Advice For Lighting In Your Laundry Room

There are many lighting tips that you can use in your bathroom and kitchen, but what about the laundry room? One of the most versatile residential rooms is the laundry room. Some rooms are small, while others are large. Some are located in basements, while others are higher up. What do laundry rooms of all types have in common? It's lighting. Let's begin with natural light. Think of detergent commercials and you will see lots of sunshine. Natural light and open air suggest freshness. Darkness and trapped air would make viewers believe that detergents will clean their skin.

This is what the laundry business is all about. Dirty clothes are not conducive to fresh starts. Every day is a fresh start. Everyone wants to feel happy, confident, and optimistic. That's what laundry day does. We wish laundry wasn't so complicated. We should have laundry rooms that are well lit such as with a quality rustic ceiling light, as we have to deal with it.

Natural sunlight is the best light source for cleaning clothes. It allows you to easily see how clean or dirty something is. Natural light is a great way to detect stains and lack thereof. Sometimes natural light is not an option. The laundry room may be subterranean, or completely windowless. The image below clearly shows that natural light is not an option. The ceiling light's color is neutral enough that the laundry room can be tolerated. A poorer lighting choice would have made the laundry room uncomfortable and even scary. How can you light your laundry area if natural light is not an option? There are some basic guidelines that will apply to all types of laundry rooms.

Choose lights that have a Color Rendering Index, (CRI), of at least 100. The CRI of a light source is essentially a measure that allows you to compare artificial light's ability to render color. 100 is the maximum CRI. Low-pressure sodium lamps can have very low CRIs. However, LED lights now come with CRIs as high as 95 to 98. There are many options available that can closely match the natural light's ability of rendering color, and will help you keep your clothes as clean and fresh-smelling as possible even if the sun isn’t shining in your laundry area.

Layer Your Lighting

You should consider general, accent, and task lighting when layering your laundry lighting. This could be a mini recessed ceiling laundry room fixture with square bronze trim and elegant track lighting to highlight a painting or photograph, a reading light next to the chair, or under-cabinet lights that illuminate the bar counter.

Laundry areas tend to be smaller and too practical for accent lighting. Ambient overhead lighting and task lighting are the two types of lighting that you will find in laundry rooms. This scheme typically includes a ceiling light and some under-cabinet lighting.

Creativity is a possibility

The main tips for getting decent lighting in your laundry room are to use and replicate natural light and layer the light (at least between task and general lighting). These guidelines can be followed to the letter, but you can still be creative with laundry room lighting. You could also consider a semi-flush mount ceiling light, or a bright overhead light from a chandelier. You might also consider LED Flex Strips for over-cabinet lighting and cove lighting. You can adjust the ambient light as long as you have the task lighting in place. Keep in mind that all lights should have a similar color temperature to the sun.

You might need simple, adequate lighting for laundry rooms that are hidden deep within the basements. These people are more concerned about safety and convenience. Occupancy sensor and vacancy sensing lighting are great options for dark or dangerous laundry rooms. High quality motion sensor lighting is available in a variety of options. Generally speaking, any light that can control by a switch can be controlled using a motion sensor switch. You can change the type of light switch to make a big difference in how you feel about your laundry area.