Whether you want to brighten up your hallway, create light in your garden or add task lighting to your office, wall-mounted lights can act as a functional and stylish addition to your property.
Yet, homeowners often forgo this type of lighting for fear of not being able to install it properly.
Fortunately, installing wall-mounted lights is fairly straightforward and the end result is definitely worth the little bit of effort.
Simply follow the below step-to-step guide to installing wall-mounted lights in your home and you will be enjoying your new lighting in no time.
Step 1: Choose Your Lights
Wall-mounted lights come in many shapes and forms, from the purely practical to designer wall lights that can act as a stand-out feature in any room.
Make sure you choose a light that serves its purpose, as well as one that you find aesthetically pleasing.
Step 2: Decide Where to Place Your Light
How high you place your wall light will be dependent on what type of light you have chosen. However, as a general rule, you will want to place your wall lights roughly 60 inches above floor level, although a small LED spotlight can be placed slightly lower.
Step 3: Turn Off the Power
You need to ensure that you turn off the power before installing your wall lamp. You can use an electrical tester to ensure that there is no active power supply to the wires before you get started.
Step 4: Attach the Mounting Bracket
Loosen the fastening bracket from your chosen wall lamp with a screwdriver and screw it against the wall with screw plugs.
Step 5: Connect the Wires to the Light
Usually there are either 2 or 3 wires that you need to connect to the mains: a black and a blue one, plus sometimes an additional wire that is yellow-green in colour. Start by stripping back the plastic around the wires ready for connection. If you have a yellow-green wire this must be connected to the middle opening of the connector block. It does not matter which opening you use for the black and blue wire.
Step 6: Attach the Wall Light
Raise the wall lamp up to the mounting bracket and attach with the two screws on each side.
Step 7: Insert the Light Bulb
If your chosen wall lamp did not come with a light bulb, you will need to purchase one that is compatible with it. It is important that you also check what the maximum wattage is for your lamp before buying a light bulb.
Once you have your light bulb, simply insert it and turn the power back on to ensure that it works.
Step 8: Attach a Cord and Plug
This final step is completely optional, but if you would like your wall lamp to have a cord and plug, now is the time to install one.
You can either choose to let the cord and plug dangle from the back of the light so that you can plug it into a nearby socket. Or, if you would like it to be more discreet, you can drill a small hole where the connecting wire can fit through on the body of the wall lamp and insert it directly onto the connector block.