Natural light is an essential part of the beauty and functionality of your bathroom remodel design. When properly incorporated, natural light can enhance the space, improve its ease of use, and add accessibility. However, not all bathroom designs can easily utilize natural light, which is why modern designers prioritize windows, skylights, and mirrors to distribute, redirect, and utilize available light as effectively as possible.
If you live in a populated area where privacy is a concern, the placement and position of natural lighting can be even more valuable. Continue reading to learn how windows, skylights, and mirrors can impact your bathroom remodel and maximize its functionality.
How Windows Maximize Light
Windows provide the most direct way to increase natural light in your bathroom design. However, they may not be appropriate in all situations, especially when the house is located in a well-populated area.
Depending on the situation, your bathroom remodel design should utilize natural window light while strategically accounting for privacy concerns. Experienced designers can help you choose between different types of windows to maximize the functionality of your natural light, including:
- Bay Windows: Bay windows are beautiful but large, allowing natural light to flood into the room, provided the space can accommodate them.
- Frosted Glass: Frosted glass can provide much-needed privacy. It’s a stylish option for homeowners who want to incorporate natural light in populated areas.
- Storm Windows: Storm windows are efficient and safely designed, allowing homeowners to introduce more natural light while preparing for inclement weather.
- Custom Windows: With an interior designer’s help, windows can be customized to the needs of the space with the shape, functionality, elegance, and privacy that the homeowner requires.
This is not an exhaustive list of possible window types, but it provides homeowners and designers with a starting point to conceptualize their bathroom designs while keeping both privacy and functionality in mind.
How Skylights Maximize Light
Skylights provide an upscale option to enhance the natural light in your bathroom, adding beauty and functionality without sacrificing privacy. In areas with direct sunlight, skylights provide a flood of natural light that can accent the room without wasting electricity, leading to energy savings.
In a large open-plan bathroom, skylights can illuminate the entire space with natural light. Alternatively, smaller bathrooms can use multiple skylights to complement the layout. Using skylights requires strategic planning, but they offer an upgraded customization option for bathrooms that are able to accommodate them.
Importantly, there are both fixed and ventilating skylights. Fixed skylights remain in place, while ventilating skylights can be opened, allowing residents to bring fresh air into the space as desired. The orientation, size, location, and type of skylight will change its impact on the room.
Regardless of the type you choose, properly constructed and expertly installed skylights provide a visual expansion of the space, opening the ceiling into the sky and sunlight, while improving your energy efficiency by reducing the need for artificial lighting.
How Mirrors Maximize Light
Mirrors cannot produce natural light, but they can reflect and redirect natural light from other sources. With proper placement, style, and size, mirrors can make rooms appear fuller, more functional, and more beautiful.
However, mirrors can also reflect light inconveniently. If placed incorrectly, morning sunlight can be redirected into the user’s eyes or onto a metal accent surface. When strategically placed, mirrors allow designers to manipulate sources of natural light, while avoiding inconvenient glare.
Designers can also add to the functionality of a mirror with lighting sources that mimic or augment natural lighting. For instance, backlit mirrors can simulate natural lighting while distributing it evenly, avoiding direct glares.
Full-spectrum LED lighting can create balanced white light that feels natural, such as over the counter or under the sink. Cove lighting installed along the ceiling edges can create a soft accent that illuminates important features.
Maximizing the functionality of natural light while carefully mitigating its direct impact is a key task for modern bathroom remodel design teams. When working with designers, you will evaluate the limits of your space and the lighting systems that make the most sense, especially when you have the advantage of a natural light source to work with.
Contact Southern Maryland Kitchen & Bath to Design Your Dream Bathroom Remodel
Experienced interior designers can use natural light to create a more functional and beautiful bathroom space. Using windows, skylights, and mirrors, light can be strategically placed, reflected, and accented to illuminate important features and make the space feel larger while maintaining privacy for the users.
At Southern Maryland Kitchen & Bath, our interior designers focus on natural light as a source of functionality and beauty. Depending on the limitations of your space, we will outline the features that best complement your layout and maximize the impact of the available natural light. Contact our experienced team today to learn how we can use natural light to make your bathroom redesign more functional and beautiful.