lighting for bathroom - lighted mirrors

5 years ago

Hello,

We are gutting our master bathroom. I am in the process of selecting lighting for the vanities. I have existing lighting above the vanities which is switched. I was thinking of coming off of that for LED strips below the vanities. I was also considering lighted mirrors. Some questions:

Should I install lighting above the mirrors in addition to the lighted mirror?
Should I make it all run off one switch? Most lighted mirrors have independent on/off switches.

Thanks!

Featured Answer

K R

5 years ago

We have lighted LED mirrors - but also a few recessed lights as well, no fixtures over the mirrors. The two mirrors are on separate switches and the recessed lights are on their own dimmer. I also have a third makeup mirror which is on a separate switch plate near the mirror.

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Comments (10)

kristinpmom
4 years ago
I had the same question and your answer is helpful! Another question for you - are the recessed ceiling lights above the vanity (over the countertop space) or centered in the room (which would put the light behind you and I've been told might make your face feel shadowed)?
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kristinpmom
4 years ago
What did you decide? I'm in similar decision-making process. Do you have pix of finished product?
Sumod
4 years ago
@kristinpmom hi---curious to know if you had other leads. which lighted mirrors are you considering?

@K R could you share which lighted mirrors you have? how do you change the led if it fails?
kristinpmom
4 years ago
I haven't chosen them yet, but I'm mostly just pouring over reviews on Amazon. I think I want one that is backlit AND frontlit. There are some on Amazon that are also anti-fog that got really good reviews. I've also made sure I have enough ambient lighting in the bathroom w canned lights.

What mirrors have you found that you're considering?
Sumod
4 years ago
My builder suggested toolkiss but I didn't find any reviews, which brought me here. One piece of advice that I found on this houzz thread (by enduring) was to take the number of lumens we would need for the bathroom area. I thought that was a good thing to consider to help the decision.
kristinpmom
4 years ago
ok that's good advice. Do you calculate that based on square footage of the room? And, if so, do you include the bath/tub shower area in that number?

FYI - one thing that a consultant at a custom lighting store told me (which I've observed to be true from some of the lighted mirrors I've seen in person) is that those lumens given for the lighted mirrors don't ever seem accurate - they functionally seem much lower than what they give as a lumen measurement. (So, i.e., if you see something that says 500 lumens, for example, it's probably actually seems/feels much less than that.) So definitely shoot higher than you think.
Sumod
4 years ago
@kristinpmom hmm..that is possible. I'll account for that. The hard thing is to find out the lumen rating for these mirrors!!
Sumod
4 years ago
Like me, if someone else is also wondering about how to size a mirror with respect to the vanity, I found this helpful houzz story.
kristinpmom
4 years ago
I wd love to see that, but I'm not seeing a link!