The cool spark your bath design needs: a Mid Century wall light
Design: Time & Place Interiors / Photo: Lauren Adler
Your bathroom might not take up the most real estate in your apartment’s square footage, but its design shouldn’t be an afterthought. The small space gets you ready for your busy day, and then helps you wind down at night. It should be not only functional, but also feel luxurious.
The most effective way to accomplish that? Through lighting, which is jewelry for interiors.
Beautiful luxury light fixtures are an instantaneous upgrade of sophistication. And, conversely, generic lights are a dead giveaway of lackluster space.
I like to swap out contractor-grade vanity lights with a cool vintage fixture to add personality to a plain white-box apartment. And when I plan bathroom renovations, sconces are high on my priority list of design elements.
To give a bath the spark it needs, I love to employ vintage Mid Century wall lights from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Their striking forms and streamlined materials always elevate a bathroom’s design. There are funky Bauhaus styles, luxurious European Kalmar vintage glass lights, or colorful ceramic fixtures that give contemporary bathrooms an extra punch of style.
Here’s a roundup of luxury bath designs with Mid Century Modern vintage bathroom sconces and vanity lights that’ll make you want to linger in the bathroom, guaranteed.
The vintage European glass Kalmar light, along with the Moroccan zellige tiles, make this small bath feel luxurious and masculine. Design: Eric Wink / Photo: Nicole Franzen & Adrian Gaut
In a contemporary bath, minimal Mid Century sconces and a vintage mirror blend seamlessly while adding a punch of character to the scene. Design: Gillian Segal / Photo: Nick Mele
The 1970s Lightolier sconce gives Deco Revival glam vibes to a modernized New York City bath. Design: Time & Place Interiors / Photo: Lauren Adler
This dreamy bath called for vanity lights that were stylish for the luxury space while being subtle enough to not compete with the pink pendant. Vintage Italian sconces by Sigvard Bernadotte did the trick. Design: Nicholas Potts / Photo: Jennifer Hughes
Here’s the same Bernadotte sconce, now in brown, flipped horizontally above a wicker mirror and vintage green sink. Design: Harding & Read / Photo: Seth Carnill
A different style of sconce by Sigvard Bernadotte, this one in a renovated New York bathroom. (I call it the “platypus.”) The green color was matched to the vintage jadeite towel bars on the opposite wall. Design: Time & Place Interiors
Moody character was brought to this renovated Brooklyn bath with the help of Mid Century German theater wall lights. Design: Frederick Tang Architecture / Photo: Gieves Anderson
A vintage Mid Century glass vanity light updates an earthy 1920s bath with its original Art Deco pedestal sink. Design: Mark Grattan / Photo: Maureen M. Evans
Vintage Murano glass sconces accompany a vintage mirror and a funky custom vanity. Design: Meg Sharpe / Photo: Kyle Knodell
Don’t settle for mediocre design.
Time & Place Interiors designs for young New Yorkers who want their spaces to feel luxurious and curated. Founder Ksenya Malina brings full service furnishings, styling, and art direction using her signature combination of vintage + modern designs. Use the link below to schedule a free 20-minute information call with Ksenya to discuss your design needs:
