My bathroom has no windows - how do I get some light in there

3 years ago

I live in a relatively new build house which for some reason was built with no window in the bathroom. It just has a single bulb light fitting in the ceiling at the moment. I'm doing a revamp on the bathroom. I'm wanting to keep the fittings in the same place but swopping the bath for a freestanding one that fits the space and the basin in a wall hung vanity.

Any ideas or advice on options for how to get some better light in there would be appreciated. I'd love to have the look of natural lighting but I don't think that we can have a window in there as it will face my neighbours house and we are only separated by a garage. The wall behind the mirror is an outside wall. All the others are internal walls. Thanks

Featured Answer

Juliet Docherty

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Could you have a window with obscured glass or sandblasted glass? I would look into this first as lots of houses I have lived in have had the same issue with bathrooms looking directly onto neighbours properties, all have had frosted or sandblasted glass.

My last house had a bathroom with no window and we didn't change it as we were there only briefly. It had pure white tiles which made it feel somewhat cold, I would avoid these. Something like a textured off white tile may be better (Porcelanosa have lots of choice).

In terms of lighting, the quality of light is really important. LED's with a high CRI rating will give a much nicer light quality than cheap yellow or blue tinged ones.

If you can't put in a window then perhaps hang mirrored units in the alcove and have the space packed out so that they fit flush with the walls either side. I would leave a space below them to utilise the shelf.

Comments (8)

Jonathan
3 years ago
I echo what Colourhappy has said. I think most people’s instinct is to go white but in a windowless room this often has the opposite of the desired effect.
Great down lighters are important, consider a dimmer on the lights for a relaxing soak in the tub, consider one discrete blue LED on a sensor for middle of the night visits. And then think about how Spas are decorated- often they have lots of earthy colours and feel warm and comforting without overloading the white.
tillykaye thanked Jonathan
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minipie
3 years ago
Agree with the comments above. I would also add, try to put in some lower level lighting, for example led strips under any wall cabinets or even lower under the vanity perhaps. Or wall lights either side of the mirror. Having lighting at different levels really helps avoid the “cell” effect you get from a single overhead light.
tillykaye thanked minipie
Katie Duke
3 years ago
Totally agree with other comments and like Minipie was going to suggest looking at using warm LED strips at various levels to give some 'layers' of light.

What is above the bathroom? Would it be feasible to look at a sun tunnel? My MIL put one of these in when converting an integral garage in her bungalow. It does provide a surprising amount of daylight into the new room for the size of the aperture in the ceiling - might be worth investigating?
tillykaye thanked Katie Duke
Henrietta Hathorn
3 years ago
Mirrors with back lighting work very well to give a good light
tillykaye thanked Henrietta Hathorn
Sarah L
3 years ago
Assuming it's on the top floor of the house, you could have a sun tunnel installed to bring in lots of natural light. I have one in the hallway of my bungalow.
tillykaye thanked Sarah L
Vonn
3 years ago
We have a small window which is frosted. The outside leads to the fire escape which is enclosed. No light at all. We found spotlights, under the floating sink unit strip lighting and a waterproof spot light makes the bathroom look as light as we possibly could. Wall lights also work, just not the way our Victorian bathroom pipework nightmare. It has been challenging. I have made mistakes. One definitely going to the lighter tile instead of the darker one. Time to move for sure. Good luck. If you live with the samples for a month or so, at different times of the day, the look can change completely. Breathing is more important and no one will die. Go to be look for the glass half full somewhere.
tillykaye thanked Vonn
HU-556520790
2 years ago
A Daylight bulb would do it, Philips do a good one Master LED GU10 High output 6500 Colour temperature but it only fits GU10 sockets. Basically a bulb with 6500 colour temperature will be a daylight bulb and modern LED bulbs don't consume too much energy.

My bathroom has no windows - how do I get some light in there

Juliet Docherty

Comments (8)

Jonathan

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