While I like the look, it won't work in my bathroom. So no there is not currently side lights only the single one above it.

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