13 Best Living Room Wall Lighting Ideas

Your living room should feel warm and welcoming for both you and your guests, and one way to achieve that is by getting the lighting right. There are many ways to decorate your living room, but it would not be the same without well-positioned lights, and the living room walls should be considered too.

Wall lighting will create an ambient space you’ll love to spend time in. Some of the best ideas include considerations of the type of lighting needed, decorative elements, and lighting position. With all these design elements in mind, your living room walls await these 13 best wall lighting ideas.

There are many lighting ideas for your living room. But wall lighting is the most underrated lighting solution as it can create very cool effects and WOW moments.

1. Create A Feature Wall

Your living room wall has plenty of lighting potential, and the correct lights could make it stand out as an interior design masterpiece. You can make the wall a feature by adding wall hangings, artwork, and other decorative items and placing recessed lights that angle onto the wall to accentuate it.

feature wall in the living room

You could also paint a mural, install bold wallpaper, or hang an enlarged artwork with recessed lighting for a feature-wall effect. Textured walls, paneling, and live plants are also elements worth highlighting with lights. If recessed lights aren’t your favorite, you can use ceiling-mounted accent lights, wall washers, or picture lights.

2. Make The Lighting Symmetrical

If balance and harmony are elements you’d like to bring to your living space, symmetrical lighting is a great way to accomplish that. If you have a fireplace in the center of your living room or a centered TV, you can place a wall light on either side.

symmetrical wall ighting

The key to getting the balance right is ensuring your measurements are 100% accurate. If your fireplace or wall isn’t centered, you can measure equal distances for each light from the center of the object, but you can also move your TV if the space permits. You can continue evenly spaced lighting onto the second wall if you have two adjacent walls.

3. Let The Light Fixture Be The Star

In this day and age, light options are at an all-time high, meaning there are plenty of wall light options with intricate designs. Some of these designs are beautiful enough to be your living room’s main feature. The trick is to find a light that matches your living room’s design scheme and is large enough to be seen as an art piece.

unique wall light fixtures

Multiple lights can also act as a feature if they are intricate and unique. If your wall is large enough and requires more lighting, you can find two or three of the same lights with a distinctive style that matches your living room and space them evenly along the wall.

4. Layer Your Lights

Your living room has more than just its walls to make lighting coherent and lovely. You can use the walls as one element of the complete lighting scheme. The type of lighting available is task, accent, decorative, and ambient lighting, and combining two or all of these is considered layered lighting.

Your wall works for decorative, ambient, or accent lighting, so keep task lighting for the ceiling or free-standing lights. You can achieve accent lighting as you would under the feature wall idea.

Ambient wall lighting requires more than one light that produces enough brightness to illuminate the whole living room. You’ll want to have your wall light switches separate from other living room lights.

5. Make Use Of Track Lighting

Track lighting is a fixture with multiple bulbs in a sequence, usually three or four. If you want a minimalistic, modern, or industrial look, track lighting against your living room wall is a perfect idea. Track lighting provides decorative, accent, or task lighting depending on the bulbs, which you must bear in mind if you want to light up the entire space.

industrial wall lights for track lighting

These snazzy lights work best for smaller living rooms. If you like the look of track lights but need more light, you can use layered lighting on the ceiling or with standing lamps. You’ll want to place track lights in the center of your wall to achieve a balanced look. You can also use track lights to highlight your artwork.

6. Install Uplights

Uplights might just be the best overall option, thanks to its many uses. You can place uplights above sofas, bookshelves, display shelves, fireplace mantles, or artworks. Uplights are known to diffuse light in a natural and soft way, which is why they’re a popular option.

uplight and downlight combination on living room wall

Uplights are available in all materials, and you’ll find them in just about every color. There are endless designs and styles to choose from to give you creative freedom when planning your living room lighting. They provide ample ambient and accent lighting, which makes them an excellent choice for either need.

7. Sconce The Wall

Wall and sconce lighting are often used interchangeably, but sconce lights differ from recessed, flush-mount, and picture lights. Sconces usually have a fixture extending outwards with a shade attached. You can choose from endless styles to create ambient and decorative lighting.

sconce light mounted on wall

The different types of sconces are:

  • Spotlight sconce: An urban-style extended lamp that is usually movable.
  • Armed sconce: A sconce with a long arm holding the shade.
  • Lantern-type wall sconce: Looks like a traditional lantern but attaches to the wall.
  • Half-moon sconce: A sconce that has a half-bowl shape.
  • Candle sconce: The fixture attaches candles instead of lightbulbs.
  • Recessed light sconce: A wall-mounted recessed light that gets placed flush with the wall.
  • Wallchieres: Looks like a regular standing lamp but is wall-attached.

8. Try Wall Washing

Wall washing is a type of lighting that illuminates the entire wall using recessed lights. This type of lighting will highlight your living room wall, making the room appear larger, which is perfect for small spaces.

wash lights to highlight living room wall

Wall washing entails recessed lights placed close to the wall, angled directly at it. This will also highlight textures and features like in the feature wall idea. These recessed lights can either be placed close together to illuminate the entire wall evenly or spaced equally to make a pattern. Wall washing works well to create ambient lighting while still being decorative.

9. Spruce Up The Wall With Neon Lights

If you’re looking for a unique, contemporary living room, lighting up your wall with a neon light will surely do the trick. You can buy an already-made neon light or have one custom-made. You can have a word, quote, or picture in the color you wish for a statement piece like no other.

neon light mounted on wall

Neon wall lights support a modern look and favor the brave to take a bold foot forward in their living room design. This idea works best on dark walls and suits any room size. Although neon lights are mostly a decorative element, they will still have a bright impact on the feel of your living space.

10. Give It A Vintage Feel

Drama and romance are amazing design objectives for a living room and are best achieved through a vintage wall sconce. Wall sconces stay true to the first type of wall lighting and will make your living room elegant and inviting.

living wall lights with vintage fell

Vintage wall sconces look a lot like wall candelabras and have frilled motifs and embellishments in their design. You can opt for sconces that incorporate gold, bronze, or other metals for a rustic feel.

If you still want the vintage lighting to fit into your modern living room, you can ensure the sconce shades are plain in texture and color, blending nicely with the rest of the space.

11. Place Pendant Lighting Close To The Wall

Wall lighting doesn’t necessarily mean that the light is on the wall. Placing pendant lights close to the wall adds drama to the living room in an incredibly beautiful way. You’ll want to ensure they don’t hang too low where they get in the way.

pendant light next to sofa

There are many pendant light options, meaning you’ll find one that suits your living room easily, whether its design is completely vintage or less-is-more minimalist. Pendant lighting is subtle and gives the room a warmer feel. These lights work best if you use multiple lights in the corners of your living room.

12. Use Flush Mount Wall Lighting

Flush mount lights sit directly against the wall, meaning nothing sticks out and gets in the way. Flush mount lighting for your living room looks effortless and classy while providing ample light that illuminates the entire space evenly. Flush mount wall lights typically aim light in all directions.

flush mount wall lights with decoration

Flush mount wall lights also come in many styles, so you won’t have problems finding the perfect one. You’ll need a maximum of three flush mount lights, depending on the size of your living room, because the illumination they provide is bright.

13. Create A Reading Corner

If you like to read, this idea will give you a comfortable space to spend time with your beloved books. You’ll want to place an armchair and bookshelf in a corner and place a task light directly above the chair. The reading corner will make your living room a comfortable space that looks cozy and inviting.

cozy reading corner in the living room

The best task light would be an extended spotlight or armed sconce with a cool light bulb for better illumination. The sectioned reading corner can get paired with other lighting ideas to create a fully lit living room.