Wall lighting: every way to light a wall

Wall lighting turns a flat wall into a backdrop: it reveals it, colours it, makes it come alive or makes it float. Wall light, LED strip, spotlights, backlighting, wall washing, grazing light: here are all the ways to light a wall, their effects, the work they involve and how to choose for your room.

A lit wall makes a room look bigger, creates depth and is a good substitute for an overly powerful ceiling light. But each technique produces a very different effect: a crisp blade of light, a diffuse halo, raised texture or a perfectly even surface.

This guide goes through the solutions without bias, then helps you choose. For a specific wall, our dedicated articles are linked along the way.

1. What we mean by wall lighting

Wall lighting has two meanings: the light given off by a fitting fixed to the wall (wall light, light bar) and the light cast onto a wall by another source (ceiling spotlight, hidden strip, floor uplighter). In both cases, the wall becomes a surface that reflects light back into the room.

That explains why a lit wall feels so pleasant: the light reaches the eye indirectly, softly, without glare. The three main directions of light are explained in direct, indirect and grazing light.

2. The six ways to light a wall

These techniques can be combined: a pair of wall lights for mood and a strip under a shelf for accent, for example.

3. The wall light: the most complete solution

The wall light is the only solution that lights the wall while being a decorative feature in its own right. Depending on its shape, it sends light upwards (indirect), downwards, both ways, or through its material, like stone that glows from within.

It is usually fitted between 1.60 and 1.80 m from the floor in a living space. On a long wall, allow one wall light roughly every 2 to 3 m: our article lighting a long bare wall details the calculation. It needs a wall light point; if there is none, see how to create a new light point.

4. The modern wall light and its effects

The modern wall light plays more on the lighting effect than on the object. The most common shapes:

• Up and down: two opposing beams that draw two blades of light on the wall. See up and down wall light and our up and down LED travertine wall light.
• The disc or ring set off the wall: a circular halo around the shape, an eclipse effect.
• The bar or line: a horizontal light bar that highlights a piece of furniture or a mirror.
• The sculpted shape: in stone or metal, it creates its own shadows on the wall.

To find out more about contemporary shapes, read our guide to the designer wall light.

5. Wall washing: an evenly bright surface

Wall washing means flooding a wall with even light using wide-beam recessed spotlights in the ceiling. The wall becomes a large bright surface that lights the whole room by reflection, and the room looks bigger.

Wall washing suits smooth, light-coloured walls. On a textured wall, it flattens the relief. For choosing the angle, see narrow or wide beam.

6. Grazing light: bringing out the material

Grazing light places the source right next to the wall, so the light skims across it. Every bump casts a shadow: stone, brick, concrete or a lime plaster take on dramatic relief. It is the effect to aim for on an exposed stone wall, as we explain in grazing light and stone.

Be careful, it also shows up flaws: on badly finished plasterboard, every bump is visible.

7. LED strip and backlighting

LED strip fits anywhere: in a cornice, under a shelf, behind a headboard or a TV unit. Hidden away, it produces a soft line of light with no visible source. Fitted behind a panel set 5 to 10 cm off the wall, it creates a halo that makes the object float: that is the principle of backlighting.

• Choose a warm white of 2,700 to 3,000 K and a CRI of 90 or more.
• Fit it in an aluminium profile with a diffuser: it dissipates heat and avoids a dotted look.
• Plan an accessible place for the power supply.

To turn a single wall into a focal point in this way, see creating a feature wall with light.

8. Adjustable spotlights and pictures

To light a specific object on the wall, an adjustable spotlight on the ceiling, on a track or as a wall light focuses the light exactly where it is needed. For a picture, aim at the centre of the work at an angle of about 30° to the wall, to avoid reflections on the glass. A wall light above the frame also works, fitted 20 to 30 cm above the top edge. Details in lighting a picture or frame and adjustable spotlight wall light.

9. Choosing for your wall

A dark wall absorbs a lot of light: plan for more lumens. The right amount for each shade is explained in getting the light right for the colour of your walls.

10. Lumens, kelvins and safety

For mood wall lighting, a wall light of 300 to 600 lumens is enough in a living room, 150 to 300 lumens in a bedroom. An indirect mood strip needs only low power, a few watts per metre. Keep one colour temperature for all the wall light sources in the room, 2,700 or 3,000 K.

11. In short

To light a wall, choose the effect before the technique: a wall light to light and decorate at once, wall washing for an evenly bright surface, grazing light to bring out a material, LED strip and backlighting to make a volume float, a spotlight for a picture. Match the output to the colour of the wall, keep a single colour temperature and leave the connections to a professional if in doubt.

Frequently asked questions