An outdoor sconce gets read twice, once from the street as a point of light on the facade, and again at arm's length by whoever is at the door. Size and mounting height matter more than styling, because both readings depend on them.

The forms on the wall

The range is modern and geometric, mostly stainless steel or aluminum behind an acrylic or glass diffuser, LED, IP65, finished in black. Forms run from compact blocks and half-cylinders to slim vertical bars, from Falcon at 3.9 inches wide to Fern at 32 inches tall. Rae and Lux take the classic lantern route in clear or textured glass. Astra runs a column of bubble-like glass in three heights up to 29 inches, and Haylen stretches the idea into a horizontal strip from 12 to 94 inches.

Heights, sizes and spacing

Mount at 66 to 72 inches from the ground and hold one height across the whole facade. Size to the door: about a third of its height for a single sconce, a quarter each for a pair, so a standard 80-inch door takes one light at 24 to 28 inches or two at 18 to 20, set 6 to 8 inches clear of the frame. On a garage, a light above each end of the door usually works best, and 420 to 1,400 lumens is the spread here.

Entries, garages and everything between

A matched pair at the front door is where most exteriors improve fastest, and the same contemporary language should carry on around the house. Detailed glass suits sheltered entries; plain profiles handle exposed walls. Where a long blank wall wants a line rather than a point of light, the long strip wall light range runs the idea at architectural scale, the wider outdoor lighting collection carries it through the garden, and outdoor solar lights need no trenching.

Walk the exterior once at dusk before choosing: note which walls are genuinely exposed and which doors earn a matched pair. MOD LIGHTING keeps one finish family across its outdoor pieces.