Light Up a Room with Wall Sconces

When a room has a limited amount of floor space, or when a decorating decisions rule out the use of a table lamp, then wall sconces can provide a room with the desired amount of lighting. At the same time, wise use of wall hanging lamps can aid creation of a pleasing wall display.

Wall décor can provide a room with a needed touch of interest and color. Some decorators have elected to use candleholders as wall decorations. Such a holder can have any of several, varied shapes: hurricane, votive, pillar or lantern. Any one of those holders might be used in one of the various candle wall sconces.  

Each of the candles in those specially shaped holders has a different diameter. The thinnest candles go in the votive shaped container. The candles in the lantern shaped holders can be as much as seven inches in diameter. The corresponding price for these candle holding wall decorations ranges from a low of $34 to a high of $115. 

A bath often has a limited amount of floor space. That absence of floor space encourages the use of wall lights. Frequently, well-placed lamps supply the wall lighting in the area around one or more mirrors. Those online shoppers that want to search for such lamps should seek out information about bath hardware.  

As one hardware element in a bath collection, a sconce can have any of three to four different finishes. It might have a polished nickel finish, a satin nickel finish, a polished chrome finish or, in some cases, an oil-brushed finish. Some bathroom wall lights have a glass shade, while others have a cloth shade.   

As shown by the editors of the catalogue from Restoration Hardware, traditional wall sconces look great in a bath that has a vanity unit. One of the 2010 catalogues from the RH Company included a couple pictures of 1920s factory sconces. The same publication showed a pair of maritime caged sconces, hanging over a large double sink vanity unit. The RH editors also placed a pair of industrial extending lights on the walls of a room with twin iron beds. 

A wall sconce does not have to resemble one of those traditional looking lights. Such a lamp can copy the box like appearance of a Bryant sconce. That lighting element has a cube shaped, frosted glass shade. That shade encloses and protects an ultra bright halogen bulb and internal diffuser.  

Avia lighting also makes wall lamps with frosted glass shades. Each of Avia’s shades has a rectangular shape. Some of their lighting fixtures feature a single sconce; others light the room with rays from a double or triple sconce. The cost of those three different fixtures ranges from a low of $149 to a high of $289. 

Moreover, contemporary wall decorations do not have to hang from a bathroom wall. Such a fixture might be placed on the wall of a bedroom, particularly on the wall at the head of the bed. Placement of a lamp on that wall provides bookworms with a way to read, before falling asleep.  

When a decorator wants to place a sconce near the head of a bed, then he or she often elects to use one with a moveable arm. The editors of the Pottery Barn catalogue for July of 2010 have placed a Chelsea Swing-Arm Sconce on both sides of a Jamieson upholstered headboard.  

The photograph that has captured the look of those paired lamps also revealed the nature of the room’s nightstands. At least one of those stands was a metal unit with multiple shelves. While those shelves provided storage space for lots of books, they did not offer much in the way of a top, i.e. the place where one would normally put a table lamp.  

In the catalogue picture, that top contained what appeared to be a radio, possibly a clock radio. Because it occupied a fair amount of the stand’s top, the decorator had chosen to put a sconce overtop of each stand. 

Therefore, the RH editors have managed to underscore the important role played by a wall hanging lighting element. At the same time, they have provided catalogue readers with useful information about the wall lights. Each of those fixtures comes with one of two different finishes, antique nickel or aged brass. Each of those fixtures can be provided with a small linen drum shade. 

When lit, the shade-carrying sconce manages to light up at least one half of a double bed.