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Blue light has many documented health benefits. It helps reduce blood pressure and calm breathing, and makes relaxing easier. Blue light has also been shown to be an anti-inflammatory and improve circulation — all good things as we age.
by holger hoos design  
Look how this blue light brings the walls to life — at first you see the blue, then you notice the stone and the light reflecting off the water in the tub.

When you're picking a tub with a chromotherapy package, get one with at least four lights. Sometimes two lights just doesn't cut it.
by Arijit
Red light energizes and stimulates. The effects of red light can increase your pulse rate and get you charged up for a big game, pumped for a big meeting or in the mood for a little romance.

This shower has a wonderful iridescent tile that sparkles. With regular lighting, this room itself must be a real energizer both in the morning and at night. To highlight iridescent particles in the tile, multiple sources of light should be used. Three or five small halogens would work perfectly.

A tiled wall washed in light like this should be set perfectly so that the wall is smooth and flat. The closer the light is to hitting the wall, the more it will show flaws in the installation. Also, make sure the LED lighting, task lighting and fixtures are in place during the tiling process for complete accuracy.
by Susan Diana Harris Interior Design
If you're not brave enough for sparkly red tile, choose a safer tile and stick with LED lighting for color. When the mood hits, you can choose any color you like.

You can always switch out regular light bulbs for LED versions in your standard fixture or build a custom light feature out of LED strip lighting for a similar approach. When working with a professional, make sure your installer doesn't underestimate the light needs of a room and add in too little lighting for a huge impact.

When you're planning your lighting system, make sure it can be dimmed and build it brighter than you think you need it to be. The ThermaSol light featured here has six high-intensity light generators per color for intense and adjustable lighting.
by John Whipple - By Any Design ltd.  
This steam shower has a chromotherapy setting that allows all the colors to change slowly. This is a real treat when you're taking a long steam shower. Many of my clients stretch in their showers before and after exercising, or to relax before bedtime. Clearing your head and detoxifying at day's end can produce a deeper sleep and help keep your nerves in check. Color can help improve this experience.
by John Whipple - By Any Design ltd.  
Hundreds of years ago, stained glass was often used for chromotherapy purposes. Leonardo da Vinci believed that the power of meditation increased tenfold under the rays of violet light shining through a church's stained glass windows. Green light has been found to reduce irritability and insomnia, and can be used to help a person recover from a nervous breakdown. Yellow lighting can help with digestion and simply make us feel happy.

Stained glass, whether filtering natural or man-made light, produces amazing results. If the glass is beveled and used in conjunction with beads, crystals or different types of glass, the result is even more amazing.
by Clayton&Little Architects
If you use your master bath every day to get ready for work, shower after soccer, bathe the kids and wash the dog, how can you make it feel like a spa when you have the time to relax?

When general lighting or task lighting is switched off (the downlights, or pot lights, in the photo), ambient lighting can take over. Pendants and accent colored lighting (here, on the vanity toe kick and shower ceiling) can be set to a slow scroll to completely transform the mood.

If you're on the fence about whether or not to install some chromotheraphy lights, just do it. It's easy to leave them off most of the time, and the benefit they offer when they're turned on is invaluable.
by Kelly & Stone Architects
How could you not feel great taking a sunshine-filled shower? Harvesting the sun's light is easier with a large skylight like this one. We have started working more with 4- by 4-foot skylights, and the added light is always welcome.

Consider locating your master en suite on the east elevation of a new home if you want to shower early in the day, or on the west side if you want to shower at day's end and catch the sunset's final rays.
by Tracy Stone AIA
It doesn't matter which form of chromotheraphy you decide on for your next bathroom renovation; any and all are wonderful ways to bring your favorite color into your daily routine.

For thousands of years, people have used colored lighting for healing — see if it improves the quality of your life.

More:
The Low-Down on LED LightingGet the Light Right for a Healthier House
by Downing Designs.com

Comments

klopty What brilliant ideas! That's a refreshing take on relaxing, thanks for this!
4 months ago · ·
Richard Donald Nice for spare toilet
4 months ago ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. One way of improving on light therapy is with the added experience of aromatherapy. The steam shower I showed above also has an Aromatherapy option. If you are looking for a great steam shower give my buddy Mike an email. There is a reason the ThermaSol steam showers are my favourite. Mike can tell you why.

mike.straw@thermasol.com (404) 695-8219

I'll be showcasing the ThermaSol steam shower in a couple weeks at Build Ex if any Vancouverites want more information on the ThermaSol Chromatheraphy showers we build.

You can sign up here;

http://www.buildexvancouver.com/mediaedgewest/exhibitor/manual/pdf/exhibitor_comp_reg_form.pdf
4 months ago ·
superstraw Great stuff John. Check out this install in RI.
4 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Nice looking install. I like the use of the long bench design for the tub steamer. Not tried that set up before. JW
4 months ago · ·
missfifi That "church" looking shower is really a very unique element to have in a home. The stained glass is gorgeous!
4 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd.


We just installed this shower glass panel in our most recent project. You can see the picture to the right is with the blue light on and to the left the LED light off.
3 months ago ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd.


Another shot with the red lights. You can see the shower niche on the back corner. For some reason the red light does not travel through the 48" glass panel. There must be some science here that I don't understand.
3 months ago ·
Adam Church Mr. Whipple
The glass is likely float glass which has a natural green tint. The green pigment will absorb light in the red spectrum and limit the passage.
Green filters are placed on medical instruments to view parts of the body that are usually red in naked light, they are known as "red free."
If you wish to understand more try here: http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2010/05/04/how-do-color-filters-work/
3 months ago ·
calikym Where near LA, California can shower multi-colored lights be purchased? Thanks!!
3 months ago · ·
superstraw Made in Simi Valley California. ThermaSol's Serenity Light and Music System.
www.thermasol.com. Or, email me at. Mike.straw@thermasol.com and I'll hook you up with more info. That is what John Whipple uses in his shower installs. It will even hook up to our steam system or you can just get the light by itself. You can even control it from your smartphone or tablet. It is by far the coolest thing you can get. Imagine streaming music right from iTunes or pandora. Setting the lights right from your phone. It's even Bluetooth so you can take calls in the shower..... I could go on, just check it out and you'll be sold. Let me know what you think.
3 months ago ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. @ Adam - thanks for the information

@ Cailikym - I'd email Mike, he is the only one more excited about steam shower construction than me. You can see one of his steam shower light/speakers above. The niche lighting is custom and I work with many different suppliers to achieve this look. You need (Heat sink, shrink wrap, LED, 3M, Diffusers, Kerdi Fix, Kerdi, 8+9, White Laminated glass) many things to pull off that.

The speaker/light just needs access and three nuts tightened. The Thermasol lights are easily controlled from inside the steam shower where as the other need remote control from outside.

@ Superstraw - I love the easy pairing feature with my IPhone. I had some reggae (Shaggy) and some rock (Bon Jovi) playing in no time. You need to change the pairing name from the default used to something more fitting.... How about "ThermaSol Rocks!" lol

When pairing any device be it your truck, your ThermaSol speaker, your buddy's T.V. remember to keep your device's volume around 50%.
3 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Really? It looks that good! LOL I love this new shower. Check out the lights at night. JW
3 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Here is a peak at the mirror. Also lit with RGB LED lighting.....


3 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Four great new shots from Vancouver. We installed the Custom Glass tub skirt the other day. First time I've seen the new Fleurco Door Hardware installed. Looks great.

All lighting in these pictures is custom controllable. Pretty slick! JW

More pictures on the designers Houzz Profile here; http://www.houzz.com/pro/hhoos/holger-hoos-design
3 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. A modern colored twist to the old "Recessed Toilet Paper Holder"
We used a basic 3.5" stud cavity and sexed it up as bit.

Mitered tile corners

Down lit color RGB lighting

What do you think? JW
3 months ago · ·
Adam Church Cool effect, but are there other lights in the room? I wouldn't want to draw attention to a lit focal point TP roll.
3 months ago ·
Rhonda Knoche Design Great piece, John. Pretty exciting stuff out their lighting up our lives. Great examples of bathroom applications. As a kitchen and bath designer, I've also been following LED backlit kitchen backsplashes. Attached is an experiment a client and I tried, butting etched glass into LED tape which allowed the diodes to disperse. To optimize the transfer, the back was left polished and front edge cut with a 20 degree angle. These were set on a dimmer for the small display shelves. I'd like to try these for soft, sexy bathroom lighting and shelves. But then, I live in Oregon and we will create any additional light we can!
2 months ago · ·
John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. A coloured soak.


2 months ago · ·
AMC Custom Tile Here's a steam shower we did with kerdi. It has Cambria quartz slabs on ceiling, faucet wall, floor and floating bench. We did a 3d porcelain mosaic on the other two walls.
8 weeks ago · ·
superstraw WOW!!! You made my day!!!!
7 weeks ago ·
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