Many women put their makeup on in their bathroom each morning. I have lived in a lot of places, and I have to say that not many of them had adequate bathroom lighting fixtures for this purpose. Makeup can be tricky, and you need as much light as you can get. The only thing is, it has to be as close to natural light as possible. Large glaring florescent lights are never a good idea for bathroom lighting fixtures. These give off a harsh light, and if you apply makeup underneath one, you won’t be seeing what you will look like in the light of day.

When it comes to bathroom lighting fixtures, the best kind is something you may not have considered. The sun will give you the best and truest light you can find. The trick is to design your bathroom to get as much natural sunlight as possible without making it a peepshow for the neighbors. If you can’t do this, you have to get the next best thing. Look for bathroom lighting fixtures that will hold a large amount of bulbs for the best light.

You may have seen this type of bathroom lighting fixtures in public bathrooms, or on television. A row of small bulbs along the top of the mirror, and sometimes down the sides, offers the best light for applying makeup and shaving. These lights may not offer a lot of light individually, but when you add them all together, you have a great source of natural looking light that comes from all directions. This is great for seeing everything. If you have a single light hanging over your head, you may end up with makeup lines you didn’t notice, make up that is too dark, or a multitude of shaving nicks.

Home improvement stores are by far your best source for bathroom lighting fixtures. They have lights for every room of the house, and a section specifically geared towards bathroom lighting. Ask a salesperson for help, and make sure you shop around first. You may find fixtures you hadn’t thought of, and ideas you may not have though of on your own.

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I don’t see myself as an unreasonable man. I am pretty much open to new ideas, even though of late they seem to have become really scarce and consequently overpriced. But a bathroom designer? I mean, why would anyone need to go in for a bathroom designer? As far as I was concerned, a bathroom could primarily be used for two or maybe three core purposes. And even if you suffer from prolonged bouts of depression or diarrhea, or both, how much time are you likely to spend in the bathroom?

In any case, I had to submit to my wife’s demands. I wasn’t really sure how she was even going to get a bathroom designer till I found out that there is actually a category for these people in the yellow pages! Beat that! Seems I was the only one who was missing out on a global trend. By this time I was more curious than perplexed and wanted to see for myself what this creature called a bathroom designer actually looked like.

To be frank, I was actually impressed. Not only was this bathroom designer guy a qualified plumber (a pre-requisite?) he was also an excellent interior designer for bathrooms. After having spent a fair amount of time understanding him and his peculiar craft, both my wife and I decided to give him a free hand with the design of our bathroom.

Suffice to say that when this bathroom designer has finished with our bathroom, we were both flabbergasted. He had done an amazing job! Not only had the bathroom designer stayed true to his name, he had surpassed my wildest expectations! The bathroom was suddenly more spacious, more comfortable and much more appealing. The prospect of spending a whole lot of time there suddenly became very appealing.

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The good thing about bathroom rugs is that there are just so many of them. You can actually buy a rug off the shelf and match it to your themed bathroom. For instance, single or two tone bathroom rugs will make a great addition to a traditional British bathroom. You might have also noticed that most hotels use bathroom rugs with minimal variance in color. The sobriety of the rug adds to the formality of the traditional bathroom.

Bathroom rugs for a kiddy theme are also easily found. This is especially true today because of franchise licensing. Animated movie and TV characters find their way onto the scruffy surfaces of bathroom rugs very easily.

For simplicity and elegance, a set of rather shaggier rugs that match your entire bathroom scheme will do the trick. Just think of yourself coming out of the bath or from the shower and sinking your feet onto soft, shaggy carpeting.

Now, whatever rugs you install in your bathroom, you must never forget about keeping your rugs dry and clean. Chances are, your rugs will get wet more than they will stay dry. You have to clean them regularly. Ideally, a bathroom rug can be used for a week before it needs to be cleaned. Rugs in guest bathrooms that aren’t used often may be cleaned once a month.

Some people reason that cleaning a bathroom rug isn’t really all that necessary because everything is clean in the bath anyway. Well, that’s not really true since, by nature of its many strands of thread, a rug is also a very efficient dust catcher. Dust is mostly made up of dead skin. Dust mites like dead skin. In a matter of days, you can have a thriving colony of dust mites in your rug.

Finally, wet bathroom rugs will mildew if not dried. If you don’t want musky smells in your bathroom, change your bathroom rug regularly.

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If you think that the mirror looks rather bare without a frame, then choose a mirror with a simple frame. Some mirror frames are so simple that they look like inch wide strips lining the sides of the mirror. These frames come in plastic, fiberglass, metal and wood materials. Plastic and fiberglass are very easy to clean. The chances of algae and fungi build up on the frames are almost nil. The problem with them is that their colors fade rather quickly.

Shiny gold frames or chrome are very common mirror frames. They are somewhat more scratch resistant than plastic or fiberglass, but they also have very distinct disadvantages. For one, any metal will tarnish. You will need to polish it regularly to maintain the shine. Next, the metal frame is in the bathroom where plenty of moisture is present. If teh frames get too much moisture, chances are, it will rust.

Wood frames are good alternative for your bathroom mirror. The problem with wood is that it is very cumbersome when you compare it to metal and plastics. Wood is also a breeding ground for fungi and algae. In a moist environment like a bathroom, you might see mushrooms growing on the wood if you don’t keep things dry. A good coat of paint or varnish will make your wood frame more resistant to the elements. The big plus for wood frames is that the designs on them can be as intricate as the carver’s imagination. Wood framed bathroom mirrors will go well with a traditional bathroom.

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For formal and traditional bathroom settings, face-frame vanity cabinets are the style of choice. Usually, a cornice lines the edges of the vanity cabinet to form a frame. The doors of the cabinet may also be lined with cornice to give the vanity cabinet a more ornate look. Since face-frame vanity cabinets are made for more traditional bathrooms, they are usually built using wood. As the owner, you have to determine the correct piece that will suit your bathroom. There are dark and light wood finish varieties to choose from so that you can select the best vanity cabinet for your bathroom.

Countertop vanity cabinets often have studier material for the countertops. Countertops for the vanity cabinets are usually made in stone, steel, vinyl tile, ceramic tile or modern composite materials. Each of the materials have their own pros and cons. For example, stone countertops are very durable and last a very long time. Unfortunately, stone countertops stain rather easily. This is the same problem with ceramic tile countertops.

There are plenty of styles and designs for ceramic tiles but they also stain very easily like stone. If you have stone or ceramic tiled countertops, you have to make sure that they are wiped dry whenever water drops on their surfaces. Furthermore, installing and replacing stone or tile countertops is harder than doing the same thing with steel or modern composite countertops. Steel and modern composite are not as durable as stone or ceramic tiles because its rather easy to scratch the surfaces. But, unlike stone and ceramic, they are easy to clean and maintain.

The standard toilet has water rushing down from a tank above the seat to flush away waste. There was really nothing wrong with it except for the occasional clogging or broken flush mechanism. Things became interesting though when the US government decided that people were using too much water to flush their toilets. Now, toilets have a maximum 1.6 gallon flush rule. If your toilet isn’t made right, the 1.6 gallons of flush water won’t be enough to do its job properly. Because of the rule, several new developments in toilet design came about to address the water efficiency issue.

As mentioned above, the standard toilet flush system is the gravity flush. The 1.6 gallon rule affected the construction of this toilet with the widening of trap ways and flush valves from 2 inches to 3 inches. A glaze coating is also applied to trap ways to reduce friction.

Another flush system being used is air pressure-assisted flush systems. This kind of toilet uses the air in the water tank to add pressure to the water as it is being transported to the toilet bowl. These toilets emit more noise than the standard gravity flush system.

There are electrically assisted flush systems in use with a small motor installed to give instant water pressure. The motor normally has less than a half horsepower for pressurizing the water.

In Australia, toilet design improved on the gravity assist flush system by introducing a dual flush selector. With this function, you can choose to use only half a tank of water to flush the toilet or, press the other button to use up the full 1.6 gallon tank of water. They also improved the flush by having the water push the waste in front of it. Traditional flush systems just let the waste travel along with the flow of water.

The console table sink is both practical and ornamental. Unlike a normal sink, the sides of a console table sink extend a few inches out on both sides. This effectively gives you more space to put your things on without sacrificing the open space below the sink where a trash can is commonly found. The sink is held up by decorative table legs to make things look prettier.

The vanity sink is mounted on top of a cabinet. With all that extra storage space available, figuring out where to put your cleaning chemicals or toiletries becomes less of a chore. The disadvantage of the vanity sink is that it will be very hard to work on should you need to fix the plumbing.

Another bathroom sink style is the pedestal where the sink is mounted on a floor length pedestal. The plumbing is hidden from view because the pedestal itself encloses the pipes. Have you ever seen a museum display that was enclosed in glass and mounted on a narrow column? This is how the sink is mounted. The pedestal and the sink are very decorative and space saving. The pedestal is one sink type that has the most variations in design.

The wall-mounted sink hangs from the wall of the bathroom. For saving space, the wall mounted sink is the most practical choice. Although not as decorative as the console table or pedestal, it can hold its own so long as it has the right surroundings.

The most fashionably versatile sink of all is the vessel sink. Its basically a container with a drain that is mounted on top of a counter. Because it’s only a container or basin, the designs on vessel sinks are very colorful and varied. They are in the same category as countertop sinks with the exception of style.

Sinks with metal frames are commonly used with countertops. A hole is made through the countertop into which the sink can fit. The metal frame acts as a water seal between the sink and the countertop.

The showerhead is where the water comes from. The water pressure can be strong or mild depending on the kind of holes that are punched thru the nozzle of the shower head. The nozzle holes also direct the spray of water. In general, there are four types of showerheads. The rest are specialized or customized showerheads according to customer specifications.

The fixed showerhead is built into the wall of your bathroom. It comes in different shapes and styles to suit your bathroom decor. It leaves your two hands free to make rinsing yourself easier. The downside to this is that because it is a fixture, it cannot be moved from its position on the wall.

If you want to be hit by water from all angles, try the shower body jet. You use them by installing them on all sides of your shower walls in a vertical manner. Valves control the flow of water in the jets so that you can adjust it to your liking.

The handheld shower is mounted on a wall cradle. You can use the handheld like a fixed shower or take it off the cradle and point the water to where you need it instead of turning your whole body to get wet.

Those who like fixed showerheads can get more water flowing by installing dual shower heads. They are mounted on the walls; and, like fixed showerheads, they can be nominally adjusted to direct the flow of the water spray.

Aside from the showerheads, your shower also needs an enclosure. Without the enclosure, water will scatter throughout your bathroom. This is that part of your shower where you need to consider how the enclosure will look like with the rest of your bathroom. On the practicality side, some shower enclosure materials are better at enduring constant wetting. Some shower enclosures are easier to clean than others.

For the sake of practicality, fiber glass shower enclosures are easy and cheap to install. Curved shower enclosures will do well with using acrylic material. Together with tempered glass, acrylic shower enclosures are very easy to clean. Tiled enclosures are appealing to the artist at heart. Tiles give you so many options for your decorating schemes.

The recessed tub is usually installed flush into the corner of your bathroom wall. The third side is fitted with a divider or cabinet which effectively leaves only one side of your bath tub open. It’s sort of like having a tub built into an alcove. This kind of bath tub is efficient in terms of space. They are very affordable and very much available. A recessed tub has a standard measurement of 5 feet in length and 14 inches in depth. This may be too small for your needs so you might also want to take a look at the 72 X 16 inch models. Most recessed tubs are made of enameled steel. It’s rather noisy and the enamel chips off rather easily. However, if you are not really that keen on spending too much for a tub, this one will serve your needs well. A more expensive version is the enameled cast iron tub which is somewhat heavier and more expensive than the enameled steel tub.

Corner tubs are installed in much the same way as recessed tubs. The difference is that corner tubs are mostly triangular in shape which leaves only one side open. You can also get a rectangular corner tub with two sides open.

Drop in tubs are those tubs that you install using a platform or sunk below floor level. The sides of the tub aren’t finished to shine because of the way it’s supposed to be installed. They’re usually in plastic or fiberglass models that can scratch rather easily. The colors of the fiberglass and plastic tubs tend to fade. You can also get an enameled cast iron drop-in tub. Just be sure that the weight of the tub is supported very well to prevent any accidents – like your ceiling caving in for example.

Free standing tubs are well-loved by anyone who appreciates antiques. Claw-foot tubs are very good examples of what free standing tubs are like. You can find them rather easily. You can buy a reproduction of the tub that is made using modern lightweight materials or you can buy the original antique that has been reconditioned. Most antique tubs are made of cast iron that makes them very heavy. If you are installing a free standing antique tub in your second floor bath, make sure that your floor can hold up to the added weight of the tub.

Finally, we have the whirpool tub. Most of these tubs are built for installing with a platform but you can also get them in any other style. It has all sorts of controls to manipulate the strength of the water jets and the heat of the water. What makes the whirpool tub an ideal purchase is that you can have the added benefit of getting a massage while soaking up the water. Anybody with a whirpool tub can enjoy a truly relaxing bath.

Out of those three locations mentioned above, the bathroom is unique. Aside from relaxation, the bathroom is also where cleansing takes place. The bathroom is where you clean yourself up. Doesn’t it make sense that your bathroom should also be well maintained and decorated?

For the minimalists at heart, maintaining a clean bathroom would be relatively easy. The stark, straight-forward lines of minimalist design makes maintenance and decorating very easy. Glass shower cubicles, a sunken tub, two large sinks, a huge mirror and a table in the corner with some plants or whatnot on top of it along with some bright colored towels or tapestries hung here and there are all you need to make your bathroom bright and easy to clean. Just be sure that you don’t get anything on the white walls.

Your wall coverings, if you are using any, should be washable. This is, after all, the bathroom where moisture is very much present. Ordinary wall paper will absorb moisture and so become an excellent breeding ground for fungi.

Neutral color wall coverings like beige, off-white or multi colored wall covering like floral print together with a scattering of flowers and mood lighting gives your bath a languid atmosphere. You can replace the electronic lights with scented candles for a truly relaxing soak in your tub.

To keep the air inside the bathroom fresh during your long soak, have ventilators installed in various parts of the room and leave a small window open so that the air circulates continuously. Remember not to do this in winter.

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