Tips for Lights by the Front Door

Sconces are like Jewelry for Your House

Hinkley Lighting - Harbor Lights

Outdoor light illuminates and silently leads us on. Lights by a door brighten the entrance areas of a home, telling people ‘Here is the entrance’. They light up the front door landing helping when you are burdened with grocery bags or packages. Outdoor sconces on the wall also add style to the facade of a house.

Hinkley Lighting has a lot of great information on placing sconces by a front door. I am sharing it here.  HINKLEY LIGHTING (click here) All photos are from the Hinkley website.

DON'T UNDERSIZE YOUR LANTERNS OR OUTDOOR SCONCES:  

I find that people invariably choose lanterns that are too small for their doorway.  As a rule of thumb, your lantern should appear to be about half the size of your door from 50' away.

TIPS FOR LOCATING ONE LANTERN: 

If you place a lantern on only one side of the door, it should measure one-third the height of the door. The center of the bulb should rest 66" above the threshold of the door.

The height of an outdoor lantern should be based on the height of the door

TIPS FOR LOCATING TWO LANTERNS: 

When two lanterns are used, they should each measure approximately one-fourth the height of the door. The center of the bulb should rest 66" above the threshold of the door.

For Both : In either case, if you choose a fixture with a long tail or top scroll, pay attention to the overall bulk of the fixture

When in doubt, always go larger.

These rules are meant to be modified - if you have a long sconce you can change the dimensions. Think of these sconces as jewelry for the house - kind of like earrings.

BTW, the lanterns on either side of my front door are too small. (We installed them years ago). Live and learn...

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