Bathroom Lighting Guide: How to Choose the Right Bathroom Lights in 2026
Fitting new lights in your bathroom? This bathroom lighting guide will help you navigate the many types and styles of lighting, ultimately helping you decide which lighting is best suited to your unique bathroom style and needs. Use our guide below to determine which kind of lighting you need based on style, finish, IP rating or function.
CHOOSING BATHROOM LIGHTING: BY STYLE
What kind of style aesthetic are you looking to achieve in your bathroom? Our bathroom lighting guide covers both modern and traditional styles, plus a selection of designs from pendants to wall lights and downlights, so take a look at the options below to see which style would best suit your interior vision.
MODERN BATHROOM LIGHTING
If you’re not sure on design but you know you want something contemporary, our modern bathroom lighting collection should help you find the precise look you need. Whether you’re looking for sleek chrome, minimalist glass or futuristic shapes, this is a great place to start when choosing your bathroom lighting for a modern aesthetic.
TRADITIONAL BATHROOM LIGHTING
Prefer the traditional look? This style of lighting design covers a variety of looks and finishes, characterised by opulent detailing, stained glass and classic metals like brass and copper. Investigate the lighting in this collection if you want to create a stylishly-old-fashioned aesthetic in your bathroom, rather than something sleek and modern.
PENDANT BATHROOM LIGHTING
If you know you specifically want a hanging light in your bathroom, a pendant light is the perfect choice. Ideal for bathrooms with high ceilings and plenty of space, a pendant light can make a fantastic central room statement or a great way to draw focus to room features such as a bath or sink unit. Be sure to check IP ratings and ceiling heights before choosing your light if you’re installing above water sources. Jump ahead to our IP rating section below for more help on this.
BATHROOM DOWNLIGHTS
Downlights and spotlights are highly popular choices for bathroom lighting due to their compact, barely-there design, easy maintenance and suitability for wet environments. Whether set flush into the ceiling or attached to a track, these lights make ideal choices for small bathrooms or those looking to achieve a contemporary finish.
BATHROOM WALL LIGHTING
Ideal for bathrooms with low ceilings and less available space, wall lights are a popular and versatile option when choosing bathroom lighting. Available in both modern and traditional styles, bathroom wall lights are well suited to bathroom installations and work especially well when placed above bathroom mirrors as a combination of both task and accent lighting.
BATHROOM CHANDELIERS
If you’re looking to create an extra level of grandeur and statement design in your bathroom, a chandelier might just be the perfect choice. These do take up a large amount of space due to their size and hanging design, so they are best suited to larger bathrooms with high ceilings. These make great central room statements for any opulent bathroom design, providing astonishing brightness and sparkle for a blend of modern and traditional style.
Five quick checks before you buy
- Zone and IP rating. Where is the light going? Inside the shower needs IP67. Above the bath or shower, choose IP65. Within 60cm of water, IP44. See the zone guide below.
- Installation. All bathroom circuits need 30mA RCD protection, and bathroom electrical work should be carried out by a registered electrician.
- Colour temperature. Warm white (2700K to 3000K) for relaxing, cooler light (around 4000K) at the mirror for grooming.
- Brightness. Aim for around 500 to 600 lumens per square metre overall, with brighter task light at the mirror.
- Style and finish. Once the practical boxes are ticked, choose the look you love. That is what the rest of this guide is for.
CHOOSING BATHROOM LIGHTING: BY FINISH
If you have a specific style and aesthetic in mind, choosing your bathroom lighting by finish is a smart place to start. This will allow you to create a coordinated look across your entire bathroom, with matching finishes across all lighting styles. Browse the most popular bathroom lighting finishes below to find the right look for your vision:
CHROME, SILVER & STAINLESS STEEL
All providing very similar aesthetics, these cool-metal finishes make ideal choices for modern bathrooms. If you want something that will work with any colour scheme and provide a light, bright feel, then chrome, silver, aluminium and stainless steel lighting finishes are complete no-brainers.
COPPER & BRASS
Better suited to traditional-style bathrooms, copper and brass finishes create warm, glowing aesthetics with a stylish, old-fashioned feel. Choose copper and brass bathroom lights to create charming, opulent or industrial-chic styling in your bathroom.
CRYSTAL & GLASS
Crystal bathroom lighting adds glamour and opulence, while glass bathroom lighting can create a modern, minimalist aesthetic, depending on the design you choose. Glass and crystal help reflect and intensify the light from your bulbs, creating a brighter, dazzling space to enjoy.
Choosing Bathroom Lighting: By IP Rating/Zone
Bathroom lighting needs to have certain IP ratings depending on where in the bathroom you plan to install it. Bathrooms are split into 4 zones based on proximity to water, so use the guide below to choose safe lighting with the right IP rating for your needs.
Zone 0 - Directly inside bath or shower
Planning to install lighting inside your bath, hot tub or shower? You need fittings rated IP67 or IP68, which can survive being submerged. Lights in Zone 0 must also be low voltage (12V SELV) fittings designed for the job.
Zone 1 - Directly above bath or shower
Zone 1 covers the space directly above your bath or shower, up to 2.25 metres from the floor. The regulations require a minimum of IPX4 here, but we recommend IP65: it is sealed against steam and water jets, it is what nearly every shower downlight is rated to, and it removes all doubt.
Zone 2 - Either side of bath, shower or sink
Zone 2 stretches 60cm beyond the bath, shower or basin, up to 2.25 metres from the floor. This is where wall lights and mirror lights live, and IP44 is the rating to buy. These fittings handle splashes and steam comfortably.
Outer Zones - All other areas
Beyond Zone 2, and anywhere above 2.25 metres, there is no set minimum rating. Bathrooms are steamy places though, so we always recommend IP44 throughout the room for peace of mind and a longer life for your lights.
STILL NOT SURE WHICH IP RATING YOU NEED?
Read our complete guide to bathroom lighting zones and IP ratings for the full picture, including a simple diagram showing exactly which rating belongs in every part of your bathroom.
Choosing bathroom lighting: by light quality
The right fitting with the wrong bulb is still the wrong light. Two things matter here: colour temperature and brightness.
Colour temperature is measured in kelvins. Warm white (2700K to 3000K) is soft and relaxing, perfect for evening baths and general bathroom lighting. Cooler light around 4000K is crisper and more accurate, which makes it the better choice at the mirror for shaving and makeup. Many people combine the two: warm overhead light for atmosphere, cooler light at the vanity for tasks. Our guide on when to use warm white or cool white lighting goes deeper.
Brightness is measured in lumens, not watts. Aim for around 500 to 600 lumens per square metre across the room, with a brighter, shadow free light at the mirror.
CHOOSING BATHROOM LIGHTING: BY FUNCTION
If you don't have a fixed idea of finish or style in mind, the best thing to do is to shop by function. What do you need your bathroom lights to do?
GENERAL BATHROOM LIGHTING
If you simply need some general lighting for day-to-day use, your best choice would be a classic bathroom ceiling light or a series of downlights. These will create an even spread of light across the entire room and create an inviting, comfortable ambience for everyday access and general bathroom use.
TASK / VANITY LIGHTING
Bathroom vanity lighting is often a necessary supplement to your general lighting and is needed for tasks such as shaving and applying makeup. The most common form of bathroom vanity lighting is a mirror light or cabinet light, which provides bright light combined with a mirror and storage for convenience.
One placement tip worth knowing: a single light above the mirror casts shadows down your face, while a pair of wall lights either side at roughly eye level gives even, flattering light that makes shaving and makeup far easier.
ACCENT/DECORATIVE LIGHTING
Like vanity lighting, any decorative or accent bathroom lighting is purely there to supplement your main light source for aesthetic reasons. You can add LED light strips to the undersides of cabinets or units for a modern glow, or you can install downward-facing wall lights above mirrors or pictures for added ambience.
Bathroom lighting questions we hear all the time
Can you have a chandelier in a bathroom?
Yes, if the room is large enough and the fitting sits outside the zones, which usually means clear of the bath and shower. Choose one rated IP44 for a long life in a steamy room.
What colour light is best for a bathroom?
Warm white (2700K to 3000K) for general and evening light, with cooler light around 4000K at the mirror for grooming tasks.
Do bathroom lights need to be a special type?
They need the right IP rating for their zone, and the circuit must have 30mA RCD protection. Beyond that, the style is entirely up to you.
Can I fit bathroom lights myself?
A straight swap of an existing fitting may be within a confident DIYer's reach, but new bathroom electrical work falls under Part P of the Building Regulations and should be done by a registered electrician.
This guide covers everything you need to choose bathroom lighting with confidence. And if you would rather have it designed properly from the start, we offer a professional lighting design service backed by more than two decades of experience: a complete scheme for your space, with every zone, rating and fitting specified for you. Find out how our design service works, or call our team on 020 8925 8639.