Sconce is a kind of light fixture that is of the wall variety where the light is directed upwards. The light source is protected or covered with a bowl-like design which allows the light to be directed upward. This provides a low intensity, dim lighting suited for hallways, passageways, corridors, and so on. The sconce lighting is usually placed three-fourths of the distance between the wall and the ceiling for it to provide adequate lighting.

Sconces In The Bathroom

Modern archaic designs incorporate sconce lighting into bathrooms, due to its ability to provide enough lighting to set the proper mood. In truth, not all activities done in bathrooms require bright lighting fixtures. Either taking a relaxing shower or a restful soak in the tub, the dim lights would really make for a relaxing and peaceful mood.

Scone Lighting Design

The design and material used in your sconce lighting can vary depending on the motif that you plan to incorporate into your bathroom. For starters, wall sconce styles available are Art Deco, Asian, contemporary, country, crystal, early American, mission or religious, old world, retro (50’s or 60’s), rustic or lodge, southwester design, tiffany, traditional, tropical, Victorian, and the fun-filled whimsical style.

If you want a more dramatic and natural feel, then some sconces are hand-made with materials from ceramic and porcelain. These two materials can exude a natural ambience to your bathroom, as well as fit with most bathroom furniture and fixtures.

Traditional sconce designs direct the light upward, and the styles for this are usually medieval or Victorian. If you want to go for the modern touch, wall sconces can provide bi-directional lighting, upwards and downwards. Note, however, that this kind of designs provides more light quantity than the traditional ones.

It is true that scone lighting fixtures can indeed give your bathroom an elegant and luxurious quality, but this requires planning in advance so that you can maximize its style and designs to the fullest.

If you need bathroom lighting ideas, visit http://www.bathroomlighting101.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Lee

Large Bathrooms

If you have a large bathrooms you should probably consider using rugs. You can buy bathroom rugs from all popular bathroom stores on the high street. You can also buy shaped rugs to fit around the sink and toilets. If can be difficult to use wall to wall carpet in a large bathroom as it will often get wet and mark very easily. The bath area will need an extra rug in order to mop up any of the extra water. Vacuuming a large carpet can be very difficult in a bathroom, and it will be quite expensive to install. Although carpets may claim to be nonskid, they rarely are. Over time they will slip and crease if you’re not careful. It is much better to use rugs in a large bathroom.

In general, there are four styles that are commonly used when accessorizing the bathroom - classy, muted, bright and fun.

In a classy bathroom, you may find yourself choosing bath accessories in muted colors, perhaps with a subtle floral tone. Toilet seat covers, towels, bath mats as wall as bath accessories for the counter - a soap dish or soap pump, a toothbrush holder and such - can all be coordinated with the shower curtain. You may start with a shower curtain that is a neutral color like beige with a rose colored embellishment and match the other bath accessories to the rose shade.

If instead you were trying to create a muted look in your bathroom, you’re likely to choose soft tones as well, but rather than a floral look, you may choose slightly more modern bath accessories like those that you might find at a spa retreat. Muted shades of green or blue, natural colors that resemble stone or clay are all good base colors for your bathroom. Consider a solid color shower curtain or one that is patchwork - squares of complementary colors. Choose a matching bath rug, bath towels, a toilet seat to match and simple chrome plated bath accessories.

Alternately, if bright, modern colors appeal to you, you’ll find that bright, single colored shower curtains, window dressings, bath towels and shower mats can create a crisp, modern look. From using a number of different bright, solid colors in your bathroom to choosing the same pieces that feature bright colors in geometric patters or simple stripes, you’ll find that you are able to bring the look of your bathroom together, to create a bright theme even if the items don’t necessarily match.

Using blocks of color can be fun, but for some it’s just not fun enough. Whether you’re accessorizing the bathroom for kids or just for those who are young at heart, sometimes you just feel playful. You may make the choice to use a bright, aquarium theme for your bathroom - tropical fish on the shower curtain, bright towels with a wave-like geometric pattern, a fish shaped bath mat or even an acrylic toilet seat designed to look like a fish bowl (complete with colorful fish). You might choose dolphins, or even cartoon characters as the central theme for your bathroom.

For example, someone who still carries a fondness for Betty Boop may decide to use the character as a theme for his or her bathroom. A Betty Boop shower curtain and bath accessories set with a toothbrush holder, a trash can and a soap dish could be used with red or black towels and a red or black bath mat and toilet seat.

Of course, these aren’t the only four styles for a bathroom; whatever your interests are, whatever inspires you, that’s going to be the foundation for decorating your bathroom. Whether you choose colorful flowers, solid colors, muted tones or something altogether different - a clean, modern look using all white for example - it’s the small details that bring it all together. Choosing bath towels that don’t quite fit in with your chosen color scheme, combining an aquarium theme toilet seat with a bamboo shower curtain: these things simply don’t create a cohesive look.

Fortunately, it’s easy to find bath accessories that will allow you to bring the whole look together - that is, once you decide what kind of look and feel you are looking to create. Soon after Aliza Saylor’s son had his 18th birthday, she learned that she was expecting another child. Her writing reflects her passion for home decoration. One of the easiest ways and least expensive ways to decorate your bathroom is to replace the toilet seat or shower curtain. Bed N Bath Gallery carries beautiful selection of bed and bath products at: http://www.bednbathgallery.com

The first procedure of bathroom tiling is quite similar to laying the tiles in any other part of the house and involves removal of the previous flooring as well as shutting off all water faucets and may require removal of the commode and cistern. Closing the flange with a wet cloth is important so that the gas from the sewage does not come up. Once the old flooring is off and the floor is more or less even, you can begin planning the tiling location.

Simply laying tiles without any design is the easiest to do and you can either start from the centre or from one of the sides. Throw in a design element in the tiles and you have to first decide where to place the design and then work around it. Though it takes a little more effort, adding a design element helps give the bathroom a special touch.

You can begin bathroom tiling by placing the tiles after this and leveling each one of them so that you get a level floor. Special cut-outs can be achieved by using a template with the help of which help of which you cut the tile and fit it. The grout comes next and you might need someone’s help to help you clean it after it has dried to a light haze. A grout sealer is recommended since the bathroom flooring is used lot more and faces plenty of watery situations! All these are about How to tile a bathroom.

I’m writing this article as a result of numerous questions from my neighbor who is remodeling. Being a lighting professional, they have lots of questions for me regarding their bathroom lighting. It really seems to be a daunting task for them. In Bathroom lighting design, there are many decisions to make. From design and placement to what fixture to use to what light bulbs are best. I’d like to take you around the room to give you a rule of thumb when planning your own bathroom lighting design.

Shower Lights

Showers are a space that you no doubt need a form of recessed lighting. It’s very important to use a recessed fixture that is made for the shower and rated to work under conditions of humidity and possible contact with water. In addition you’ll want to use a light bulbs rated to use in the shower. Most products will be clearly marked as such.

Personally, we have a dimmer on our shower light. It allows for a slow wake up by anyone getting into the shower before the light of day. But it’s important to provide enough light to allow you to shave and see what you are doing.

Bathtub Lighting

Depending on the height of your bathtub and if it is separate from your shower, your lighting solutions here will be different. Let’s assume you have a separate bathtub here. If not, you won’t do anything different than what I’ve outlined above. Typically, you will be using recessed lighting above your bathtub area. It is not necessary to have water rated fixtures and light bulbs in this spot. One or maybe two recessed fixtures aimed at the outside of the tub will provide what you need. Aiming to the outside of the tub will provide light to see what you are doing yet will cut down on any glare.

Mirror and Vanity Lighting

This area might be the most crucial spot to get it “right.” Improper lighting when you are trying to apply make-up or shaving can be the pits. Lighting companies have come up with a number of functional and decorative choices for vanity/mirror lighting.

Topping and flanking your mirror with vanity strips is one way to provide light. Insure that you purchase vanity light bulbs that have a lower wattage or frosted glass so you don’t blind yourself. The mistake I’ve seen many make is that their light bulbs are too powerful and then they unscrew several of them to take the light level down. This totally defeats the purpose of having a vanity strip as it is suppose to distribute light evenly.

What we decided to use is our home is wall sconces. And now that I think about it, we used it in all three bathrooms. The master has 3 as we have a long vanity and there are holes cut in the glass where the sconces sit. The other two bathrooms have the sconces flanking the mirror. When you choose to have more than two, it’s important that the spacing be such that the light is coming from either side of each sink. Spacing here is not as critical; just insure that they are evenly spaced. Most folks tent to stand in front of the sink and you wouldn’t want to have the sconce right in front of your face! Their height should be about eye height. This will need to be adjusted slightly according to the type of sconce that you choose. Bottom line is that you don’t want to be able to see the light bulb itself when standing and looking at the sconce.

Ceiling Fixtures

If you are lucky enough to high ceilings in your bathroom, go for a small decorative fixture like a small chandelier. The rule of thumb on the size of chandelier is calculated by taking the width of the room added to the length of the room. (Or if you are installing multiple lighting fixtures, use the dimensions of the area that this fixture is meant to light.) That number should equal the diameter of the fixture. Ie. A master bath that is 15′ X 13′ would need a chandelier or decorative fixture about 28″ in diameter.

Recessed Lighting

I’m all for recessed fixtures in your overall bathroom lighting design. What I don’t care for are ceilings that look like swiss cheese. After you’ve planned for all other lighting, it would be prudent to fill other lighting needs with recessed lighting. If using recessed in the toilet area, locate the can in front of the toilet and not right over. No reason to be in the spot light!

Use recessed to light dead areas or to light sitting/reading areas. Yes, some bathrooms are big enough for reading or lounging areas. Above a bench or reading area is a perfect place to insert a recessed fixture. Now, I’m going to throw this in now. My neighbor wants to put a sconce above the toilet for reading purposes. Use the same rule of thumb as mirror sconces and place the fixture at about eye level.

Night Light

Some sort of lighting that can be left on all night is not only a safety solution but will allow you to make the middle of the night trip to the bathroom without totally waking yourself up. Lots of folks use a night light and if you don’t have much space in your bathroom, this is a great solution. I love to use accent lamp lighting when there is room. A small lamp with a long life light bulb or compact fluorescent light bulb in it provides a wonderful accent light day and night. Either place on your vanity or on a small accent table.

There are numerous components to bathroom lighting design. The above should get you started in the process or at least give you the confidence that your electrician is putting junction boxes in the correct spots. One last suggestion I’ll make is to put all of your bathroom lighting on dimmers. Many of us use our bathrooms as a serene get away. To achieve this; lighting is a huge component. Having the ability to dim the lights will provide the perfect atmosphere.

Ceramic bathroom floor tile is often used because of its durability, resistance to dampness, its safety to walk on when wet and its ease of cleaning. If you select ceramic tiles for your bathroom, consider using a tile that has a slip-resistant surface for bathroom safety, which is one of the best bathroom tile ideas. If you buy and install unglazed tiles, they will need to be washed frequently because they absorb stains quite easily. Bathroom floor tile shapes can be squares, rectangles, hexagons and octagons while accent pieces can be narrow and small diamond-shaped.

Here are bathroom tile ideas for bathroom floor tile:

1 - If you use solid color ceramic bathroom floor tile in your bathroom, you can add tile borders of a different color to the tile floor, or you can create a border by alternating different colors. This kind of visual treatment can create a more interesting bathroom floor.

2 - When using the same color ceramic tile for the floors and walls, choose a different tile size for the walls or lay the wall tiles diagonally to create a more interesting visual effect.

3 - Another of the bathroom tile ideas is to choose a grout color that contrasts with the ceramic tile color. For example, if you are using white tiles, you could use blue, red or yellow grout for contrast. Be sure and apply sealers to grout lines in areas of heavy wear since sealers will protect and preserve grout colors.

4 - If your favorite color for a bathroom is pink, for example, add a few pink decorative tiles for the walls or use shapes, textures and borders to give it some visual interest. Select some rows of the walls where you can also use some of the pink tiles placed diagonally.

5 - To give your bathroom a contemporary style and look, consider using bright and bold colors with shapes or graphics against plain backgrounds. Contemporary style accessories and fixtures will further provide a modern-looking bathroom.

6 - If you are trying to have a romantic or Victorian look in your bathroom, use floral tiles in soft colors like pink, light green or light blue plus handpainted ceramic sinks and perhaps a wooden floor.

7 - For a Mediterranean bathroom look, mix terra-cotta tiles with Mexican or other hand-painted tiles for the floors. For the countertop perhaps mix the hand-painted tiles with another plain color tile.

Bathroom tile ideas and tile color are important since color can greatly affect your mood — making you feel calm or energizing you. Warm colors like peach and yellow are fun, they make the bathroom feel cozier and they go well with a more country looking bathroom decor. If you use neutral colors like beiges or whites, they will make the room look larger, they will reflect light and they are always in style. Colors like blue, green and violet are viewed as serene or cool colors. Brighter colors like black or red add drama to the decor, absorb light and will make the room appear smaller. In rooms with plenty of windows and natural lighting, consider using darker tiles to offset the ambient lighting. You can also work in colors you want through the use of accent tiles and accessories.

Have fun as you select the styles, colors, patterns and sizes of bathroom floor tile and related details for your bathroom. You’ll want your bathroom to be a fun, cozy room to spend time in and the bathroom floor tile used can help create that kind of atmosphere. Use bathroom tile ideas to help you have that special bathroom that you can enjoy every day.

Copyright 2006 InfoSearch Publishing

Bath Tub Aromatherapy

There’s a wealth of aromatherapy products that you can use in the bath tub - it’s almost overwhelming trying to choose at times. You can choose from bubble bath, pure essential oils, bath oils right down to soaps and bath salts. Then you can go about what scent you want to use. If you can’t decide which to pick and are on the verge of despair then why not try out an aromatherapy bath kit. These kits usually include several aromatherapy options, so you can decide which is your favorite.

Aromatherapy with Candles

Using aromatherapy candles is a great choice for people who want to enjoy bathroom aromatherapy, but don’t like cleaning slimy residue out of their tubs or are concerned about the effect on their plumbing from all of all that slippery oily stuff going down the drain. You can burn several candles of the same scent or choose several scents that complement each other to create your own custom scent for your bathing experience.

Aromatherapy Scents

Certain aromatherapy scents can help you relax. Others will invigorate you entirely. If you’re needing a good nights sleep then combine lavender, chamomile, vanilla or lemon scents. If you’re needing an energy boost for a busy day then use peppermint, spearmint, rosemary or clary sage to give your body that much needed boost.

When you’re going shopping for bathroom aromatherapy products bear in mind that not all of these products are created equal. Here’s some tips for when you go shopping:

* Check the ingredients on the product and make sure it actually uses essential oils and not artificial scents. Artificial scents have no therapeutic value at all.

If you are shopping for candles, make sure the ones you buy do not have lead wicks. Lead wicks are potentially dangerous when used around children.

* Look for soy candles that have the essential oils mixed the whole way through the wax. Soy candles burn much more cleanly and the scent will remain right to the last flame.

The main layout for the bathroom was inspired from most American and European designs, added to a more Asian flair that would call their own. Screens and more vibrant colors when it comes to the floor tiles and walls gives off an optical illusion of having more room. Although some Asian bathroom designs would resemble a 4-star hotel in terms of modern elegance, the very essence of the design is simply derived from nature. Some flora is introduced, while waterproof wallpaper with bamboo prints give color to the walls. This can also include wood tiles and mahogany from other Asian countries for the counter top and a small armoire.

The main shower area and tub are designed depending on the country of origin, which can be circular like the Japanese or wide like the Chinese. Of course the rich would introduce a small above-ground pool for the main purpose of soaking in hot water, as well as lavish it off with some orchids to create a more natural look. With the mixture of both modern and classic, most modern jet-streamed tubs are placed in a central location, according to the feng shui belief that the center is the very heart that revolves around everything.

Simple fixtures, mainly of faucets, shower heads and booths may sometimes be imported, while designs from local bathroom designers are inspired by using the available floor space of a typical Asian home. This is well suited for small bathrooms that upon entering would have everything within arm’s reach without too much clutter. For the wall to place a mirror to, they can be large, considering the vanity of most Asians and how they can be conscious about their looks.

Decoration is revolved mainly of plants, with some wood for frames and screens and a large portion is concentrated simply for the floor. Tiles sold in Asia have several patterns, which custom made ones can be ordered like that of a jigsaw puzzle, to create a mosaic effect.

Although a number of American homes may have a touch of European and American styles, the Asian bathroom décor is becoming a big hit, considering the need to have a bathroom with all the necessary items and fixtures without walking too much. The Asian bathroom design is for those with small homes, yet emphasizes mainly on the bathroom as the centerpiece.

However, if you think that a freestanding bathtub needs to be in an old-fashioned design, then you can think again. That is not to say that many people really do prefer an old-fashioned traditional look, such as that transmitted by claw foot bathtubs for instance, but there are now many styles of freestanding bathtub that owe much to modern designs, albeit with a splash of classical antiquity thrown in for good measure, and which can look absolutely beautiful in the most modern bathroom filled with ceramic and chrome.

Some of the bathtubs on offer from American Standard, for instance, are based on very pure classic designs, with some of the tubs being almost square, and looking for all the world like miniature swimming pools in your bathroom. These hark back to the bathrooms of antiquity, and that means Roman times rather than Victorian times. Install one of these bathtubs in your bathroom and you can suddenly find that the whole look of the room can be transformed, turning it into somewhere that looks something like a shrine rather than a place to have a bath.

The great thing about this move to a more open plan design is that it makes the bathroom exactly that - open plan. And with the new style of open plan design comes a really great feeling of spaciousness, which means while you relax in the tub you can look out as a much more spacious room, with the bathtub being the center of attraction, rather than it being something stuck in the corner.

So if you are thinking of redesigning your bathroom, don’t think that your bathtub has to stay in the same position. If you have a bit of space to play with think about placing your bathtub - a freestanding bathtub of course - on a pedestal in the center of the room, and then when you have your bath you can look around your bathroom and see all parts of it rather than just simply looking in one direction. There is nothing better than being the center of the room for a feeling of luxury, and that is what bathing is supposed to be about in the first place.

Start by knowing your options for wall design. Tile has long been a popular choice for bathroom wall. It can be made of marble, limestone, vinyl, ceramic porcelain, granite, terrazzo, terra cotta, slate, stone, and glass among others. Take note of the advantages and disadvantages of each and the different effects each type of tile creates to your bathroom.

For example, terra cotta tile achieves a wall that looks weathered and rustic. It is also said to last for lifetime.

Marble tiles, like any other stone tiles must be sealed and require frequent cleaning. But marbles create a unique look when installed on specific areas of the wall.

Glass tiles are best if used as decorative accent but are often expensive and difficult to install.

Vinyl tiles are affordable compared to stone, porcelain, or ceramic. It is easy to install and easy to replace. However, vinyl tiles create several seams that can breed mold, mildew and bacteria. Aesthetic wise, vinyl tiles are not your best option.

Granite is often used as kitchen countertops but it is also good for bathroom wall accent especially if you want highlight a particular wall. Granite is durable and can last for a very long time.

Terrazzo tiles give unique beauty, elegance and longevity. However, it is quite expensive to use as wall design.

Concrete is another option you can take. The material is cheap but installation is not for the do-it-yourselfers. Concrete can be painted with different colors of your choice to match the mood you want to attain to your design.

Choose one or two materials above as the main wall and blend one or two more. The key is blending the right textures, color tones, and shades. For example, you can use natural stones such as marble, granite and limestone together. Glass with marble and limestone can also work.

There is nothing worst than a bathroom with 4 empty walls. Create a wall design according to your preference.