Add Flair To Your Home With Repurposed Wall Sconces

Let me give you a hand with that lighting situation...

A hot new trend in light bulbs, bulb blowing (you read that correctly) and all kinds of other roots-y, organic-y, folksy ways to repurpose existing stuff into… other stuff is firing up. It’s a pretty cool trend actually, because a lot of stuff that would typically be getting thrown into a dump somewhere is winding up on walls, front porches, patios, bathrooms, kitchen tables, and all kinds of other places. Have some old mannequin hands, some screws and a piece of driftwood? Guess what? You now officially have all the essentials of making one of the nuttiest, most progressive wall sconces in town.

And that’s kind of the thing with wall sconces; new cultural trends toward upcycling and repurposing are coming to a wall near you. Fewer and fewer people are hitting the giant retail chains for their sconces—and especially for those who don’t have an electrical need for their sconce—the more mannequin hands, wooden spoons, and crazy metal mermaids found at the thrift store the better.

So there’s kind of a fork in the wall sconce road right now. There’s the “we brew our own beer and live in Seattle (or grow beards, whatever)” crowd, and these cats are on a different design scene than the candle wall sconce crowd. These people are making super cool wall hung lighting systems. Using repurposed wood, mason jars, and all kinds of lights from LED to old school tungsten and everything else in between—they are bulldozing the tragic 1980s sconces found in so many of the homes we rent or remodel when we buy.

Jars of Light by Miller Lights

Probably the coolest trend right now is using tubular lighting as seen here in this wall sconce, Jars of Light, made by Miller Lights (available on Etsy, just click the pic.) It’s interesting how hanging a sconce like this in your home actually seems to match the (homemade) beer your drinking while listening to the Lumineers (all puns intended.)

Many of these longer, more elaborate wall lighting systems are more for bonus rooms, studies, bedrooms, or even commercial spaces like bars and lounges. But for a hallway wall sconce, if you’re going for the legit candle angle, proceed with caution. And pretty much if you have kids, forget it. And if you have teenagers who like to sneak out (read: all teenagers) forget it even harder. When it comes to wall sconces for candles, you want to use all the best hardware to make sure those suckers don’t tilt. When you hang a candle wall sconce with YOUHANGIT, you can ensure it is completely straight using the YOULEVEL. Use the hardware that came with your wall sconce, and if you made your own, put it to the test in a safe area outside to be one thousand percent sure it doesn’t turn into Chernobyl.

And because you don’t want to spend $20,000 a year on candles, electric sconces for outdoor lighting are best for your patio, front walkway, terrace, or porch. You can save even more money when you use CFL bulbs for floodlights, all-weather lamps, and spotlights.

With all this awesome homemade repurposing going on, you may need a hand in the hardware department. Try Tap-N-Lock Anchors and Screws to get the job done. But before you go dumpster diving for upcycling supplies, grab yourself a YOUHANGIT Decor and More Kit. When you’re done making your mannequin hand sconce, that baby will go up on the wall nice and level, just as the hipster design gods intended.