7 Ways to Open Up a Windowless Bathroom

To the state the obvious, adding a window in your bathroom would be a costly undertaking—or, depending on the floor plan, simply impossible. But believe it or not, there's always the option of adding a skylight. Whereas a conventional skylight can only illuminate space directly beneath the roof, the Solatube Daylighting System operates in a different, more ingenious way. After capturing rays on the roof, the device channels light down through a compact, highly reflective tube measuring up to 40 feet. That enables Solatube systems to deliver natural light to virtually any room in the house. Best of all, tubular daylighting devices from Solatube International, Inc. install with minimal hassle, requiring no changes to be made on the framing and no ceiling or wall repairs inside the room. Indeed, while a conventional skylight usually takes days to install, Solatube takes only a couple hours.

It's a tried-and-true trick for a very good reason—it really works! As much as mirrors are eye-catching and interesting unto themselves, they can also transform the way you experience the space around them. Indeed, by maximizing light and adding layers of depth, strategically placed mirrors seem to erode walls and replace them with openness. Most effective are full-legth mirrors, as they reflect the floor and fool the eye, giving the impression of a larger footprint.

In a windowless bathroom, insufficient light isn't your only problem. Tubs and showers, toilets and sinks—those fixtures that make the bathroom a bathroom—all share one thing in common. They generate humidity. So long as it’s controlled, humidity isn’t a problem. But if there’s insufficient ventilation in the bathroom, humidity only adds to the cave-like quality of a small, gloomy bathroom space. Humidity also leads to mold and mildew, both of which are damaging to the home (not to mention your health). Fortunately, you can rescue a bathroom that's both dark and damp by installing a Solatube Daylighting System with the optional vent fan add-on kit. Here, a single streamlined Solatube fixture solves both problems, and you don't have to live with the eyesore of a ceiling cluttered with multiple fixtures. Add in the optional light kit, and Solatube provides natural light during the day, supplementary electric lighting at night, and around-the-clock bathroom humidity control—all in one fixture!

Even if you executed the ideal artificial lighting scheme, your windowless bathroom still might seem to be missing a key component. Perhaps that's because there's really no substitute for natural light and its room-enchancing, mood-boosting virtues. Given that fact, it's no surprise so many homeowners choose the brighter alternative to traditional skylights offered by Solatube International, Inc. Hesitant to install a tubular daylighting device as well as the artificial light fixtures necessary to see by at night? If so, check out the Solatube Smart LED System. A one-of-a-kind solution, it comes with built-in, highly efficient LEDs that activate if and when sunlight levels recede. That's right: Unlike any other skylight, the Smart LED System doesn’t go dark when the sun goes down!