Lighting Over Bathroom Cabinet?

[securespark]

I am considering building a shelving unit for my remodelled bathroom.

Within part of this shelving system will be a wall-mounted mirror door cabinet.

I cannot recess this unit into the wall.

The shelving unit will be 150mm deep, the cabinet the same or possibly a little more.

Can you provide suggestions for lighting over the mirror?

I've thought of this, http://www.qvsdirect.com/Endon-20-x-LED-Over-Cabinet-Light-pr-24770.html ,but will it provide enough light for shaving / make-up?

 

[bernardgreen]

Are you going to use the mirror for shaving and similar activity. If so then lights above the mirror may not be the best as they will leave the under side of the chin in shadow. A row of lights row on either side or top and bottom is the optimum.

 

[securespark]

OK, thanks Bernard. Any ideas for fittings that can be added to a standard cabinet that does not have lighting already?

It's just that we have a good cabinet already that fits just right, the other cabinets I have looked at are the wrong size and cost £200+.

I figured as I'm a sparkie, I could use the existing cabinet and add the lighting to suit.

 

[bernardgreen]

Is there a timber surround to the mirror that is wide enough to take a strip of LEDs covered with a translucent cover to diffuse the light and remove the bright spots of the LEDs.

One idea I am looking at for my bath room is a mirror with LEDs and diffusion layer behind areas of the mirror where the silvering has been removed to allow the light through.

 

[securespark]

There is a 15mm contiboard type frame to this cabinet. Do you think this type of thing will work?

http://www.qvsdirect.com/2-x-LED-Strip-Light-Kit-White-pr-25212.html

Prob being each side of the cabinet is just over 600mm, so I'd need 8 of these strips, and they don't have a diffuser.

 

[bernardgreen]

Assuming they are bright enough I would put the strips on only the vertical sides and not on the top and bottom. Add those later if needed.

Problem with desging with LEDs is the variations between them and the often over optimistic claims of the marketing people.

Not sure what to use for a diffuser. I would buy one strip and see if how spread the beam is without a diffuser. In the past I have sanded the tips of high intensity narrow beam LEDs ( the encapsulation of the actual LED ) to create a diffused light for indicator panels.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Do the lights have to go on the cabinet itself? Couldn't go alongside?