Ireferny

Cats are the coolest animals on the planet. Yes, that statement is rife with conjecture and straight up personal opinion—based on personal pet preference. But they really are amazing creatures.

Cats have their own laundry or body soap solution, and can wash themselves in all areas except the one area Moms used to nag about—behind the ears…at the nape of the neck. Oh, and they can be picked up (with teeth!) by that nape of the neck, without ever flinching or griping or calling out in pain.

Cats don’t hassle or pounce, relentlessly, when you enter a room. They have little interest in your command performance attention—the quality and quantity of which had better be delivered, according to their mortal foes, dogs, or you’ll get a face full of slobber, a front full of mudprints, or a shove to the ground because the dog thinks he’s a lapdog when he is, in fact, a Rhodesian Wolfhound weighing in at over a 100 pounds.

Cats are so intuitive they know when you need them. That is, if you are weeping, depressed, lonely, or ill, they will first stare at you for a minute, likely picking up which vibe it is they need to address, and then will come close. This is not hyperbole or conjecture on my part. Numerous studies have been done to indicate that pets in general but especially cats have been introduced into high-stress people’s homes and hospital wards—and the illnesses decreased, the stress levels reduced, and the feeling of well-being returned to degrees of something around 15% improvement.

I mentioned that cats stare. Yeah, this is one I still am trying to figure out. They will position themselves in statuesque stillness, focus on one spot, thing, or you (shudder), and with unblinking, undeterred pose will penetrate whatever (or whomever) it is they stare at. I have paid close attention to this particular behavior on many an occasion, and can only see not a bored soul just watching the air molecules move about but a profoundly knowing being…whose eyes, when you look deeply into them, reveal eras and ages of reincarnated mystique, reveal the origin of their many dimensioned essences.

I may be interpreting this because I know the cat’s history. Or know what others know thus far. Cats were a revered animal in Egypt. They were found buried in the tombs and sarcophagi of the royalty. They were reportedly so esteemed that a person was caught harming a cat that person was executed. (Wish we had held onto this one archaic law, especially when I see how cats are sold in markets for food in some countries, or how cats are tortured by cults or kids with nothing better to do and no more brain cells than to set a now defenseless domesticated creature on fire. Makes me very angry, actually.)

And back to the physical wonderment of cats…that whole hairball thing, while at first may be disgusting or may seem pitiful (I always go into apoplectic sympathy mode as the cat looks at me to shut me up so she can be sick), is really fascinating (and makes sense). The cat is licking her hair every day and night, many times. She is of course collecting the fallout. In her gut. She then, on scheduled intervals of time, hunkers, hacks, and hawks until the perfectly bundled thing is expelled. And then she begins the cycle all over again.

Cats have (students and professors at Cornell studied) 100 different vocalizations. My favorite is the rrow-rrow-rrow one as if my cuddly baby is chirping with giddy delight. (It is happy, it is friendly, and it is a greeting. It is also an expectation—of goodies.)

I am really not all that intellectual about cats, though I do acknowledge a deep respect for and kind of metaphysical fascination with cats. So I am always learning something new, coming to understand their biological imperatives—that they wash immediately after eating (or after you eat, even) so they don’t (their cells recall this from jungle days eons back) appear as food or prey. Duh. I didn’t think of that. They scratch and claw stuff not only to sharpen their claws. They do so to leave scent for those competitors (in our case, the raccoons) that might even think about approaching for a nice warm bed, lots of healthy food, much smooshy affection, and the occasional starefest. Which still kinda creeps me out.

The placement of lights throughout your classic bathroom design is obviously necessary to make it functional. It is necessary that you have at least one light, preferably on the ceiling, to make sure that your guests don’t trip around when using your bathroom. However, strategic bathroom lighting can actually be used to accent the room and make it look and feel more elegant. Here are some of the common places wherein people place their lights and a brief description on each.

Around the Mirror

Vanity lights are a great way to add class and sophistication to your bathroom. People usually place them near the vicinity of the mirror to give it a celebrity-dressing-room kind of vibe. If you want to maximize the light coverage of your vanity lights then you should place them beside your mirror. Make sure to align the light to your face when looking at the mirror, so as to minimize the shadows. On the other hand, most light fixtures look better when placed above the mirror. Fixtures with open diffusers fall under this category. Make sure that you try it out first to see where your light will look best before mounting it on the wall.

On the Mirror Itself

Bathroom lighting fixtures are not as simple as they seem and are actually very easy to make the mistake of placing your lights at the wrong place. However, great bathrooms require great risks (and costs) to become as beautiful as they are. To do so, some people choose to place the lights on the mirror itself. These are usually done for large, round and plate-shaped mirrors. Placing your lights on the mirror itself makes it look more elegant but it requires you to coordinate with your contractor, electrician and the people who customize glass pieces.

The Beauty of Recessed Lights

Installing recessed lights is also a great way to add some flavor to your bathroom. It is advisable to use recessed lights for the ceiling of your bathroom to give an effect that the light is coming from an invisible source. People also sometimes place recessed lights near mirrors. This is a little trickier to do as it combines some elements of both light placements previously discussed. You have to make sure that the light does not create too many shadows when looking at your face in the mirror while keeping in mind how you will physically install the recessed light. Most people tend to position recessed lights as close as possible to the mirror’s plane.

Whatever type of bathroom wall lighting you choose, just make sure that it is consistent with the overall theme of your bathroom so as to avoid contradictions in design.