How to add more light to my long, wide, tall living room? Sconces? Alas, after (1) reading all your thoughts and ideas when I wrote my first story about this new project here at the ranch… and after (2) getting these extremely useful mockups from reader Chase… and after (3) experimenting by digging out some really narrow boudoir lamps from the attic, and plugging them in on the mantle to see how the light would shine….
…DH and I have decided that whether you place sconces on the setback wall (first photo), or on the face of the mantel wall itself (above)… sconces will look *not quite right*… kind of crowded… and most importantly, won’t throw enough light anyway. I hope you can follow this. The triangulation of decision-making is torturous, as forewarned. Truly, all the comments that readers provided were really helpful in terms of raising even more options for me to consider — thank you!
We are setting aside the sconce option for now and instead — based on suggestions from reader comments — we are going to explore pinlight recessed lights in front of the mantel. Over by the big window (shown back in story #1), we’re going to try side tables with table lamps for now. (I’ll come back to this part of the project later.) Continue on for more of Chase’s mockups, along with some of the sconces that I had been considering — it’s still fun to show them.
I also really like the idea of these classic Library Sconces from Visual Comfort. Actually, I think these look pretty nice in the mockups — the tall, narrow works. On the setback wall (very first photo in this story), though, they look kinda scrunched in — we need just a few more inches to the right to get the proportions right… moreover, there, they would cast a shadow — I could see this when I placed tall narrow boudoir lamps up there to get the effect of how the light would shine. On the mantel wall, they look okay, but fundamentally, the concern is that they would not throw enough light anyway.
A sconce with two candle bulbs to get more light? Good idea *theoretically* but Ack! No, in *reality*! We have these House of Troy sconces in our basement man cave, in the dark bronze finish. We love them there — and there’s that benefit that there are two candle bulbs. But they are way too too here on the mantel wall. Ack!
Stay tuned. Research on pinlight can lights is next. Lord help me, I’m pooped on this project already.