Fix wall lights with the centre of the fitting 1.5–1.7m above the finished floor — roughly eye level — and 2–2.5m apart along a wall. Go a little higher, 1.7–1.8m, on stairs and for open-topped uplighters, so nobody looks down into the bulb. Beside a bed, reading lights sit 90–110cm above the mattress; either side of a bathroom mirror, centre them at face height. These are rules of thumb, not regulations — and a wall light in a new position is a job for a registered electrician.
Wall lights are the one fitting whose position is decided before the room exists. The cable goes into the wall at first fix, the plaster goes over it, and by the time the sofa arrives the height is a fact rather than a choice. Get it right and nobody notices. Get it wrong and you spend ten years looking into a bare bulb from the sofa, or ducking past a sconce on the stairs. The good news is that the right height is not a matter of taste: it comes from one idea — where your eyes are — and a handful of numbers that follow from it.
What is the standard height for wall lights?
In a room with a standard UK ceiling of about 2.4m, put the centre of the fitting between 1.5m and 1.7m above the finished floor. That band is eye level for most adults standing, and it does three jobs at once: the light lands on faces rather than the tops of heads, the fitting sits where the eye naturally rests on a wall, and the bulb stays hidden behind its shade from most angles.
Two details save arguments later. First, measure from the finished floor — if screed, underlay and boards are still to go down, allow for their thickness, or the lights end up lower than you planned. Second, the number refers to the centre of the fitting, not the cable. On many wall lights the backplate, where the cable enters, is not at the visual centre: a tall sconce may hang mostly below it, an uplighter may sit mostly above. Check the dimension drawing before the cable is set, and give your electrician the cable height rather than the rule of thumb.
Ceilings shift the band slightly. With a ceiling of 2.7m or more, move towards 1.8m so the fittings relate to the taller wall — but rarely higher, because wall lights are there to light people, not the cornice. Under a low ceiling, stay at 1.5–1.6m and leave an uplighter plenty of wall above it, or it burns a hot spot on the ceiling instead of washing it.
Does the height change with the type of wall light?
Yes, and the test is always the same: from where you normally stand or sit, can you see the bulb? If you can, move the fitting.
Uplighters and open-topped shades belong at the top of the band or just above it, 1.7–1.8m, so that nobody looks down into the bowl. Up-and-down lights and closed diffusers — plaster discs, opal glass, alabaster — are the forgiving ones, and sit happily in the middle of the band at around 1.6m. Downward-facing open shades and exposed bulbs are the fussiest, because from a seat you look up into them: use them where people mostly stand, fit an opal or low-glare bulb, and put them on a dimmer. Adjustable spots and picture lights are placed by what they light rather than by eye level — a picture light goes just above the frame.
Leiron Round Wall Light · Paintable plaster
A 155mm plaster disc that casts light both up and down the wall — the forgiving kind of fitting that sits comfortably in the middle of the band. It projects just 70mm, takes a single G9 bulb, is dimmable, and can be painted to match the wall.
How high should wall lights be in each room?
The band holds almost everywhere; what changes is what you measure from.
| Position | Height | Measured from | The reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hallway, landing, living room | 1.5–1.7m | Finished floor, to the centre of the fitting | Eye level: light on faces, bulb out of sight |
| Uplighters, open-topped shades | 1.7–1.8m | Finished floor | Nobody looks down into the bulb |
| Stairs | 1.7–1.8m | The tread directly below | The run climbs parallel to the stairs |
| Beside a bed (reading) | 90–110cm | Top of the mattress | Clears the headboard, angles down at the page |
| Either side of a bathroom mirror | 1.5–1.7m | Finished floor | Face height: even light, no shadows |
| Beside a front door | 1.7–1.8m | The doorstep | Light on faces and the lock |
| Spacing along a wall | 2–2.5m | Centre to centre | Pools of light that meet without merging |
Hallways and landings take the standard band, and in a narrow hallway the projection matters as much as the height: at shoulder level, a slim fitting is one nobody brushes past. Living rooms are where the bulb test earns its keep, because here you look at the lights from a sofa. Beside seating, favour fittings that shield the lamp from below, and keep them out of the space where someone leans back.
On stairs, measure 1.7–1.8m straight up from the tread beneath each fitting, so a run of lights climbs with the flight rather than staying level — our stairs guide covers the switching. In a bathroom, the lights that matter are the pair either side of the mirror, centred at face height so the light falls evenly across both cheeks instead of down from above. Check which zone that wall falls in first: in zones 1 and 2 a fitting needs at least IPX4, which an IP44 wall light such as the Visby satisfies. Outside, 1.7–1.8m beside a front door lights faces and the lock without glaring at whoever is on the step, and the fitting needs an IP rating to suit its exposure.
How high should bedside wall lights be?
Beside a bed, stop measuring from the floor and measure from the mattress, because what matters is where your head and your book are. For wall-mounted reading lights, our bedroom guide works on 90–110cm above the top of the mattress: high enough to clear the headboard and angle down at the page. On most beds that lands close to the same 1.5–1.7m from the floor.
Then do the test no tape measure can. Sit up against the headboard as you would to read, and reach for where the switch will be. If you have to lean, come down a little. Set each light towards the outer shoulder of whoever is reading rather than directly above the pillow, so the beam comes across the page and not into the eyes. And choose a fitting with its own switch: it lets one person read while the other sleeps, without a second switch to wire in beside the bed.
Callas Wall Spot Light · Switched
Antique brass with an opal glass shade, a head that adjusts in every direction and its own on/off switch on the fitting — exactly what a bedside wall light needs. Hardwired; takes a single G9 bulb.
How far apart should wall lights be?
Along a hallway or a long wall, space them 2–2.5m apart, centre to centre. Closer than that and the pools of light merge into a stripe; much wider and the wall goes dark between them. On opposite walls of a corridor, stagger them rather than facing them off in pairs — the light covers more of the space, and the hall reads wider.
Pairs follow the furniture, not the wall. Lights flanking a fireplace, a mirror or a bed are centred on that feature and set at exactly the same height as each other; a couple of centimetres of difference is all it takes for the eye to catch it.
How do you check the height before the cables go in?
Cut a piece of paper to the size of the fitting and tape it to the wall at the planned height. Look at it standing in the doorway, then sitting where you will actually sit, and leave it up for an evening. Mark the furniture as well — the sofa back, the headboard, the mirror — because a wall light is positioned relative to those, and it is far easier to move a piece of paper than a cable.
If the room is already decorated and you would rather not chase a wall at all, a rechargeable wall light such as the Pico needs no wiring: it detaches to recharge, which also makes it an honest way to try a position before committing to a wired fitting. Our guide for renters has more ways to add light without an electrician.
Do I need an electrician to fit wall lights?
Swapping an existing wall light like for like, with the circuit isolated, is the one job that sensibly stays DIY. A wall light in a new position is different: the cable has to be chased into the wall or run through a stud partition, the circuit has to be suitable, and the work should be tested afterwards — a job for a registered electrician, who will certify it.
In England, new circuits, consumer-unit changes and work in the special locations around a bath or shower are notifiable under Part P. Adding a wall light to an existing circuit in a hallway, bedroom or living room is not notifiable in itself, but it still has to be done competently and to BS 7671. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own rules. One practical warning whoever does the work: cables normally run straight up, down or sideways from a fitting or switch, so never drill in line with one.
