A chandelier puts crystal overhead. A sconce puts it where you actually look: beside the mirror, along the hallway, either side of the bed. At that height the facets do their work up close, and a pair of them can carry a room that has no ceiling light at all.

What crystal does on a wall

Sparkle at arm's length. Overhead, crystal reads as a glitter; on a wall at eye level you see the facets, and the light scatters across the wall behind the sconce as well as into the room. That makes a crystal sconce the piece for a wall you look at closely: a vanity, a hallway, a headboard wall. Obsidian and Raven are black crystal, Onyx sets crystal in black steel, and Umbra pairs steel with crystal. Celestial holds smoky crystal in gold, Lustre pairs brass with crystal, and Seraphine sets crystal against alabaster. Solara comes in brushed gold or brushed graphite, part of the Solara collection of brass and crystal.

How to choose the right size

Scale the sconce to the wall it sits on, not to the room. Flanking a mirror or a headboard, a piece about one-third the height of what it flanks keeps the proportion right, usually 10 to 18 inches tall. In a hallway, keep the projection under 5 inches so nobody clips a shoulder. Mount the center 60 to 65 inches from the floor, just above standing eye level, and space a flanking pair 36 to 40 inches apart. Every one here mounts on the wall, so the ceiling height does not enter into it.

Styles and rooms across the range

Black crystal suits a moody bedroom or a powder room with dark walls, and sits with the Obsidian collection chandeliers in the same finish. Gold and brass with crystal suit a formal hallway or a vanity, where five of these eight also appear on the bathroom and vanity lights page. Where the wall wants glow rather than sparkle, the alabaster sconces page is the quieter alternative.

Every one is warm white. Obsidian, Onyx, Raven, Umbra, Celestial, Seraphine, and Lustre are hardwired and dim from the wall switch. Hang a pair at one height and let the facets do the rest.