Yeehaw! Dear Husband says that after 10 years of living in the house, he is still tired of our big living room being so dark at night, and can we please add some sconces in order to brighten things up. “Yeehaw,” because I get to do a project… and it’s been while, so I have the patience, desire and money to attack the issue. That said: I didn’t say I wouldn’t make it a torturous project. Starting with my first torturous decision: Where to place the sconces flanking the fireplace — at the edge of the mantle, or on the main wall just beyond and in this case, set back a bit? What is the “right” answer? Is there a “right” answer?
Let me note, the living room and dining room in my 1951 colonial-ranch are one big open concept room, about 45′ long by 15′ wide. See those two round steps to the left of the Barcelona chair? Those are steps up to the dining room. There are a lot of windows, and the light is fabulous in the day time. But, the only built-in lighting fixture in the space is the chandelier in the dining room. The ceilings are quite high in the living room. And at night, when we closed the pinch pleat drapes, it’s very difficult to light the room with table lamps. We also have a pole lamp. I don’t really care if it’s darkish. But Dear Husband wants light. 10 years later, he still wants it. Okay.
We’ll put a pair of sconces flanking the fireplace, and another pair at the far end of the room flanking that window. That’s it, though. The rest of the space will use table lamps. I am concerned that any more sconces will make the room look like an airport runway. I’ll show a panorama of the space later, as I continue to ask your opinions as I eat my kishkas (sp?) out.
I rarely make decisions that involve calling in electricians, cutting holes in walls and carefully applied grasscloth and in general, mean “permanent” changes… easily. This project will likely involve scores of hours of research and much nail-biting and second guessing about not only the right style of sconce, but also how tall, how wide, how far out it will stick, the shade, the finish and of course, the cost. Already, excitedly, I have spent two hours with DH looking at vintage sconces online and kind of getting a general focus in place… then I went to the local lighting store and spent two hours looking at new lighting in catalogs… and then I came home and another three online again, looking at both new and vintage. Let the games begin.
So back to the question of the day — where to place the sconces that will flank the fireplace? Some key measurements: The fireplace and mantle are set on a wall that protrudes about 6″ from the main wall behind. Where you see the light switch by the door at the right, there’s about 10.5″ of wall space. The big decision:
Should I put the sconces on the main wall (outside arrows) or on the mantel wall?
What do you think, readers? Any “original” go-to examples in your homes?
Lynne says
I vote for the sides or the fireplace, for two reasons. One, IF, IF, you ever want to be rid of the scones, the hole in the wall will be much easier to fix than a hole in the fireplace front.
Second, from an electrical standpoint, I would think it would be a cheaper and easier route to tap right into the existing wiring from the light switches. I’m betting the slightly extended fireplace wall/front is solid masonary. Won’t it be hard to lace the wiring into that facade-even if they go down from the ceiling?
As for exact placement, I think you’re going to need the chosen fixture in hand before you can make that decision.
Just my 2 cents!
Allen says
On another note after looking again as far as height goes, I would make the middle of your sconces line up with the middle of your star burst mirror which depending on the size of the sconce will still give you plenty of room to decorate your mantel.
pam kueber says
haha, I haven’t even got to the Torturous question of how high or low to place them!!!
Corraun says
If your house is victorian period it should go on the front wall. That is traditional for that era. If your house is 1930’s era English Tudor) it should also go on the front. If your house is 1940’s and has an outlet built into the mantel it should again go on the front. I don’t know about the 1950’s or 1960’s era. And of course if you’re following your aesthetic and not tradition that it doesn’t really matter.
C.Bourne
Allen says
Hey Pam,
From a practical standpoint I think sconces on the front of the fireplace will provide you with more light in the room (which is why you are installing them). I believe if you install the sconces on the sides of the fireplace (giving the room you have with that door in the way on one side), you will have most of your light trapped in the corners formed by the protruding fireplace. If the door were not there, I would recommend installing sconces in the middle of your picture grouping and the middle of the door but I know you don’t want to make your door into a wall haha!
Sara from WA says
The light needs to wash the surfaces around them, so I agree that putting them on the sides of the bump out would block the light and create unintentional shawdows. I know you’re wanting to keep it all in the period but I used to have what they call an “eyeball light” above the fireplace and I loved it and used it everyday. It is a recessed light on the ceiling and it angles toward the mantel area, thereby flooding it with light. In some homes lately I’ve seen two small lights in the ceiling for that purpose. They are very unobtrusive and your electrician can do it from the attic. I can’t recommend it enough. Then you can still do the sconces on the walls by the window where they would flood those walls with light.
couldbeveronica says
Sara, I second your motion about the eyeball lights! We had them in the house my parents built when I was 2 or 3–circa 1971–and they cast a gorgeous glow on the floor to ceiling brick hearth wall of the oversized fireplace in our “softly” colonial living room–moss green slighty sculpted wool carpet and med brown stained mouldings; beautiful brown, gold and green floral floor-length draperies; white walls; muted red bricks. The effect of these lights is much different from canned lights or even modern recessed lighting–the eyeballs are unobtrusive, but sort of funky and elegance if you do actually notice them.
Pam–if you could find a vintage set of these, I think they would be a very natural update that an owner would have made to your house in the early 70’s. And by all means go for some sconces as well.
couldbeveronica says
Okay, I meant “funky and elegant” not “elegance”–but funk and elegance are a rare and golden combination!
Elaine says
I have two eyeball lights above my fireplace, I agree, they work great to lighten the space.
For sconces, I favor the walls next to the fireplace for esthetic reasons, but agree the light would be better if they were on the fireplace wall. I think you would choose different sconces, depending on the placement.
Kristine says
This sounds silly, but why not use use painter’s tape to temporarily attach small bright flashlights or Christmas tree lights to the areas where the sconces might be placed? That will give some idea of how the light will appear in the space. Rennovating our 1970 house, we discovered exactly where we needed the lights and exactly why the electrician cannot place them there. We’re still working on that problem. Hours, days, and weeks later, we are still trying to decide which affordable sconces to buy. We’re nearly fatigued enough to just make a decison already but wish we could find lighting we like and will still like years from now because it suits the house well.
Kate H says
I vote for front. This is a really symmetrical wall. You have the ceiling beams overhead, with the fireplace bump-out right in the middle of two of them. You have two doors on either side, although the door on the left is further from the fireplace than the door on the right. You have a mirror centered over the fireplace. To make this look unified, I’d put the sconces in the front, on the fireplace bump-out, about a foot above the mantle (depending on how big the sconces are). This will make the fireplace look like a unit.
If you put them on the sides, what will you do with the left side, which is further from the door than the right? Because you could center the sconce on the right between the bump-out and the door, but would you put the left one at the same distance from the bump-out or center it in the wall, which would just look odd to me? I think it would look disjointed to see: door – big space – sconce – bump out – little space – sconce – door. To me, it would be more unified to see the fireplace as a unit on the wall. Door – fireplace with sconces and mirror – door.
The other thing is, if you put a sconce on the right side of the fireplace, over the light switch, your hand is always going to be banging into the sconce whenever you turn the switch off or or. You think your hand will remember where the damn thing is, but it won’t. Either you’ll knock off the sconce shade and break it (if you get glass) or bruise your hand. And the first person who swings around that door at full-speed trying to answer the phone or the doorbell will kosh their head on it.
Bill says
Greetings, Definitely to the side, but I am thinking, but with swing arm, so that you can move it forward or side to side.
Mark Reynolds says
Look at swing arm sconces. They make placement more ‘forgiving’ / flexable. I used them on my more ‘arts&crafts’ style fireplace. I’m sure you could find swing arm lamps to fit your period/style.
Jenny says
Logistically, I think placing them on the sides would work-out best for you. I can’t wait to see what you choose!
chris says
I vote for sides, too. It just seems right. It will seem consistent with the placement of those you are putting next to the windows.
LOVE your living room!
Sherree says
We have the same issue; our 1951 ranch has the fireplace at the end of the living room and at night it is the “dark hole”. I have told my husband more than once that people in the 50’s obviously had better night vision than we do 🙂 Our problem is mounting electrical boxes above the fireplace because of the chimney; sconces are not an option. So we will add some type of ceiling fixtures or track lighting. In your case, I would mount them to the side just to give you more room to accessorize directly above the mantle 🙂 Your home is fab!
emily says
Wall. I think it would look pretty crowded on the outcropping of the FP, but it would really depend on the scale of the sconces. Good luck!
cheryl m says
I think you should pick your period/vintage sconces first, before deciding placement? The scale, shape, and amount of offset from the wall in the sconce would affect my opinion on placement… My initial inclination is on the setback wall, to better frame/bookend the fireplace, but I can imagine a few sconces that would look better in the more pronounced placement on the wall over the fireplace.