Choosing electrical locations for our new bathroom! ORC Week 2

Choosing electrical locations for our new bathroom! ORC Week 2

• 4.13.2022

Things are moving along in the basement bathroom (part of the 8-week One Room Challenge), and I got to do something I’ve never done before: decide on the placement of the electrical work! 

• Week 1: Design, plans, and before photos
• Week 2: Choosing electrical locations and sconce placement
• No post week 3
• Week 4: Tub, drywall, and design
• No posts weeks 5-6
• Week 7: Tile, beadboard, and door
• Week 8: The REVEAL! With sources and budget

Bathroom Sconce Placement

Lighting, switches, and outlets, but the lighting was particularly exciting because in every other bathroom I've had I've had vanity lighting over the mirror, and now I get to put the lights on the sides of the mirror. Part of that is necessity because the ceiling is very low! But it’s really the best place for flattering, helpful lighting when using the mirror.

I had to do some math, diagramming, Google research, and actually laying it out to determine how high the sconces should go and how far away from the mirror. Thankfully I already had the sconces, mirror, and sink on site and was able to get pretty close with my research and then lay the sconces out next to the mirror on the floor to see that I needed to account for some room for the shades!

60" is pretty low for sconces, but we have a low ceiling. We decided on 62" up from the floor and 5" out from the mirror. That will put the sconces 28" apart, which is closer than what you see above a big vanity with a big mirror, but will actually be great lighting. I looked through my Pinterest bathroom pins for examples of sconces above pedestal sinks and quickly realized I don't need to worry about the relationship of the sconces to the sink width. It doesn't matter that they don't line up to the center or edge of the sconces or sink.

The electrician talked to me about where the switches, etc. would go and we decided on lighting locations, and then he got to wiring everything. You can see in this photo of the boxes are set, and there are wires to where the sconces will go (above the sink plumbing).

There will be an outlet to the right of the sink, and as you can see the switch is handy by the door frame. The door swings in and will open up toward the wall to the left.

Drywall goes up soon, and the tub will be installed soon, so it will start to look like a bathroom any day now.

Even though this phase is not all that beautiful, I am particularly enjoying it because I don’t have to do any of the work! I might not be as cheerful in a few weeks when I’ve been painting and installing bead board and tile. Ha!

You can follow along with hundreds of other 8-week room makeovers this One Room Challenge!