Lightbulb Moments with Wonderful Wall Lights

Julia Burdet | 7 August 2024

Lighting trends may be longer-lived than their softer counterparts – it’s easier and cheaper after all to replace cushions than chandeliers! – but illuminating our living spaces is nonetheless a candidate for cyclical change.

One of the strongest recent directions to emerge in lighting is a new-found passion for wall lights, sometimes in design history an overlooked afterthought or dismissed as a decorating relic from the nineties and noughties.

1950s Seguso Murano Bunch of Flowers wall light by Barovier & Tosa

Wall lights or sconces were one of the earliest forms of lighting, appearing in imagery from classical antiquity as flaming torches hung in iron brackets on stone walls. They first became a decorative feature in the Middle Ages, when candle sconces were attached to European church walls during consecration, and used to light the many mediaeval towers springing up, particularly in Italy, that were too tall to be fully illuminated by a ceiling-hung candelabra.

Now most often used for accent, decorative or task lighting, wall lights can bring a softer, more subtle glow to a room than harsher overhead lights, and can help build layers of light for more subtlety and to allow for a modular approach. They can have practical applications (flanking a hallway mirror for the perfect last minute lipstick application or tie adjustment on your way out for the evening); as downlighters or directional articulated lights they can be positioned just right for a favourite reading chair; they can be used to highlight a floorstanding or plinth-held artwork or sculpture; or can function predominantly as design features or to complement wall art or decoration as picture lights. Plug-in wall lights are a relatively recent addition to the design repertoire, allowing for a light to be installed without wiring as long as a socket is nearby. Decorative flexes can make this a choice based on design as well as a convenience. The flexibility of wall lighting – with a greater area to play with than ceilings provide allows designers and decorators to use height and width, spacing and numbers of lights.

Butterfly Sconce by Herni Fernandez in brass from 1970s

That’s not to say there aren’t a few general guidelines of where wall lights should be placed. Each room of a home has its own needs, and following guides on choosing and positioning lights will help create a harmonious overall ambience. As a rule of thumb, when lighting a very large room, upwards facing wall lights will diffuse the light further throughout the space. For smaller spaces or specific-area use, a downwards facing light will provide a more concentrated illuminated hit. Spacing and positioning are also key to optimising the effects. Placing a wall light at around eye level in a dining room, hall or bathroom will help avoid the glare of an exposed light bulb, but if a space has very high ceilings, it may look more balanced to raise the height. In a bedroom, positioning bedside wall lights at shoulder level will facilitate switching them on and off, and this will depend on the height of the bed – for a Princess and the Pea bed you may want to add a switch at the level of the light, while a lower bed frame might mean a cord light pull or cord-mounted switch allows the light to be positioned slightly higher. Decorative or vintage style bulbs can help to soften any peep-through of the light source and can become part of the intended look.

From a decoration perspective, wall lights are the ideal accent pieces for expressing playfulness, imagination and a chance to go for bold shapes, materials, patterns and colour. They can be produced from any combination of wood, metal, glass, plastics or ceramic, or in innovative materials including resin. Shades can be in glass, paper or fabric and pleated, smooth, twisted or sculpted. Pairs and series of lights can be coordinated or mismatched, and any shape goes – as long as it allows for the diffusion of light. And the beauty of all this potential creativity is that wall lights are among the most cost-contained of the lighting family.

Gina Wall Lights; hand blown glass & polished nickel by Orla Collins Matilda Wall Light in silk & polished nickel by Orla Collins

Part of a captivating capsule collection of decorative pieces by Orla Collins, Gina wall lights are named after the 50s screen icon Gina Lollobrigida, and nod to the New Look of Christian Dior. These exquisite pieces feature an elegant elongated form of hexagonal hand blown glass and tapered waist belted with a triple ring latched to a circular wall bracket in polished nickel.  Like Gina herself, the namesake lights are eyecatching showstoppers, sized to make a statement as single pieces or as a series to position together in coordinating colours.

So no need to be a wilting wallflower – throw caution to the wind and go for bold.