Residential, multifamily and hospitality
Bathroom and Vanity Lighting That Lights the Face
The bathroom is the one room where the fixture is judged in a mirror every morning. Light the face from the front at eye level, keep the wet zone legal, and the rest follows.
Need vanity and shower fixtures priced or matched? Send me the project or ask me a question. No charge for a takeoff.
A single downlight over the sink lights the top of the head and puts the eyes and the chin in shadow. It is the most common bathroom mistake and the easiest to fix on the plan. Light for a mirror comes from the front, at face height, from both sides or from a wide source above the mirror that is broad enough to fill from below. Everything else in the bathroom is fill, a shower light and the code.
I price bathrooms for designers and builders in South Florida, and for the guest baths that repeat through a hotel or a condo tower. In this climate the listing matters as much as the look; a fixture that is fine in Atlanta corrodes in a coastal bathroom that never fully dries. The lines below are SESCO lines.
Lighting the mirror
Two sconces flanking the mirror, centered about 60 to 66 inches above the floor and 36 to 40 inches apart, light a face evenly. A single bar over the mirror works when it is at least as wide as the mirror and mounted 75 to 80 inches above the floor with the source directed down and out. Diffused sources beat exposed lamps here; a bare-lamp Hollywood strip shows every wrinkle and every lamp in the mirror. Color should be warm and accurate: 2700K to 3000K at 90 CRI or better, so skin and makeup read true.
Vonn covers integrated LED vanity bars and sconces in modern finishes; Besa has glass sconces and bath bars in many sizes; PureEdge has plaster-in and surface LED channels for a mirror surround; TGS is the value option for unit bathrooms.
The tub and shower zone
The National Electrical Code, at 410.10(D), draws a zone 3 feet horizontally and 8 feet vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower threshold. Inside that zone there can be no cord-connected, chain, cable or cord-suspended fixtures, no track, no pendants and no ceiling fans. Fixtures in the zone have to be listed for damp locations, or wet locations where they will be subject to spray. In practice that means a recessed downlight with a wet-location lensed trim over the shower, and a pendant over a freestanding tub only when it is outside the zone.
Lightheaded, DMF and Liton all have wet-location trims and lensed recessed fixtures I price for showers; keep the trim white or a corrosion-resistant finish and the lens sealed.
Damp, wet and the coast
A bathroom with a window and an exhaust fan is a damp location by any reasonable reading, and a bathroom in a coastal building that stays humid year-round is harder on fixtures than the listing suggests. Specify damp-rated vanity fixtures as the baseline, wet-rated over the shower, and look at the finish: powder coat and stainless hardware last, plated brass and unfinished steel do not. Ask for the salt-spray or marine-grade option where the line offers one.
Fill, night light and controls
One or two small recessed fixtures fill the room once the mirror is lit; they are not the vanity light. A low-level night light on a separate circuit, a step light in the toe kick or a tape run under a floating vanity, makes a 3 a.m. trip safe without a full wake-up. Put the vanity, the fill and the shower on separate dimmers and the night light on an occupancy sensor or a timer. Kelvix and Diode LED tape handle the toe kick and the vanity underlight.
What decides the spec
| Flanking sconces | Center 60 to 66 in. above the floor, 36 to 40 in. apart |
|---|---|
| Bar over the mirror | At least mirror width, 75 to 80 in. above the floor, source down and out |
| Tub and shower zone | NEC 410.10(D): 3 ft horizontal, 8 ft vertical; no pendants, track, cords or fans; damp or wet listed |
| Color | 2700K to 3000K, 90+ CRI |
| Coastal | Damp-rated baseline, wet over the shower, powder coat and stainless hardware |
Common questions
How high should vanity sconces be mounted?
Center them about 60 to 66 inches above the floor, roughly at eye level, and 36 to 40 inches apart so both sides of the face are lit.
What can go over a shower?
A recessed fixture listed for wet locations with a sealed lensed trim. No pendants, track, cord-hung fixtures or fans within 3 feet horizontally and 8 feet vertically of the shower threshold or tub rim, per NEC 410.10(D).
Damp or wet rated for a bathroom?
Damp as the baseline for the whole room, wet for anything over the shower or inside a tub enclosure that gets spray. In a coastal building I also look at the finish and hardware.
Can a pendant hang over a freestanding tub?
Only outside the 3 foot by 8 foot zone measured from the tub rim, which in most bathrooms means it cannot. A recessed fixture or a sconce on the far wall does the job.
SESCO lines I would start with
10 of the 163 SESCO lines, picked for this work. Any of them can be priced from your fixture schedule; the full line card has the rest.
| Vonn Lighting | Integrated LED vanity bars and sconces in modern finishes. |
|---|---|
| Besa Lighting | Glass vanity sconces and bath bars, damp-rated options. |
| PureEdge Lighting | Plaster-in and surface LED channels for mirror surrounds. |
| TGS (Truly Green Solutions) | Value vanity and downlights for unit bathrooms. |
| Lightheaded Lighting | Small-aperture recessed with wet-location trims. |
| DMF Lighting | Recessed downlights with wet-location lensed trims for showers. |
| Liton | Recessed downlights and wet-location versions, step lights. |
| Kelvix | Tape and channel for toe kicks and under-vanity night light. |
| Diode LED | Tape light and drivers for low-level runs. |
| Mullan Lighting | Brass and copper bathroom sconces, IP-rated options. |
Not seeing a line? The full SESCO line card has all 163, or just send me the project.
Related: Wall sconces · Recessed lighting · Bedroom lighting · Hotel and hospitality lighting · Multifamily and condo lighting
Ask me about bathroom and vanity lighting
Not ready for a full quote? Ask the question — whether the line holds a spec, what the lead time looks like, or what I would put up as an alternative. I usually come back the same business day.
Or call 786-395-1222, Monday to Friday, nine to five. If you have drawings or a fixture schedule to attach, use the quote form instead.