Ideas for Brightening Up a Dark Bathroom
There’s a good reason why the bathroom is often known as the smallest room in the house. Bathrooms in modern houses are often small and poky, and many don’t have any natural light. So if you’re finding your bathroom is more dingy than delightful, what can you do to brighten it up?
Range of Lighting Options
The most common mistake people with darker bathrooms have is to opt for one, super-bright light in the centre of the room. All this will do is draw attention to the fact that you are trying to compensate for the rest of the room being dark. It’s far better to use a range of lighting options which you can switch on and off as needed. Several small downlighters in the ceiling are better than one central light. Choose a bathroom cabinet or mirror with added lighting around the edge. You can even fit LED lighting at floor level to brighten up every corner of the room.
Think About Interior Design Choices
Painting things in a lighter colour is a well-known design trick to make rooms appear bigger and brighter. That doesn’t mean sticking to cream or white. Any paler shade will work well, or why not try wallpaper? When it comes to tiles, opt for something simple in a lighter shade. A heavily patterned tile can make the room appear “busy” as can some wallpapers. Whatever you decide to do on the walls of the bathroom, keep the ceiling white. This will make even the darkest bathroom seem a little more airy.
Mirrors and Reflective Surfaces
Mirrors can also be used to reflect light around the room and make it seem brighter and bigger. Luckily, one of the major design trends in bathrooms is for oversized mirrors above the sink. Embrace the trend and add a huge mirror, with an elaborate frame. There’s no need to buy new either; scour the second hand or charity shops to get a mirror with a bit more character. You can even paint the frame to match the rest of the design scheme in your bathroom.
Keep it Clutter Free
Having lots of stuff lying around the bathroom will make it appear smaller, cramped and as a consequence, darker. However, this is a problem which is easy to resolve. Swap a standard sink unit for a vanity with storage underneath, or buy an extra tall cabinet to store away all of the bottles, toothbrushes and everything else you usually leave out on the sides.
Choose the Right Lightbulbs
LED lightbulbs are much more energy efficient than older style lightbulbs, and are available in a range of different colours. Opt for a “cool white” bulb rather than the bulbs marketed as warm white, which can give off a yellower light. Colour from LED lamps is measured on the Kelvin scale, with something between 4000K and 5000K being ideal for brightening up the bathroom. There are also bulbs which can switch between several shades of white should you struggle to make a decision.
