Wall Lamps & Sconces

While reading in bed doesn’t always prove to be quite as productive as we thought it would be… (really, is drifting off ever easier than midway through page 3?), a bedside nightlight is still an undeniable luxury. Sconces placed on either side of a bed are a perfect way to, one, embolden a headboard, and, two, provide functional (and footprint-less) lighting.

Hands down, our favorite sconces to flank a bed are swing-arm sconces. From the neat and tidy pharmacy lamp to mod sconces with elegant, spider-like silhouettes, a vintage swing-arm sconce can be pulled from its compact resting stance and directed exactly where you need it, when you need it. If this doesn’t sound like a dream come true yet, imagine a soft, ambient glow while reading, mending a button, or dashing off a let’s-catch-up email before bed—all while your partner is sleeping soundly. Now that’s harmony.

USE VINTAGE WALL LAMPS AS PART OF A GALLERY WALL...

Yes, cultivated Instagram shots make gallery walls look like a snap, but assembling one on your own can be a serious test. Part of the problem lies in the fact that most gallery walls levitate over a piece of base furniture, like a sofa or a credenza, and whether we mean to or not, we use the furniture’s ends as invisible bookends for our art. Invariably, the result is almost always the same: way too much symmetry.

To offset this, we love the idea of balancing a gallery wall with sconces on either side. Go for grand, imposing sconces, here, like Deco-inspired torchiere sconces. Torchiere’s vertical orientation will play well off the gallery wall’s broad dimensions and up the drama factor (which is what a gallery wall is all about, right?). Sconces can also be worked into the footprint of the gallery wall. This works best for square-shaped galleries, where vertically-inclined sconces can frame a center portrait.

If you love the idea of sconces illuminating your art, but aren’t a fan of the graphic gallery wall hodge-podge, a simple three-step vignette consists of a piece of furniture like a bench or credenza over which an overblown piece of photography or art hangs. The art is then flanked by sconces (the same can also be done with a mirror or a window). The key here is scale, and it may take trying out a few pairs to get proportions exactly right, so don’t be afraid to snap up a few pairs!