All the Light Fixtures Upstairs at the Hill House
THE HILL HOUSE
We’re just about ready to call for the final inspection on phase one of the Hill House renovation (aka the entire upstairs!) and before we close this chapter, I want to gather all of the finishing details in one place. So today we’re sharing all of the lighting.
I’m one of those people who believes you can never have too many sources of light. I don’t necessarily want every bulb blazing at once, but I do want options: bright overhead light when we need it, a reading sconce beside the couch, and smaller lamps that make the rooms feel warm at night. We have a lot of fixtures up here! Between three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a hallway, staircase, and snug, some might even say I went a little overboard. I think it’s just right :) Let me walk you through every fixture and show you how I grouped them in each room.
the snug - couch (ink cap), rug, flush mount, sconce , paneling, skylight, paint color
Psst: our ceilings upstairs are just 7 feet tall, which made finding pretty overhead fixtures surprisingly difficult. So I went down a rabbit hole and found 14 flush-mount lights for low ceilings (all under 7 inches tall).
How we approached the lighting upstairs
The lighting is eclectic, but it doesn’t feel random. We repeated the same low-profile ceiling fixture across the bedrooms, hallway, and snug, used a second matching fixture in both bathrooms, and kept returning to warm metals, opal glass, and pleated fabric shades.
That repetition gives the upstairs some consistency, while the sconces and lamps bring in more personality room by room. Daphne gets pink and green. The boys get unlacquered brass (which is stunning against their blue walls!). The snug gets green pleated fabric shades and a schoolhouse pendant over the stairs. And the bathrooms feel a little more tailored.
This is very much a ‘buy it once’ kind of home, so we invested most in the hardwired fixtures that we expect to keep many paint colors and room changes into the future. Then we mixed in a few affordable lamps, including a surprisingly good IKEA floor lamp, that are easy to swap later if we want to.
Here are all the upstairs lighting sources, organized by room type…
Bedroom lighting
1. Low-profile LED flush mount - We bought five of these low-profile brass fixtures for the bedrooms, hallway, and snug. At just over 3 inches tall, they provide overhead light without making our 7-foot ceilings feel any lower. The simple opal shade and brass trim are classic enough to work throughout the upstairs, and repeating one fixture in several spaces helps everything feel connected.
Details: Aged brass, 12 inches, $329
2. Pink and green rechargeable sconce - This sweet little rechargeable sconce is in Daphne’s bedroom. It gives her a proper bedside reading light without a visible cord or the work of hardwiring it in, and the pink pleated shade with green scalloped backplate is so completely her. The quality is lovely, and because it isn’t hardwired, we can easily move it when her room changes.
Details: $194
3. Brass cone sconces - We installed two of these brass sconces in the boys’ room after catching them on sale. The articulating cone shape feels classic but not fussy, and the unlacquered brass is especially good against the blue walls.
Details: Unlaquered brass, $239
4. Wicker table lamps - These wicker lamps have been with us for years and are currently living in our primary bedroom. I love the warmth and texture they bring to the room, and the scalloped shades keep them from feeling too expected.
Details: $70
Snug, hallway, and staircase lighting
5. Schoolhouse chain pendant - This pendant hangs above the staircase, where we had enough vertical space to use something more substantial than a flush mount. The 12-inch opal schoolhouse shade feels perfectly at home in an old house, while the aged-brass chain adds a little delicacy. It is wide enough to hold its own in the stairwell without feeling heavy, and it may be the light we get the most compliments on.
Details: 6-inch fitter chain pendant, aged brass, 12-inch opal classic schoolhouse shade, $311
6. Pleated-shade wall sconce - Pleated fabric shades add so much warmth and charm, especially in a small room meant for reading and curling up together. We used this green-shaded sconce in the snug, where it softens all of the hard surfaces and adds a lovely pool of evening light.
Details: swan neck in antiqued brass + 6in empire clip shade in temple green block cotton, $185
7. Sculptural table lamp - This substantial table lamp came with us from the Poplar Cottage and fits right into the Hill House. Its pale, sculptural base adds texture without introducing another color, and the broad shade gives off soft ambient light. A good lamp really can move anywhere.
Details: $70
1. Low-profile LED flush mount - We bought five of these low-profile brass fixtures for the bedrooms, hallway, and snug. At just over 3 inches tall, they provide overhead light without making our 7-foot ceilings feel any lower. The simple opal shade and brass trim are classic enough to work throughout the upstairs, and repeating one fixture in several spaces helps everything feel connected.
Details: Aged brass, 12 inches, $329
9. Swing-arm reading sconce - Quite possibly the cutest light I’ve ever purchased! This fabric-shade sconce swings out and pivots, making it the perfect couch-side reading light in the snug. It gives us the functionality of a floor lamp without using valuable floor space, and the little green pleated shade adds just enough pattern.
Details: temple green block cotton shade, $208
10. Wood floor lamp
Can you believe this one is IKEA? The turned wood base and simple drum shade feel much more expensive, and the narrow footprint works nicely in our small snug.
Not every good light needs to be an investment piece.
Details: 59” in ash/white, $90
Bathroom lighting
These blue-gray sconces were the jumping-off point for the entire hall bathroom, and I couldn’t love them more. The dark slate shades bring in color without feeling like too much. We installed one on either side of the mirror for even, functional vanity lighting.
Details: Aged brass + Matte Dark Slate shade, $399
Every once in a while, a recessed light really is the right answer. We used two in the ensuite where the sloped ceiling and wet-room layout made a decorative fixture impractical. They provide useful general light without competing with the sconces and brass overhead fixture.
Details: 4in, pack of 4, $28
13. LED flush mount
Both bathrooms have this low-profile fixture in aged brass. It has a subtle schoolhouse-meets-nautical feeling and looks especially lovely against the warm paint and paneling. Because our ceilings are so low, the integrated LED design gives us a clean, compact fixture without sacrificing the old-house character I wanted.
Details: 10in, Aged brass, $519
14. Nickel sconces with fabric shades - We used two polished-nickel Howell sconces beside the medicine cabinet in the ensuite. The nickel feels soft and traditional with the marble and walnut vanity, while the fabric shades keep the light flattering and warm. They’re elegant without being overly formal—exactly the mood we wanted for that bathroom.
Details: 14in, Polished nickel, fabric shade $249
mirror, skirt, faucet, sconces, ceiling light, floor tile, paneling, skylight, sink, outlet cover, wall tile, drawer pulls paint color
A few upstairs lighting lessons
After seeing everything installed, there are three things I’d repeat in another renovation…
Plan for layers, not just brightness. Overhead fixtures handle practical tasks, while sconces and lamps make a room comfortable after dark.
Repeat a few fixtures. Not every room needs a different lighting style. Repetition the exact same overhead fixture can give a house visual rhythm and lets the more distinctive pieces stand out.
Spend on the permanent pieces. We put more of the lighting budget into hardwired fixtures and chose portable lamps at a range of prices. That feels like the right balance for a long-term house.
The upstairs lighting ended up being one of my favorite parts of this entire renovation. It’s classic and beautiful, consistent without feeling repetitive, and practical enough for the way our family actually lives. Plus a little fun, too!
And after months of working beneath temporary bulbs, seeing every fixture switched on feels like a very satisfying sign that this renovation is nearly done.
More soon.
xx
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