How To Find The Best Bathroom Vanity Lighting

An essential component of any well-lit and oft-used bathroom, bathroom vanity lights pack a powerful punch for practical, attractive task lighting. Simple and easy to style, these fixtures come in a range of shapes and looks that can really take your bathroom lighting design to the next level. Bathroom vanities require special considerations for task lighting — the type of lightning required to perform specific tasks like shaving and applying makeup. Your bathroom is the space where you’ll start and end your day and you’ll want to have functional lighting for chores like shaving, makeup application, and hair styling. Bathrooms of all sizes will benefit from these tips and tricks, from the spacious and spa-like to petite powder rooms. To complete your design, consider enhancing your vanity lighting with a vanity top cabinet. Those looking for vanity lights for a small bathroom or half bath lighting have just as many opportunities for bathroom beautification as those with a more sprawling layout!

· Shaded: Shaded vanity lights cover a wide range of shapes and styles that enclose the lamps with shades. While these fixtures are diverse and versatile, it’s important to chose fixtures with metal or glass shades, as fabric shades (unless they are safety rated for bathroom use) are frequently not suitable for damp environments. If you love the look of a vanity light with a fabric shade, be sure to choose one specifically designed for damp areas, or consider mounting in your powder room, where airborne moisture from tubs and showers won’t compromise the materials.

Should Vanity Lights Hang Over The Mirror?

Because they’re intended primarily as task lighting, vanity lights should be positioned optimally for illuminating the head and face evenly, and eliminating any shadows that might impede tasks like shaving or makeup application. In many cases, this will entail hanging the light above the mirror. However, some spaces may be best suited to single- or double-light bathroom vanity sconces instead. If your mirror is narrow enough, two sconces placed on either side of the mirror hung at the proper height will cast even lighting across your face.

How High Should Vanity Lights Be Above The Mirror?

Whenever possible, vanity fixtures mounted above the mirror should be positioned roughly 78" from the floor, while vanity fixtures mounted to the sides of the mirror should be positioned at about 60" from the floor - or roughly eye-level. Lights in this style should be hung about 28" apart. If the width of your mirror, or some architectural feature like a window or attractive tiling prevents these optimal mounting positions, consider using a different lighting approach.

Perhaps your space is best suited to using both vanity sconces hung beside the mirror and a vanity light hung above the mirror in conjunction. Mounting light fixtures directly to the mirror itself to create a mirror with lights is another option that adds an edgy, modern layer to your room.

You might even decide to do away with wall-mounted fixtures entirely, and instead use a series of hanging bathroom pendants as your lights; lights in this style should be hung generally using the same parameters as above (60” high and 28” apart), and only fixtures suited for damp locations should be used.

Pendants are an especially good option for children’s bathrooms, as the height of the fixtures can be adjusted to accommodate growing kids without having to install new fixtures or plan a full bathroom remodel. Because these fixtures should be placed at roughly eye-level for the best bathroom task lighting, pendants can be hung a little lower for smaller bodies, and raised later to maintain the ideal placement as your kids grow.

Should Vanity Light Fixtures Be Wider Than Your Mirror?

How wide your vanity light is in relation to your mirror can be a matter of personal taste, but there are a few simple tips you can adhere to in order to achieve a posh, balanced look.

Single light fixtures placed above a mirror should generally be about a third of the width of the mirror.
Multi-light fixtures and other horizontal styles like vanity light bars can extend beyond the width of the mirror but should never be longer than the vanity itself.
Your fixture should be roughly three quarters the width of your vanity if this is the style that speaks to you.
If your mirror is particularly wide, or you're looking for double sink vanity lighting fixture, consider mounting two smaller fixtures centered over each sink instead.

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