Lighting A Lavish Loo Or Powder Room?

July 24, 2019

It might be the smallest room in the house – but it’s one of the most vital to our comfort.  It’s also a room that everyone goes to every day – usually many times!

Yet so often, it’s bleak, uninspiring and you find yourself sitting in the spotlight.

Not that there is anything wrong with simple functional lighting in this room – but you also have the opportunity to create a room that is sophisticated, welcoming – and still clean and crisp.

By moving away from the standard approach – a single down-light or one of those delightful glass balls on the ceiling, we can bring an element of design, surprise and fun into this vital tiny space.

Interestingly, there are two types of people when it comes to this room.  The readers… and the non-readers.  Whichever camp you fall into – you need to take that into account too when you’re designing the light.

Hiding light in your architecture is as effective in this room as it is throughout a home.  By creating a focal glow, that also fills this tiny space with functional light, you attract the attention of someone entering the room to see the beauty of the space…without detracting from their ability to use the centerpiece appropriately.

Dramatic contrasts in colour, bold art installations and low key lighting can be a lot of fun in this room – in fact, we have done just that at the Mint Lighting Studio – black walls, gold light, an art installation “the repetition of the mundane” and suddenly the old “factory dunny” is quite the interesting room to visit.

Truly, in such a small room, regardless of colour and anything else going on, you really don’t need much light at all – so you can really go wild – let your freak flag fly!

Of course, if this little room is doing double duty and providing the hair and makeup function as well, (the powder room) the lighting needs to take that into account.  So, light from the mirror for the critical tasks in the room – makeup, hair styling, facial hair management – and job done.  You only need light where you need to see.

The smallest room in the house doesn’t have to be bland, there is so much design potential – and as we recently discovered – you can do a lot with a run down room with a bit of paint and imagination and change your day – every day – at least twice!

Please note, some images are sourced from third parties to highlight design options, MINT Lighting does not claim ownership of these images and have simply chosen these as an example .

If you’d like to see your image have a correct and direct image credit, please contact us.