Ceramic Wall Lights

Glaze colours on ceramic wall lights

On most of our ceramic wall lights, the clay is glazed, and that glaze sets the mood. We stock them glazed in white, brown, blue and black. White keeps a wall bright and calm, brown adds warmth, blue brings a cooler note and black gives contrast against pale paint. A few come in a natural finish for a quieter look.

Where a glaze is reactive or crackled, it varies from piece to piece: colour may pool deeper in places, or the web of fine cracks may run another way, so each light in that glaze looks a little different. If you are fitting a pair in a glaze like this, expect small differences between them and enjoy them as part of the appeal.

Modern and rustic ceramic wall lights

Most of the range is modern in style, and we stock rustic and industrial designs too, so there is a look for a pared-back room, a converted warehouse or a cottage with beams and limewashed walls. A few have a vintage character. Ceramic pairs well with wood, linen and stone, so it is as much at home in a period house as in a modern flat.

Metal finishes on ceramic wall lamps

Most of our ceramic wall lamps are made with brass, and most are offered in a silver finish and most in black, so you can match the metalwork to your switches, door handles or other light fittings. Where you can choose between polished, satin and antique brass, polished is the brightest and antique the softest. Brass sits happily with brown glazes, silver suits blue and white, and black picks up dark window frames or furniture.

Many add glass to the ceramic. Where a design offers clear, frosted or opal glass, clear lets the bulb show, while frosted and opal soften it, which is easier on the eyes beside a bed or sofa. We stock designs that add steel too. A few finish the look with leather.

How a ceramic wall light spreads its light

Most of our ceramic wall lights cast their light through or around the shade, so the wall around them catches the glow. A few are uplighters, sending light up the wall towards the ceiling, which can make a room feel taller. A few are twin designs, useful where you want more light from the wall.

Since you choose the bulb, you control the colour of the light too. A warmer bulb brings out brown glazes and brass, a cooler, whiter bulb keeps white and blue glazes crisp, and a pale glaze bounces more light into the room than a dark glaze. Treat them as a layer alongside a ceiling light or table lamps, rather than the only light in a room.

Bulbs for a ceramic wall light

Bulbs are not included, and each product page names the lamp it takes. Many take a familiar E27 screw-in bulb, and many use a compact G9 capsule. A few take a smaller E14 screw-in bulb. A few use an S14d lamp, a slim tube rather than a bulb. An E27 fitting gives you the widest choice of bulb shapes, including decorative globes, while a G9 capsule is small enough to tuck inside a narrow shade.

Check the maximum bulb wattage on the product page and stay within it. An LED bulb runs far cooler than a halogen or old filament bulb, so less heat builds up in the shade. To dim a light you need a dimmable bulb and a dimmer switch that suits it, and a few of ours are listed as dimmable.

Ceramic wall lights room by room

All of our ceramic wall lights suit a living room or bedroom, and almost all suit a dining room too. Either side of a bed, they free up the bedside table; either side of a fireplace, mirror or sideboard, they frame it; and on the wall behind a dining table, they give a softer light for evening meals.

A light for a bathroom needs a rating against splashing water, and each product page gives its IP rating. If you want a ceramic wall light in a bathroom, choose one rated for it and ask your electrician where in the room it can safely go. Most are rated IP20, for dry rooms only.

Fitting and cleaning a ceramic wall light

None of our ceramic wall lights is a plug-in design: each is wired in by an electrician, so plan where they will go before you decorate. Check the projection, which is how far the light stands out from the wall, if it will sit beside a door, a bed or anywhere people pass close by, and make sure the wall can take a secure fixing.

To clean your light, switch it off and let it cool, then wipe the ceramic with a soft, dry or barely damp cloth. Avoid abrasive pads and harsh sprays, which can dull a glaze or mark the metalwork, and dust any glass with a dry cloth too.