Bathroom light switch and outlet placement- HELP!

[aspentosh]

Electrician is coming today and we are still trying to figure out what makes sense. Obviously we'll talk to him and see what he thinks, but also brainstorming because that's what I do, lol.

We need switches for:
three overhead lights 
two vanity lights
bathroom fan

And then we also need two outlets by the vanity.

For simplicity, our vanity and wall layout will be similar to this. Vanity ends on one wall (24" deep) and is open on the other end, with two separate mirrors.
Because the wall on the right is only 24" there isn't a lot of room for our switches, my outlet, and my hand towel. But that wall is the best option for where to put our main bathroom lights because the other walls are too small or are taken up by a pocket door.



If you had this setup and needed three light switches and two outlets, where would you put them?

[orval]

Can you put the outlets in the middle where the pictures are in the photo?
I have also seen some vanities that have the outlets inside the cabinet. You can leave your hairdryer plugged in inside the cabinet.

Where do you enter the room? By the 24 inch wall? Where I enter is where I would want the main light switch. The vanity lights by the vanity on the 24 inch wall or in the middle.

[TR]

I agree that outlets in the middle would be good and main light switches wherever the door is. We currently have a similar setup only with one giant mirror and the switches (3 of them) are to the left of the mirror and then there's the doorway and the only outlets are on the small wall and if we want to hang a hand towel there it hangs in front of the outlet which is really annoying. Especially considering we have an electric toothbrush that needs to sit there.

What I really want is to go to two mirrors and build a slim cabinet in between and put outlets in there.

[aspentosh]

Jul 14, 2021 8:16:40 GMT -5 orval said:

Can you put the outlets in the middle where the pictures are in the photo?
I have also seen some vanities that have the outlets inside the cabinet. You can leave your hairdryer plugged in inside the cabinet.

Where do you enter the room? By the 24 inch wall? Where I enter is where I would want the main light switch. The vanity lights by the vanity on the 24 inch wall or in the middle.

Outlets in the middle is definitely something we are considering... Probably evening leaning towards. Although maybe one in the middle and one on the left? Or would it look better to have them grouped together? 

Outlet in vanity is the plan, as well. So maybe we only need one above the vanity?


We enter across from the vanity. Behind the 24" door to the right is the closet. Here is the bathroom as it stands. Vanity on the left, entry is right across from vanity, and that doorway straight ahead goes into the closet.

We can't put the light switches on the right **next to the pocket door** because there is no wall. So it's either on that 24" wall or on the pocket door wall, which is like two steps away from entry so we don't like that.


There is a wall on the outside of the pocket door (so in the bedroom) but we don't like that because then you have to turn the light on BEFORE you go in, and when H gets ready in the morning he'd blind me with light.

[aprilsails]

One outlet for sure in the middle and one to the side.

I think you’re ok with the light switches grouped on the vanity side wall as that’s your best option. Pocket doors suck for that. Another option would be to install a motion detector on the main switch you most commonly use (once you’ve been using the bathroom for a while and know what that is) so that the lights come up automatically and you don’t need to fumble or reach.

[orval]

I think i might do an outlet in the middle, one on the left. The vanity switches in the middle since you don't really need to turn those on unless you are using the vanity.
What are the three overhead lights? That seems like a lot for a small space plus vanity lights? Just wondering as I have a huge bathroom with one overhead light/2 vanity lights. The fan switch is near the shower.
I would probably put at least one light switch on the bedroom wall myself.

[aspentosh]

We were thinking one outlet in the middle, one outlet on the left, so glad some are suggesting that. It will be VERY rare for both to be in use... especially since we got some USB/electrical outlet combo so we can plug in both toothbrushes and his razor all at the same time.

H recommended putting vanity light switch in the middle because, as Orval said, it would be easy to turn on if we needed them there. I've never seen that but it makes sense so I guess it could work.

The three overhead lights are- one over each sink and one for shower/toilet area. It's probably overkill but it was really dark before and I hate that, lol. Recessed lights will be on dimmer switch.

[orval]

aspentosh, do you need a switch for both overhead sink lights or can they be on one? I would put the shower/toilet switch near the shower/toilet with the fan switch since you won't need those near the sinks.

[aspentosh]

Jul 14, 2021 9:31:20 GMT -5 orval said:

aspentosh , do you need a switch for both overhead sink lights or can they be on one? I would put the shower/toilet switch near the shower/toilet with the fan switch since you won't need those near the sinks.

One switch will control all overhead lights. A separate one for the vanity lights. Then a third for bathroom fan. 

We did talk about putting a double rocker switch (one on top of the other instead of one next to another) near the shower door. Then that would leave one switch for vanity lights and one switch for the two overhead lights near the sinks on that 24" wall. 

[ellipses84]

General lighting switch right inside the door. I generally like the vanity switches to be on the outside of each mirror, but the middle, but your outlets probably need to be in the middle so you aren’t running cords across the sink. I also like outlets landscape orientation above counters like that, but it wouldn’t look good if you have switches in the middle. If you put everything in the middle I’d just put an outlet and a switch directly next to each other right next to each mirror so they each have their own “set.” If you did that you could ask about a dual cover plate for an outlet and switch so it looks like one. I’d put the fan next to the general lighting switch.

[ssmjlm]

Our bathroom is sort of a rectangle and all the main switches are just inside the door. Vanity, tub, shower, fan. Outlets on each end, but I think one in the middle works too.

Are you doing a combo recessed light/fan in the shower? That's what we have and it's super quiet. In our old house we put the fan on a timer switch, which I really liked, for some reason we didn't do it in this house. I think because we can reach the switch to turn it off more easily.

[bridge5]

We have pocket doors and double doors in different places in our house and ended up adding secondary switches for the lights b/c the main switches are not easily accessible (across the room in the pocket door instance and behind a double door that we always leave open). We swapped the main switches to Lutron dimmers and then got remotes that talk to the dimmers. They're called Pico remotes and there's a special wallplate for mounting them. Since they're not full electrical boxes, their depth is less than drywall so they work even with pocket doors.

In your situation, I'd try to walk through (literally) how you and your husband would enter the bathroom and turn on the light. Especially in the dark. It wouldn't work for us to try to get to the vanity and turn the light on in the actual dark. Maybe the overhead lights are on dimmers and the remote is mounted at the door (so it doesn't blind/wake someone sleeping). Then the person closes the door and turns on the vanity light.

We also have a built-in nightlight lower on the floor in the bathroom, which is great for middle of the night and looks nicer than plug in ones. You might consider something like that too - now's the time! If you did that, you might be okay with the switch across the way at the vanity.

[aspentosh]

ssmjlm, H didn't want a combo light/fan so we are doing them separately.

We ended up putting the recessed lights, fan, and vanity lights right on the 24" wall. We're doing a single rocker for the recessed because we think we'll use those the most. Then a double rocker (one on top of the other) for exhaust fan and vanity lights. The electrician recommended outlets on the sides of the sinks instead of middle, so we let him go with it. He got most of it done yesterday and I think it makes the most sense for what we have.

It's only a half step from the door to reach the switches because our bathroom is only 5' deep. Of course we'd prefer right at the door entrance, but it's just not possible. We do have a nightlight on one of our outlets, so that will help in middle of the night bathroom trips (cough H cough).