Bathroom lighting ideas and design: layers, layouts and styles that work

A bathroom has to do two opposite jobs. At seven in the morning you want bright, even light on your face for shaving or make-up. At nine at night you want a low glow for a bath. One ceiling light can’t do both, which is why so many bathrooms feel either harsh or gloomy.

Then there’s the water. UK wiring rules divide the room into zones around the bath and shower, and each zone sets a minimum level of water protection for anything electrical. Get the zones right first, then the layers and the layout. The style is the easy part once those are settled.

Start with the zones

BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, treats any room with a bath or shower as a special location (Section 701) and divides it into zones. The closer a fitting is to water, the more protection it needs. On an IP rating, the second number is the water part: 4 means protected against splashing from any direction, 7 means it survives being briefly submerged. An X in place of the first number just means it wasn’t tested for dust.

Two more rules apply to the whole room. Every circuit serving the bathroom needs 30 mA RCD protection, and ordinary wall switches can’t go in the zones, which in most UK bathrooms means a pull cord or a switch outside the door. NICEIC’s guide to bathrooms and electrics explains it in plain English, and the full detail is in BS 7671 itself.

Use the checker below to see which zone a light position falls into and the minimum rating it needs. Over a bath or shower the minimum is IPX4, but a sealed IP65 fitting is what I’d specify there. For the full explanation, with measurements for showers without a tray, read bathroom zones and IP ratings explained.

Light it in three layers

The cure for a bathroom that feels harsh or gloomy is nearly always the same: light from more than one place, on more than one switch.

Ambient light is the general light you clean and move around by, usually downlights or a flush ceiling light. Task light is at the mirror, lighting your face from the front and sides. Accent light is the soft layer: a strip under a floating vanity, a lit niche, a backlit mirror. It’s what you leave on for a bath or a trip to the loo at night.

Give each layer its own switch, and put the ceiling lights on a dimmer if you can. The room then has a morning setting with everything on, an evening setting with just the mirror and the accent light, and a night setting with only the strip under the vanity.

Most UK bathrooms only have the first layer. Adding the other two makes more difference than spending more on the ceiling lights.

How bright should a bathroom be?

For the general light, I work on about 300 lumens per square metre from the ceiling. That gives roughly the 150 to 200 lux most bathrooms need, once you allow for the light lost on walls and tiles. Dark tiles soak up light, so go nearer 400 lumens per square metre if your walls are dark.

A 2.5 m by 2 m bathroom is 5 square metres, so it wants about 1,500 lumens from the ceiling: four downlights at around 400 lumens each. The mirror light comes on top of that. A pair of wall lights at 300 to 500 lumens each, or a good LED mirror, lights your face properly.

Count lumens, not fittings. A 5 W downlight might give 400 lumens and a 7 W one 600, so four of each light the room quite differently. Check the lumen figure on the box and add them up. The lumens guide has figures for every room, and the downlight spacing calculator works out the number and layout from your room size.

A ceiling layout that works

Spread the light around the room rather than relying on one bright fitting in the middle. A single central light throws shadows down your face and leaves the corners and the shower dim. Downlights spread around the room wash light down the walls, which also makes a small room feel bigger.

A layout that suits most bathrooms: one or two downlights over the bath or shower (that’s zone 1: IPX4 by the rules, IP65 in practice), one or two in line with the basin and the walkway, and the rest spaced to reach the corners. On a standard 2.4 m ceiling, space them about 1 to 1.2 m apart and roughly half that from the walls. A small ensuite usually needs two or three, an average bathroom four to six, and a large one six to nine, assuming fittings of 400 to 600 lumens.

Two placements cause most of the trouble. A downlight directly over where you stand at the basin lights the top of your head and puts shadows under your eyes and nose; it can’t do the mirror’s job, however bright it is. And the shower gets forgotten, so it ends up the darkest corner of the room.

If there’s a room above, the downlights need to be fire-rated so the ceiling keeps its fire resistance, as Approved Document B requires. Plenty of IP65 bathroom downlights are fire-rated too, so you can get both in one fitting. Fittings, spacing and alternatives to downlights are covered in bathroom ceiling lighting ideas.

Mirror and vanity lighting

The mirror is where lighting matters most day to day. Light from above throws shadows under your brows, nose and chin. Light from the sides, at face height, fills them in. That’s why dressing-room mirrors have bulbs down both sides.

Wall lights either side of the mirror are the best answer. Put the centre of each light at about eye level, 150 to 160 cm from the floor, and 7 to 15 cm out from the edge of the mirror. Vertical fittings with an opal or frosted diffuser give the most even light.

An LED mirror is the neat option when the wall is narrow or you don’t want separate fittings. One with light around the sides as well as the top lights your face reasonably well, and many have a demister pad built in. A halo mirror, lit only from behind, gives a lovely glow but not much light on your face, so treat it as accent light and add something else for shaving.

If there’s no room at the sides, a long bar light above the mirror is the fallback: 5 to 10 cm above the top edge, centred, and at least as wide as your face, ideally most of the width of the mirror. It’s far better than a single downlight, though you’ll still get some shadow under the chin.

The zones are measured from the bath and shower, not the basin. Mirror lights over a basin within 60 cm of the bath or shower are in zone 2; further away they’re outside the zones. Either way, IP44 is enough. Over a bath or within reach of the shower, they’re in zone 1: still IPX4 by the rules, but I’d choose IP65 there. Heights, spacing and every mirror layout are in bathroom mirror lighting ideas.

Accent lighting

This is the layer that makes a bathroom feel finished. The usual places are under a floating vanity, along a bath panel, inside a shower niche, in a ceiling cove or behind a mirror. All of them hide the light source and show only the glow, which is why they feel calm.

LED strip does most of this work. In a bathroom use a low-voltage strip, 12 or 24 V, with the driver kept outside zones 0, 1 and 2 somewhere you can get at it later. Pick a silicone-coated IP65 strip anywhere water can splash it and IP67 or IP68 inside a shower niche, and always fit it in an aluminium profile with a diffuser so you see a line of light rather than dots. Don’t plan on a plug-in strip: ordinary sockets aren’t allowed within 2.5 m of zone 1, so a bathroom rarely has anywhere to plug one in. The bathroom LED strip lighting guide covers kits, ratings and fitting.

Colour temperature

For the general light, 3000K warm white suits most bathrooms: clean enough for the morning, warm enough to relax in. 2700K is cosier and suits a period room or a spa-style scheme.

At the mirror, 3000K or 4000K both work. 4000K is crisper and shows skin and make-up more truly; 3000K is more flattering and blends better with warm ceiling lights. Whichever you pick, look for CRI 90 or above, which matters more for judging skin tones than the colour temperature does. Avoid 6500K “daylight” in a home bathroom: it looks clinical and makes skin look grey.

Some fittings have a switch to choose 3000K, 4000K or 6000K before you fit them. That’s useful if you’re undecided, though you can’t change it once the light is in the ceiling. The colour temperature guide explains the scale and how to compare them before you buy.

Modern, classic or spa

The layers and the rules stay the same whatever the style. What changes is which fittings you see, the finish and how warm the light is.

Modern

Modern bathrooms hide the light in the architecture. Downlights sit flush with slim bezels, the mirror has its light built in, and a strip under a wall-hung vanity makes it look as if it’s floating. Aluminium LED profiles can run along a niche or a ceiling recess as a clean line of light. Keep to one metal finish throughout. A typical scheme is four to six IP65 downlights at 3000K on a dimmer, an LED mirror at 4000K and a warm strip under the vanity.

Classic

Period and traditional bathrooms put the fittings on show. A matching pair of wall lights with opal glass shades either side of the mirror, in antique brass or polished nickel, does the task lighting and sets the style at the same time. Overhead, a period-style flush light works on a standard ceiling. On a higher ceiling you can hang a pendant or lantern, but anything hanging below 2.25 m over the bath is in zone 1 and must be rated IPX4 and approved by its maker for that zone. Warm 2700K to 3000K light suits these rooms best.

Spa

A spa-style bathroom is all about low, hidden light that you can dim right down. Strip lighting in a ceiling cove, along the bath panel, in the shower niche and under the vanity does most of the work. Downlights stay, but on a dimmer and turned low in the evening. Go warm, around 2700K, and put every layer on its own switch so you can run just the glow at bath time.

Layouts for different bathrooms

Small bathroom or ensuite. Two or three downlights spread towards the corners rather than bunched in the middle, an LED mirror for task light, and a strip under the vanity so the floor reads as bigger. Skip a pendant: it eats headroom. More ideas in small bathroom lighting.

Family bathroom. Four to six downlights with the shower or bath properly covered, wall lights or an LED mirror at the basin, and dimming for evening baths. If two people use the basin at once, a wider mirror light or a light on each side of a double vanity saves arguments.

Wet room. Without a tray, zone 1 reaches 1.2 m out from the point where the shower is fixed, so use IP65 downlights over that whole area. Lit niches add a glow you can see through the steam.

Loft bathroom. Sloping ceilings make downlight spacing awkward and often leave little room above the plasterboard. Put downlights on the flat part, light the mirror from the sides, and use wall lights or strip along the slope instead of trying to spread downlights across it.

Switching, wiring and Part P

Plan the switching before the walls are closed up. A common arrangement is the ceiling lights on a dimmer outside the door, the mirror on a pull cord or its own switch, and the accent strip on a separate switch outside the room. Use a trailing-edge dimmer made for LED loads, and check the downlights are dimmable.

In England, bathroom electrical work is notifiable under Part P if it adds a new circuit or adds to or alters a circuit within the zones. Replacing a light like for like isn’t. The simplest route is an electrician registered with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, who can certify the work for you. The rules are in Approved Document P.

What I'd buy

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Ceiling, good valueLuceco FType fire-rated downlightIP65, fire-rated, dimmable. About £8–£15 each.MirrorIP44 bathroom wall lights, opal glassBuy a matching pair for either side of the mirror. Endon, Saxby and Astro all make them. About £25–£80 each.Mirror, all in oneLED bathroom mirror with demisterIP44, lit at the sides as well as the top. About £80–£300.AccentIP65 LED strip kit, 24 V, 3000KSilicone-coated strip with driver. Use an aluminium profile and diffuser. About £20–£50.DimmerVarilight V-Pro LED dimmerTrailing-edge, made for LED loads. Fit it outside the bathroom. About £15–£35.

FAQs

What is the best lighting for a bathroom?

Three layers: IP65 downlights or a flush light for general light, lights either side of the mirror (or an LED mirror) for your face, and a soft strip or backlit mirror for the evening. Put each on its own switch.

How many lights does a bathroom need?

For the ceiling, two or three downlights in a small ensuite, four to six in an average bathroom and six to nine in a large one, at 400 to 600 lumens each. Add mirror lighting on top.

Can I have a pendant or chandelier in a bathroom?

Yes, if it suits the zone. Outside the zones any fitting is allowed, though IP44 is wise in a steamy room. If it hangs within 2.25 m of the floor over the bath, it’s in zone 1 and must be IPX4 and rated by its maker for that zone.

What colour temperature is best for a bathroom?

3000K for the ceiling lights in most bathrooms, 2700K for a cosier or period room. At the mirror, 3000K or 4000K with CRI 90 or above.

Are LED lights safe in bathrooms?

Yes. What matters is the fitting’s IP rating for the zone it’s in, RCD protection on the circuit and a proper installation, not the type of light source.

Do I need an electrician for bathroom lighting?

For new circuits or new wiring near the bath or shower, yes: in England that work is notifiable under Part P. A registered electrician can certify it for you. Swapping a bulb, or a light like for like, doesn’t need notifying.