Bathrooms have been gaining more and more prominence in recent years and is no longer thought of as merely utilitarian. Nowadays bathrooms are designed as places where you can be alone and spend time on yourself, It is essential to provide your bathroom with the right kind of lighting to turn it into a relaxing, intimate place where you can enhance our personal, physical and emotional well-being.

As we describe in our article “The three types of linear lighting in the home”, to make a bathroom comfortable and give it a pleasant atmosphere, you really need to take special care not only of the lighting you need for those intimate gestures up close to the mirror, but also of the ambient lighting. Although, when it comes to small bathrooms, the mirror lighting itself can also serve as ambient light. It is in larger bathrooms, designed with a spa area, or with finishing touches that need highlighting, where it is advisable to include accent lighting and decorative lighting fittings.

Here are 5 ideas to solve bathroom lighting creatively using linear leds:

1. Minimal recessed lights

Integrating light lines in the ceiling, walls or floors creates an elegant and clean effect. Nowadays, thanks to miniature led lines, even the tiniest cubicle can be fitted with a curtain rail, coving, or a vertical or horizontal slot that emphasizes the structural elements and provides a soft indirect general lighting. Forget the downlights and risk recessing!

Tip: include light in wet and shower areas, using high-IP fittings.

Illuminated mirrors

The lighting in the mirror area is without a doubt the most important. Using linear LEDs on the sides of the mirror (integrated or surface) we can effectively solve the practical aspects of lighting; that is, personal care such as makeup and shaving. If you can’t fit lights on both sides of the mirror, you can also opt for frontal linear lighting at the top.

Placing LED strips behind the mirror does not provide the best light for practical purposes; however, depending on the finish, it can give an interesting general indirect light or an effective halo of light.

Tip: it is important to study the installation in detail to prevent the led strip from showing from different positions.

3. Furniture floating in nocturnal lighting

Depending on the time of day, or what you happen to be doing, increasing or decreasing the intensity of the light in the bathroom can make a massive difference. Integrated linear lighting fitted under furniture, benches or sinks offers an interesting opportunity, providing lighting which, in combination with other lighting systems, provides depth and visual richness to the space during the day, and at night provides a subtle halo of guiding light at ground level.

A word of advice: avoid direct reflection from the led strip on very glossy floor finishes.

4. Lighting integrated into furniture

The variety of ranges of profiles and linear miniature LEDs can provide personalised lighting solutions for any bathroom furniture. There are simple solutions, such as fitting the lighting directly onto the shelves or on the sides of the doors, using orientable profiles. The functional and aesthetic benefits are significant.

Tip: miniature shelves help you to get the most out of the space in your bathroom furniture.

5. Sensory dynamic lighting

Since the bathroom is a place dedicated to our well-being, why not dare to do something different and enjoy changing lighting for the pleasure of our senses?

Colour changes and dynamic white are often used in water and spa areas. Lluria’s waterproof and flexible led strips are ideal for this type of situation and can be fitted details to provide a perfect finish.

Dynamic white LEDs are also an excellent solution for the general lighting in any bathroom –especially one that lacks natural light– since they offer us the opportunity to better adjust the lighting to our circadian cycle: cooler and more energizing in the morning and warmer and more relaxing at the end of the day.

Tip: use a control system with a simple interface, for quick and effective adjustments.

Whatever the dimensions or the style of your bathroom, linear LEDs are your perfect ally for lighting design. They have freed us from the need to depend on downlights and wall lights, revolutionizing general and specific lighting solutions.

You can design a minimalist bathroom just with linear LED fittings by carefully selecting profiles, diffusers and integration details. But even the most baroque bathroom, with chandeliers or wall lights, can benefit from the discreet light provided by hidden LED lines, which will provide general or complementary light, making the decorative fittings stand out even more.