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joanna_lamb

Lighting a Basement Bathroom

9 years ago

I'm installing a bathroom in my basement. Here's the floor plan: the bathroom is in the bottom left corner. There'll be a window, but it won't be centered in the room. And the ceilings are just 7'.

How would you go about lighting the mirror/vanity in this design? Would a corner vanity work better?

Comments (5)

  • 9 years ago

    Room dimensions will be 9' 6" x 4' 8".

  • 9 years ago

    That's a bummer. Corner vanities are often awkward, and they don't really solve the mirror question (which is the larger one here), just change it.

    Questions:

    1) Will this be a guest bathroom or one that's in continual use? Sometimes you can fudge a bit for only occasional use.

    2) Is there a reason for using a crowded neo-angle shower rather than just running the shower all the way to the top wall with a sliding door that opens in front of the toilet?

    Anyway, there are a few options for that corner.

    a) Use a very skinny mirror with a 1- or 2-light fixture over it, offsetting it relative to the sink as needed. A slightly narrower sink would make this look less awkward, but that depends a bit on the answer to question (1) above. Or you could off-center the sink within the vanity, which would also make it look more intentional. (Not possible with a pedestal, but relatively simple with, say, a Corian top, or a freestanding counter, etc.)


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    b) Use a mirror on the left wall, making it a bit wider than the vanity so it's easy to turn and look. A variant of this would be to put the actual vanity on that wall, either by going narrow or by using a vanity that's shallow from front to back + a pocket door for the entry, so that clearance isn't an issue that way.


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    c) You could have your mirror surface-mounted and extend across the window (this would require removing any window frame and changing to a flat drywall return).


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    Hope this helps. Good luck!

    Joanna Lamb thanked acm
  • 9 years ago

    1) This will be primarily a guest bathroom, which daily use just as a powder room (when we're downstairs watching a movie, or when my husband is using his workroom, etc), so I can fudge some stuff because it won't be a daily makeup-and-hair station.

    2) I'm not set on the shower. We've been going back and forth between the curved shower and the full-width shower pan. The real benefit of the curved shower would be to provide a little bit of extra towel-hanging space in the open corner next to it, but we haven't settled on one yet. This is the shower we like - it's a quarter-round rather than the neo-angle.

    Solo Enclosure · More Info

    I really like the idea of the offset sink with an offset mirror over it, especially because one of my goals is to have enough counter/surface space for guests to use. I've been a guest in homes where there is no where to put toiletries, and it's frustrating.

    Here's my ideal vanity: offset sink, some curve for interest, and plenty of counter space.

  • 9 years ago

    That would be great! Fun find.

    A good vanity fixture doesn't need to be large, so just find a compact 2-light or a bar, or just anything that adds up to enough lumens -- for a powder room, I think 100 W = 1500 lumens will do the trick.

    Brian Thomas Orsay Transitional Bathroom Light · More Info
    You can put a small flushmount fixture farther over to serve the shower and toilet (maybe a combo with a vent fan).

  • PRO
    9 years ago

    This one has a long counter area...

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    I like the area underneath the mirror on this one:

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    The one below has a ledge...

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    Maybe some LED light under the cabinet, like below?

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