Wall lights

Lift your home’s style with wall lights

Whether it’s providing a functional purpose in lighting or dramatically altering spaces through illumination, wall light fixtures can change the mood, look and feel of any room of the house. Elevate your sense of style with wall lights that eliminate shadows as well as everyday notions for what home lighting can do for you.

Types of wall lights

Wall lights are great to place over the bed for cozy reading at night. Working from home? Tackle any project at your desk or reading chair with swivel arm lamps that move with you. Or position a spotlight with clamp exactly where you need it on your desk and adjust the arm and head to see clearly while sketching or painting. Wall light fixtures can showcase cherished artwork in a stunning new light or can provide dramatic accent lighting for bookcases or record collections in your living room or den.

Downlights such as a sconce made with woven sedge can provide a rustic design element that transforms hallways or bare stretches of walls with dramatic lighting. Horizontally or vertically placed wall lamps or vanity lights provide sleek uplighting or downlighting. Glowing orbs with a chrome base provide elegant uplighting that is easy to place on small side tables or coffee tables.

Use LED light panels to bring a modern look and a soft, warming glow to your living room that won’t interfere with movie night. Wall lamps placed over bathroom vanities provide crisp light to help you see curves and contours clearly while putting on makeup or shaving. Leave just your bathroom vanity light on when hosting a party and let the alluring soft glow from LED lights speak for itself.

Light fixture placements

It’s all about the flow. When placing wall light fixtures consider the amount of space you have and be sure to leave enough room for the lighting to have the desired effect. For bathroom vanity mirrors, the general recommendation is just under 7 feet from the floor or just above or alongside a bathroom vanity mirror whose center is at eye level. For showcasing works of art, portraits or photography, place wall lamps a bit above the midline of the piece for balanced illumination that is visually pleasing. Reading lamps in the bedroom and wall lamps in the living room can be placed a half a foot to a foot above your shoulders for ideal lighting to get through a page turner or read to your kids while seated comfortably on the couch.

Frequently asked questions about wall light fixtures

Q: Should you match ceiling and wall lights?

To strike the most pleasing visual balance, it’s best to continue the look or style of wall lights and ceiling light fixtures without using the same exact lights. Carry on the feel by using the same materials, colors and types of light fixtures to draw the eyes from wall to ceiling.

Q: How big should wall light fixtures be?

That depends on the space or surface you’d like to illuminate. For lighting in larger spaces such as hallways or living rooms, larger wall lights or LED light panels over 11 inches in width can have a dramatic effect. For reading lights or work lamps a narrower width is sufficient to provide focused light. The recommendation for bathroom vanity lighting is for them to be roughly ¾ the size of your vanity.

Q: Can you install wall lights anywhere?

The hardwired installation of wall lights requires proximity to an outlet. Be sure to select fasteners or screws that are right for your wall.