8 Lighting Options for Your Wardrobe: Which is Best for Your Design?
A wardrobe is incomplete without good lighting. Choosing the right light fixture illuminates the dark corners, enhances accessibility, showcases the treasured belongings in your closet, and transforms the unit into a decorative masterpiece.
Whether you have a small hinged-door wardrobe or a spacious walk-in closet, these lighting options will light up your dressing area.
Stylish Chandeliers and Pendant Lights
Chandeliers and pendant lights offer more than illumination – they add elegance and beauty to any space. These statement pieces draw attention wherever they are with their unique and sophisticated appeal.
Chandeliers and pendant lights are available in different sizes, shapes, and colours, allowing you to mix and match to create a beautiful outlook. If you have a standard closet, install a flush-mount chandelier or pendant light to use space optimally.
Recessed Lights
As the name suggests, recessed lights are hardwired and installed inside ceilings, walls, and other surfaces. They take up little space, and their discreet design makes them ideal for small wardrobe designs, as you can hit the lights when dressing up or organising your clothes.
For the best results, install several low-wattage light fixtures instead of a few high-powered fixtures. This ensures wide coverage and uniform illumination if you space them correctly. Make sure you maintain a safe distance between electrical wiring and the lights to reduce the risk of accidents.
Consider a Skylight
Nothing is better than natural light, but many wardrobes are relegated to a corner of the bedroom without access to a window. Consider investing in a skylight to keep your wardrobe illuminated (naturally) during the daytime.
Lantern-style skylights are better at directing light than flat ones. Their architectural pyramid shape creates the illusion of space by adding verticality.
Skylights must have toughened safety glass since they form part of your roof. Moreover, building regulations require skylights to have enough insulation against heat loss, so ensure you address this with the appropriate measures.
Track Lights
A track lighting system features individual light bulbs mounted on a metal rail. This design allows you to customise your wardrobe lighting to suit your preferences.
For instance, you can mount the lights to focus on poorly-lit corners in your closet. You can also position many fixtures around the dressing table to make it easier to differentiate colours, such as black and navy blue. Track lights are common in spacious walk-in closets with ample ceiling space to avoid fire risk.
Motion Sensor Lights
Wardrobe organisation is a vital aspect of interior décor. When your closet is neat and organised, your bedroom becomes more attractive. Everything will fit inside, making it easy to access whatever you want.
You can make your wardrobe more convenient to use by installing motion-sensing lights. These detect slight activity on the door and come on whenever you open the closet, sparing you the time of finding the switch. When you close the doors, they switch off.
LED Puck Lights
LED puck lights are small, low-profile light fixtures that produce centric and directional illumination. You can install them along the sides or under the shelves in your closet to create an accent light that shines a spotlight on your favourite bags, clothes, and shoes.
Some puck lights are dimmable, enabling you to change moods in your wardrobe.
LED String Lights
String lights are flexible cables of tiny LED lights with an adhesive backing that sticks to walls. Although they don’t provide the brightest illumination, they add uniqueness and calm to your wardrobe.
LED strings are available in many styles and colours. You can keep it simple with standard white LED lights or choose cascades of rainbow-coloured bulbs.
It’s worth noting that LED lights use little energy, so you can connect the string to a small battery if you don’t want to connect to the mains electricity.
Use Candles
Sometimes, you might feel the urge to evoke your other senses instead of illuminating a wardrobe. In such situations, using a scented candle is best.
These work well in spacious walk-in closets, as the candle is a fire risk in reach-in wardrobe types like hinged-door and sliding-door units. In addition, the pleasant scent of the candles warms and charms you as you prepare for the day.
How to Choose Wardrobe Light Fixtures
When shopping for wardrobe light fixtures, consider the following factors.
LED vs. Fluorescent Bulbs
LED and fluorescent bulbs are more popular than traditional incandescent bulbs due to their high efficiency and low energy consumption. However, LED lights excel at several other things. For example, they last longer, shine brighter, and pose less environmental risk than fluorescent bulbs.
Additionally, LEDs can mimic the warm glow of incandescent bulbs, preventing colours from appearing unnatural.
Although LED lights have a higher upfront cost than fluorescent bulbs, they make up for it in longevity, energy savings, and stunning visual appeal.
Corded vs. Wireless Lights
Wireless lights are ideal if you don’t want to restructure your closet to accommodate electrical wiring. However, it isn’t easy to customise or scale a wireless lighting system.
On the other hand, corded light fixtures attach to electrical wiring. You must restructure your closet to make room for the wires, but these systems are easy to scale and customise.
Manual Lights vs. Motion Sensors
Manual lights require you to flip the switch on or off during operation. However, motion sensors are automatic, helping you to save energy by switching off automatically when the wardrobe is idle.
How to Make Wardrobe Lighting Safe
Safety is a vital concern since lights use electricity. Although the regulations vary, leaving at least 30 centimetres between the light fixture and the items in your wardrobe is advisable. Avoid touching exposed bulbs and always call an electrician whenever there’s a problem.
Wrapping Up
Finding clothes without proper lighting is difficult, even in an organised closet. After all, you’ll make a mess of the neatly arranged outfits if you can’t see the inside of your wardrobe. Luckily, installing wardrobe lights isn’t a demanding task. You can choose hardwired fixtures or use small, battery-powered bulbs.
Betta Wardrobes is an experienced manufacturer of all wardrobe types. Contact us today for more tips and information.
Read More:
- Why Choose a Built-In Wardrobe? Enjoy Added Safety and More
- 7 Tips to Get Your Wardrobe Ready for the Summer Season
