Choosing Lighting: Let’s Talk Plug-In Sconces

Plug-in wall sconces are the easiest way to add lighting in your home without needing to call your electrician. Plug-in sconces work in almost every room as ambient lighting and help set the mood. Sure, you could always get a lamp, but in a small space, surface area is very limited. It’s much more functional to have lighting that doesn’t compromise your surface area — that’s why plug-in wall sconces are bae.

At Maximizing Tiny Interiors, we specify them for projects more often than not. Every time you call an electrician you’re forking over big dollars, so we usually recommend getting an electrician involved for bigger asks. For smaller asks, like adding lighting in a room, a plug-in solution is going to be your best bet. Shop our designer curated selections here.

Beyond the lighting itself, you also want to consider the bulbs that go in the lights you choose. It seems like over the past 5 years, daylight bulbs have soared in popularity, but get this — daylight bulbs are around 5000 Kelvin (K). The brightest bulb below that, your cool white bulb, is around 3500K. That’s a major jump! With the exception of an interior room with no sunlight and maybe a closet, It’s hard to find justification for a bulb at 5000K. It’s no wonder blue light glasses have gained popularity, everyone is putting blue lights directly into their homes! For ambient light specifically, your sweet spot is going to be around 2700K (soft white) and lower. For reference, the color temperature of candlelight is 1900K, so between 2700K and 1900K is where you want to be to set the mood and create a relaxing environment with ambient lighting.

Note: The names change depending on the brand, so be sure to always check the actual Kelvin rating.

We actually used one of these sconce selections in a recent project: