Hallway sconces offer some of the best lighting options for dimly lit or narrow corridors and entryways. From flush mount options that offer subtle illumination to large wall lights that can brighten the darkest of spaces, there's no denying that hallway sconces are an important part of a well-designed lighting plan.
You have two common options when buying a wall sconce: plug-ins or hard-wired. Plug-in wall sconces don't need an electrician to install and are ideal for apartment living. Hard-wired wall sconces will require a professional to cut into your drywall and permanently hard-wire the sconce, a more logical move for homeowners. The installation cost will run you several hundred dollars, but you could see a return on this investment if you plan to sell your home since upgraded light fixtures can increase a home's value.
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Before hanging, take these tips into consideration. The bulb of the wall sconces should be placed five to six feet from the floor for the best result. And when hanging wall sconces near artwork or wall decor, the light fixture should be centered no less than six inches and within 18 inches away from wall hangings. When hanging wall sconces on both sides of a mirror, the two wall fixtures should be positioned between 36 inches and 40 inches apart for even lighting on the face.
Find the Perfect Wall Sconces at Your Price Point
We made it easy to scan our list of hallway sconces with a cost rating of (generic) price ranges from budget and affordable to investment and designer buys. Budget wall sconces and lighting fixtures priced from $1 to $60 are indicated with a one-dollar sign ($). Wall sconces and lighting fixtures costing $60 to $120 ($) represent good design and function at a decent price. Lighting fixtures that cost $120 to $510 ($$) represent a home investment buy. This home hardware will work in a forever home or Airbnb property. Lighting fixtures priced from $510 to $4,010 ($$) represent luxury, designer craftsman lighting.
Read on to find your perfect wall sconces.
Cost Rating: $$
This dangling farmhouse sconce would be ideally placed near an entryway. The light fixture features a smooth pewter finish and a modern, mouth-blown glass globe around a classic Edison bulb. The long rope, reminiscent of a pendant light, makes this wall sconce a great transitional light fixture, visually connecting and moving you between spaces. This high-end design wall sconce is ideal for farmhouse, modern, industrial, or coastal home interiors.
Cost Rating: $
This black and gold light fixture is a glam take on farmhouse modern lighting. It will work well in industrial, farmhouse, modern farmhouse, cottage, coastal, or dark shabby chic home interiors. (And probably many more home interiors depending on your eye for mixing design styles.)
Offered by The Home Depot, the metal basket design is rust-resistant and works with traditional and LED lightbulbs. Our design tip is to use this wall lamp near entryways or transitional spaces.
Cost Rating: $$
If you have never taken the time to dig deep into the world of wall sconces, then you're missing out on an array of beautifully crafted light fixtures. What we love about this contemporary flush-mount wall sconce is its textured glass shade. The rippled glass gives the illusion of movement, like a drop of water falling into a still lake, and we can't get enough. The Louis Poulsen Ripls 500 wall lamp was designed by famed minimalist Danish designer Jakob Wagner. The grace instilled into this light fixture alone speaks to his global technical training.
Cost Rating: $
In polished nickel, the Kichler wall sconce is an affordable and versatile modern lighting fixture. Use in entryways of traditional, industrial, transitional, or contemporary home interiors. Water-resistant coating and materials allow this wall light to be hung in bathrooms or humid environments.
Cost Rating: $
The Nuvo teller-shaped wall lamp in frosted glass and polished chrome is perfect for traditional, transitional, or French country home interiors — not to mention, these wall sconces are super affordable. It's an uplight (when the direction of the light is directed toward the ceiling), so after factoring in how bright your wall lamp is and the ambiance you want to create, mark out its placement to be between 12 inches and 36 inches away from the ceiling.
Cost Rating: $
The hard metal of the interlaced circles of the Possini wall lamp is softened by its fabric shade for the perfect balance. Place this wall lamp within contemporary, euro design, modern, or traditional home interiors. This wall lamp is ideal for entryways and apartments, since it's a plug-in wall light that doesn't require rewiring.
Cost Rating: $
Black and gold glam is very 'in' in the light fixtures market. And we won't argue: We are loving these contemporary modern wall sconces for rooms that need a bit of understated drama. This wall sconce in particular could be paired with a modern chandelier without pulling too much attention away from the main attraction.
Cost Rating: $$
Hallways and entryways can be dark, eerie, boring, or all three. However, with the right lights, your hallway can become an artistic passageway. Since hallways act as a continuation of the rest of your home, the right type of lighting should transition you from space to space.
A downlight, or wall light that directs light down, will visually guide you from room to room and we think Christian Flindt's wall lamp does it in such a tantalizing, midcentury modern way. Flindt's wall lamps, a marriage of old and new, are designed digitally before being metal cast into sinuously, midcentury modern wall sconces. The play on concave and curve ends up causing a pleasing, horizontal light to appear on your walkway, making this both a minimalist luxury design and functional lighting.
Costs rating: $
Good design shouldn't be too costly. Since we're salivating over Flindt's midcentury modern wall lamp, we present another Scandinavian design, but this time it's quite a bit cheaper with a slightly different, more contemporary style. This Nordic contemporary wall light doesn't have soft lustrous curves like Flindt's wall lamp. Instead, its strong lines create a startlingly, soft diffused glow.
Cost Rating: $$
The Circlet single sconce, while it looks as if it's been designed in Denmark or Sweden, is actually designed by Rhode Island School of Design graduates and Grain Design co-founders James and Chelsea Minola, who were inspired by Scandinavian design. All Grain furniture and decor is small-batch made by craftsmen on their island studio in the Pacific Northwest.
Cost Rating: $$
This sconce was also designed by Rhode Island School of Design graduates and Grain Design co-founders James and Chelsea Minola. Both the Circlet triple and single wall sconces are offered with or without the painted grid design.
Cost Rating: $
This paintable wall sconce can add a beautiful, sentimental touch to your hallways. Of course, you can also leave it white for a contemporary light fixture on patios or other outdoor spaces. The Generation Light wall sconce is suitable for wet areas and comes with a ceramic outdoor wall bracket for flush mount outdoor lighting.
Cost Rating: $
The Mokhtar blush round wall sconce's soft pink and subtle, perforated shade makes this midcentury pick easy to integrate into modern, contemporary, boho, and minimal interiors. The plug-in cord is 98 inches long, but the hallway sconce could be hardwired.
Cost Rating: $$
The makers of the Echo One Sconce designed this so you could see their vision of light floating in space. The flush-mounted modern wall sconce would look great in modern, midcentury, boho, eclectic, contemporary, industrial, or Hollywood glam home interiors.
Cost rating: $$
The aged brass screen screams midcentury modern, and yet gives us a taste of contemporary. The Mitzi Britt wall sconce's gold mesh screen softly diffuses the light. It's a great light fixture choice for a moody hallway interior design. (A standard T10 (long) light bulb is included.)
Cost rating: $
Affordable wall sconces that look top quality are real. The KCO Lighting modern wall mount light is bold and refined and just over a hundred dollars. Its modern silhouette finished with a fluted crystal shade is warmly elegant, and would work in many kinds of mixed style interiors. This wall lamp would work well lighting entryways or hallways.
Cost rating: $
Another more refined take on a fluted crystal wall lamp, but this one's long arm gestures at an art deco-meets-midcentury modern feeling. It complements modern, contemporary, transitional, midcentury modern, boho, and eclectic home interiors. Keep in mind, these wall sconces are hard-wired and are not dimmable, but can be bought for less than $100.
Cost rating: $
We know by now most apartment dwellers are scanning through this 'how to buy hallway light guide' and asking, "why are all the beautiful wall sconces hardwired?" Perhaps we should have mentioned this before, but if your apartment already has hard-wired wall sconces you can replace them, at your discretion.
Cost rating: $
Capiz shell, brass, and iron come together to form the Madelyn Faceted Sconce (which closely resembles a wallflower, if you ask us). This plug-in light fixture creates cheerful, ambient light in any entryway or hallway.
Cost rating: $$
Novelty meets art deco with the Anthropologie Lightbearer sconce, and we are relishing it. Place this sconce in French country, midcentury modern, bohemian, eclectic, or art deco-inspired home interiors. We adore how it resembles a beckoning hand inviting your guests to continue on to someplace new and undiscovered.