Lighting
When people light their bathroom, they often overlook the importance of having good lighting in the shower. A simple cove light, with an LED strip tucked into a niche in the ceiling, casts a glow down onto the wall, which bounces light into the shower, making the area feel bigger and highlighting a beautiful tile.
Here’s a good solution if you’re dealing with a basement space or anywhere that feels too dark or cave-like. Rather than crowding the space with floor and table lamps, consider adding LED lighting tucked into nooks and crannies, such as a slight cove in the ceiling or niche in the wall. Having a glow come from such a recess can simulate the feeling of daylight pouring in from an unseen window, especially when it’s bouncing off a crisp white surface for maximum brightness. You can also tuck lights into an existing skylight so it acts as a light source at all hours of the day and in all weather.
The fact that LED bulbs can be so small allows lighting designers to create interesting modern pendants that are slim in shape yet powerful enough to illuminate the surface below. Modern, understated cylinders or cones add sophisticated appeal to a space, and a dramatic finish such as matte black makes a smart counterpoint to crisp white walls.
LEDs come in many other forms as well. They can simulate traditional incandescent bulbs for use in most light fixtures and they can be used to create petite twinkling light strings like the one seen here (or even much smaller ones). Again, the advantage is that most LED bulbs last well beyond their incandescent cousins. To make a quick and fun light fixture, wrap a string of bulbs around a simple household object such as a coat rack, bedpost, table base or curtain rod. You’ll need a string about three times as long as the object. Some even run off a battery pack so you won’t need to snake a cord back to an outlet.
Probably the second-most popular place for LED lights is under a cabinet in the kitchen. This is another room where having bright, even light is essential because it helps with tasks such as chopping, recipe reading and testing the doneness of foods. Using an LED strip under a cabinet provides more even lighting than widely spaced bulbs. And the ethereal glow will subtly help make the space feel bigger and airier.
LED strips come in straight lines but they can also be flexible, which means they can be used to create shapes such as a circle. If you’re looking for a light to top a round dining table (a popular shape these days), consider a minimalist LED fixture like the one seen here. It gives a sleek look with a slim profile that won’t visually intrude when you’re focusing on good conversation.
In a bathroom (or other rooms with tile or interesting wall finishes), the glow of an LED strip can be a practical and beautiful design element that accentuates texture and detail. Notice how the pebbled surface of the backsplash pictured here pops because of the light washing upward and downward from behind the mirror.
LEDs are especially useful at the vanity because their light is even, which can help reduce or eliminate shadows on the face. That helps during shaving or applying makeup. LED strips can be fit above or below a mirror or medicine cabinet to let the light bounce gently off the walls, or they can be integrated into a mirror to project directly onto the face.
With all the shapes, sizes and colors available in LED fixtures and bulbs, it’s clear that lighting can provide endless creative possibilities for making a personal style statement.
Q