Making Sense of Wall Lights in Your Home

Whether it’s for decorative use or pure function, wall lights are great for all-around lighting. With a large variety of styles to choose from, wall lights offer the necessary brightness for safety, and can also be used to as task lights or to highlight art work and architectural features.

Below are the things you need to know about wall lights and how you can properly use them to illuminate your [city] home.

More Than Just Accent Lighting

People often think of wall lights as ornamental light sconces that provide low brightness or have little practical use outside of ornamental lighting. Although wall lights are great decorative pieces, they can also be used for task and general lighting. They also play a vital role when layering your lights, adding beauty and function to the space’s overall decorative appeal.

Where to Use Them

Wall lights can be used outdoors or indoors, and in any room in the house. Together with ceiling lights, wall light fixtures add brightness and illumination to a room. When used in place of overhead lights, they can minimize glare and provide mood lighting.

Wall lights are also great for layering light. For example, a wall light placed next to a vanity can minimize shadows on your face, which often happens when you depend only on overhead lights.

Wall mounted swing lamps are perfect fixtures for offices or craft rooms, and, when placed next to a reading chair, make for great task lights. Photos and artwork are highlighted by using picture lights, while architectural details, sculptures, and niches can stand out when illuminated with a wall-mounted spot light.

On the other hand, outdoor wall light fixtures work well for security and landscaping.

How Many Are Needed?

Placement is important when it comes to wall lights. Generally, wall lights are hung at eye level (around 5.5 to 6 feet), but you should never come directly eye-to-eye with an exposed light bulb. One light fixture per 8 to 10 feet is enough, but you should also consider the amount of light the fixture gives off.

It’s also important to be mindful of the width of the wall and how best to balance the number of lights you can place on it. How far the wall light fixture protrudes from the wall also matters—the narrower the space, the less it should stick out.

Choosing the Right Wall Light

Picking out the right wall lights for a room doesn’t have to be complicated. Below are a few basic types of wall lights that you can choose from.

• Uplights – These provide a lovely wash of light on a wall, ideal for atmosphere and accents.
• Downlights – Similar to uplights but are often used to illuminate the ground instead of the wall.
• Reading and Swing Arm Lights – Adjustable lights that can be moved around to bring light towards you. Ideal for a reading or work areas.
• Bath and Vanity Lights – Provide even, glare-free brightness to your bathroom space.
• Picture Lights and Spots – Ideal for artwork, pictures, and anything you hang on the wall that you want attention drawn to.

Functional and decorative, wall lights are perfect additions to any space. With these tips, you no longer have to hesitate when using wall lights to add style and light to your home.