Jazz up your home décor with brand new candle holder sconces. Decorative yet functional, candle holder sconces range from shabby chic to elegant. They're an affordable, attractive way to make a statement. Sconces are easily found in stores, catalogs, yard sales and thrift shops.
This season, candle sconces are all the rage for making decorating statements without spending a lot. As you embark on your redecorating project, candle sconces can be a great was to add flair and personality without adding a lot to your budget.
A Taste of Olden Times
Flickering candles illuminate a room with a mysterious, romantic glow. Softly glowing votives in glass candle holders or glittering Venetian sconces make a dramatic statement in their own right. In olden days, practical wall sconces provide illumination in areas of homes or castles that were difficult to light at night. Now, candle lit sconces provide pretty accents at a fraction of the cost of electrical sconces.
Decorating Tips
Ideas for Decorating with Candle Holder Sconces
Sconces combine the drama of sculpture with their three-dimension forms, along with the decorative aspects of painting or pictures on the walls. Use with candles or without as a design statement. Accent or frame a focal point in the room using wall sconces to flank your favorite picture, mirror, or window. Some ideas for decorating with sconces include:
- Frame a mirror over the fireplace mantle with two sconces.
- Flank a favorite oil painting.
- Accent windows by placing sconces on either side.
- Hang a variety of sconces along a hallway to add points of interest.
- Decorate a bare wall with a multiple-branching votive holder sconce.
- Use themed-sconces, such as Gothic-inspired, angels, leaves or African styles to add drama and flair to a room.
Sconces for Every Taste
No matter what your taste or your budget, there's a wall sconce for you! If you love antiques, candle sconces are readily available in antique and vintage stores.
Traditional Sconce Concepts
- Country decorating styles call for natural, simple sconces. Wooden sconces or punched tin sconces add down-home chic. Other typical country decorating styles feature leaves, flowers and vines, in metal, ceramic or resin.
- Shabby chic is the latest decorating craze. Shabby chic pieces look best in rooms that have either a country or informal traditional appeal. Originally, this style referred to pieces that were old, worn and loved. Today, however, you can find new shabby chic in shops such as Anthropologies, Laura Ashley and others.
- Traditional living and dining rooms look smashing with brass or silver-toned sconces. Embellishments, such as crystal drops, enhance formal rooms.
- Antique sconces frequently sport mirrored backdrops. In an age without electricity, mirrored backings behind the flickering flames reflected more light into the rooms.
- Boxed-top sconces contain glass boxes to enclose the candle flame. Many are antiques. The glass boxes keep breezes from blowing out the candles and contain errant sparks.
- Branching sconces contain multiple cups to hold small, votive-style candles. These types look smashing in modern decorated rooms. The glass cups sparkle in pretty colors or crystal clear. Stained glass concepts lend an air of spiritual grace or Victorian splendor.
Popular Modern Designs
- Cross sconces feature metal scrollwork crosses. Spanish and Moorish designs are the most popular. Use with candles or alone as decorative pieces for a modern touch.
- Modern mirrored sconces add dramatic flair to any room. Popular styles include Victorian, Venetian and Modern looks. As with antique mirrored sconces, the mirrors magnify and enhance the power of candle flames, adding a soft glow to the room.
- Wrought iron sconces are extremely popular. Wrought iron blends with traditional, country, or modern styles and can be ornate or simple.
Hanging Wall Sconces
To hang wall sconces, you will need a drill or hammer and nail. Use a level and check the measurements from the floor to where you intend to hang each sconce. Make a pencil mark first where you wish to hang the sconce. Be sure that both are the same distance from the floor or they will be off-kilter. If using sconces to accent a picture or mirror, leave several inches between the edge of the center focal point and the sconces.
Hang wall sconces three-quarters of the way up the wall, as measured from the floor to the ceiling. In a typical room with eight-foot ceilings, hang wall sconces between five and six feet from the ground. If you have higher ceilings, simply measure and calculate using the three-quarter rule of thumb. Mark the areas on the wall where you wish to hang your sconces with pencil. Then, step back and examine the wall to be sure they're at the height that looks best for the scale of the room.
Candles for Wall Sconces
Each sconce calls for its own type of candle. Typical candles for wall sconces include tapers in many lengths, from six inches to large eight or ten inch tapers. If using wall sconces to accent your favorite painting or picture, choose candle colors based on accent colors within the picture. This brings attention to the focal point of pictures and sconces. You can even make your own candles. Detailed instructions provide step-by-step guidelines to create your own masterpieces.
Cleaning Tips
Multiple-branching votive holders and wall sconces that require votive candles can be beautiful, but the wax sticks to the sconces. If this is a problem, simply sprinkle a little sand into the bottom of the sconce before placing the candle in it. Then when the wax melts and pools into the bottom, let it cool. The sand prevents the wax from sticking to the sconce and the remaining candle lifts out easily.
