A wall light beside the bed is the reading lamp that never gets knocked over. It clears the nightstand, puts the light at the right height for a book, and a matching pair either side of the headboard is the quickest way to make a bedroom look designed rather than furnished.

What a bedside asks of a wall light

Light on the page and none in the eyes, from a piece that looks right from the pillow and from the door. A shaded sconce diffuses the light for reading; a slim LED line does the same job with no shade at all; and a pair should hang at one height to the inch. Twenty-two of our wall lights suit a bedroom. Rhea, Nala, Alba, and Velina glow through alabaster, Angelica and Mirella are solid brass, and Emma pairs gold with pearl black. Obsidian, Onyx, and Raven set crystal in black, Celestial and Lustre in gold, and Cadel, Link, and Halo are slim LED lines.

How to choose the right size

Beside a bed, a sconce 10 to 18 inches tall, about one-third the height of the headboard, with the projection under 5 inches so nobody clips it sitting up. Mount the center about 48 inches from the floor, so the light falls on the page rather than the wall, and set the pair 36 to 40 inches apart or just outside the headboard's edges. Twenty-one of the 22 are wall-mounted and tagged for any ceiling height.

Styles and rooms across the range

Alabaster is the bedroom material, soft from any angle, and the alabaster sconces page holds every stone option. Black crystal suits a moodier scheme; a gold and brass piece suits a room with a brass bed; a slim LED line suits a minimal one. The ceiling layer, the flush mount for a low room or the chandelier over the foot of the bed, lives in the bedroom lighting collection, and the bedroom pendants page is the hanging alternative for a bedside.

Twenty-one of the 22 run warm white; Terra runs cool white. Sixteen dim from the wall switch and Cadel from a remote. Buy the pair, hang them at one height, and put both on the same dimmer.