In the grooming center, attention to lighting must be considered in relation to a client’s sensory, cognitive, and physical characteristics. Natural light sources are best and should be generous, but attention must be paid to privacy and control of ambient light with the use of shades, blinds, or opaque surface treatments. Reducing glare and shadowing is especially important to those of us with aging eyes or impaired sight, so the location and direction of light as well as the amount of light is important. Increased light that is indirect, or at least diffusing the source will help with this. A lighted magnifying mirror can be another assistive addition to the lighting plan. While basic good design dictates that vanity lighting be placed at the height of the eyes of the user, lamps that run the length of the vanity mirror can provide light at varied heights for the wide spectrum of user heights in the space.
Better control of ambient and task lighting with dimmers will enable the user to adjust the lighting to his/her needs depending on the time of day and the task at hand, and also allows a variety of users to customize to suit their individual needs.
Selecting light-colored, matte surfaces for improved reflection of the light can be one way to avoid the shadows. As eyes age, it becomes difficult to differentiate colors with minimal contrast, such as navy, black, brown, or pastels. The contrast created by placing light objects against darker backgrounds, or vice versa, can be useful on controls, work surfaces, and storage. Our ability to place lighting precisely where it is needed through the use of LEDs is one way technology is helping the universal design/access cause.
