Wall-Mounted Reading Lights: What I Actually Installed (And What I'd Do Differently)

Wall-mounted reading lights were one of those things I kept putting off. I knew I wanted them. I'd been reaching across the bed to turn off a lamp on the nightstand for six years, and every single person in this house had knocked something over doing the same thing. But the project felt complicated, and with five kids I tend to prioritize the problems that are actively on fire over the ones that are just annoying.

Last spring I finally committed. I needed wall-mounted reading lights on both sides of our king bed, both kids' reading nooks got them, and I did a quick install in the kids' reading nook off the playroom while I was at it. Here's everything I learned: what we installed, what the installation actually looked like, what I'd do differently, and which ones I'd choose again without hesitation.

Why We Needed Wall-Mounted Reading Lights (Our Specific Problem)

The master bedroom in our Nashville house has outlets on the far side of both nightstands, about 18 inches from where you'd actually want a lamp cord to land. This means any bedside lamp either has a cord running across the nightstand surface (messy) or a long cord snaking behind the nightstand that gets kicked every time someone vacuums. Neither option is great. I'd lived with it for years but once I started noticing it I couldn't un-notice it.

The second reason: our kids are readers. Our 10-year-old and 8-year-old both read in bed every night before lights out, and we'd been using clip-on book lights that got lost constantly. I wanted something fixed to the wall that would still be there six months from now.

What I didn't want: to call an electrician. I've learned from the kids' room lighting projects I've done that there are usually good plug-in options for wall sconces that don't require any electrical work. The cord situation is manageable when you use a cord cover kit, which I'll explain below.

The Three Fixtures We Tested

I ordered three different wall-mounted reading lights and installed them all before committing. This is my standard practice now for lighting, order multiple, test them in the actual space, return what doesn't work. Shipping costs are worth not having buyer's remorse on a fixture that's bolted to the wall.

Thyra Rotated LED Wall Sconce, $74.95

The Thyra is the one that's still on our bedroom wall. It's a pivot-arm sconce. The arm extends out from the wall, and the shade rotates so you can point the light exactly where you need it. For reading, this matters more than I expected. The ability to angle the light slightly toward the pillow instead of straight down makes a real difference in how useful it is.

The scale is right for an adult bedroom. The arm extends about 8 inches from the wall, and the shade is large enough to diffuse the light nicely without creating a harsh circle. The finish we got is matte black, which works with our existing fixtures. My husband, who was skeptical about any of this (he's a "just buy a lamp" person), admitted it looked intentional and finished in a way table lamps never did.

The LED is built-in and warm (2700K), which is ideal for bedtime reading. At $74.95 each, we paid $149.90 for the pair, which I consider very reasonable for something we'll use every single night.

Marit Nordic Wall Light, $49.95

The Marit went into our 10-year-old's room. It has a beautiful warm wood arm with a fabric shade, and the look is softer and more organic than the Thyra. She picked it immediately when I showed her the options. The warm wood detail against her sage green walls is genuinely lovely.

At $49.95 it's the most affordable of the three we tried, and it doesn't feel cheap. The shade diffuses the light beautifully, no harsh edges, just a warm pool of light over the book. The on/off pull cord is within easy reach from the pillow, which my 10-year-old loves because she doesn't have to reach across to a switch.

I'd note that the arm doesn't pivot as much as the Thyra. It's more of a fixed position reading light than an adjustable one. For a kid's bed where the light is always going to the same spot, this is fine. For an adult who reads in multiple positions, I'd go with something more adjustable.

Arle Nordic Wall Light, $49.95

The Arle is similar to the Marit but uses a faux wood arm instead of real wood. Cosmetically it's almost identical. You'd have to hold them side by side to tell the difference. We put this in our 8-year-old's room. He's harder on things than his sister, and the faux wood arm is slightly more durable for the inevitable moment when someone grabs the fixture instead of the switch.

Both the Marit and Arle have become permanent fixtures in the kids' rooms. When I checked on them last week they were both still mounted exactly where I'd put them, which is not always a given in this house.

The Installation: What It Actually Looks Like

All three of these are plug-in sconces, which means the process is: mount the bracket, attach the shade, run the cord down the wall, plug in. No electrician needed. Here's the specific process I used:

Step 1: Find the stud or use the right anchor. These fixtures are light, less than two pounds each. So you don't need a stud. A good toggle bolt or drywall anchor holds them fine. That said, I like to put at least one screw into a stud if the placement allows it. I use a cheap magnetic stud finder; the first $8 one I bought from the hardware store 10 years ago still works.

Step 2: Height placement. For adult bedrooms, I mounted the center of the bracket 24 inches above the top of the mattress. This puts the light at roughly shoulder height when sitting up reading, which is ideal. For kids, I went 20 inches above the mattress since they're smaller. Do this measurement with the mattress on the bed. I almost made the mistake of measuring without it the first time.

Step 3: Cord cover. This is the piece that makes the whole thing look intentional instead of cobbled-together. A cord cover kit is a plastic channel that snaps to the wall and hides the cord running from the fixture down to the outlet. They come in white and paintable, and you can cut them to length with scissors. I used D-Line brand from Home Depot, about $10 for a 6-foot kit that covers the cord and can be painted to match the wall. After painting, you genuinely don't notice the cord.

Step 4: Bulb selection. The Thyra has a built-in LED so no choice needed. For the Marit and Arle, I used 40-watt equivalent A19 LEDs in 2700K. Don't go higher than 60-watt equivalent for bedtime reading. It's too bright and activating. 2700K (warm white) is the right temperature. I can't emphasize this enough: 5000K daylight bulbs in a bedroom reading light will make falling asleep harder.

What I'd Do Differently

A few things I'd change if I were starting over:

Measure twice for symmetry. The Thyra pair on our bedroom wall is about 3/4 inch off-center, one is mounted slightly higher than the other. You can only see it if you're looking for it, but I see it every single morning. I rushed the measurement on the second bracket. Take your time, use a level, and have someone stand back and check your work before you drill.

Do the kids' rooms first. I did the master bedroom first because that was my priority. In retrospect, I should have practiced on the kids' rooms, lower stakes, and I would have had the technique dialed in by the time I got to the main bedroom.

Consider the switch placement. The Thyra has an in-line cord switch which means the switch is on the cord, somewhere between the wall and the outlet. Depending on how long your cord is and where your outlet is, this switch might end up in an awkward spot. For the master bed I ran both cords behind the nightstands and the in-line switches are accessible but not visible, which is fine. But plan this out before you start.

Also worth noting: I was this close to doing the parent bedroom lighting overhaul at the same time, different project, different fixtures. And I'm glad I separated them. Doing too many lighting projects at once leads to half-finished rooms that stay half-finished for months.

The Part Nobody Talks About: Living With Them

It's been three months since we installed these, and I want to give an honest assessment of living with them vs. just installing them.

The master bedroom pair: we use them every single night. My husband converted. He said last week that he can't believe we didn't do this sooner, which is what I expected but he would never have admitted before the project was done. The light quality from the Thyra is excellent for reading, warm and focused without casting shadows across the whole room.

The kids' rooms: both still in use, both still mounted correctly. My 8-year-old has taken to turning his on and reading for 15–20 minutes after official lights-out time, which technically isn't allowed but also means he's reading independently in the dark, so I have complicated feelings about enforcing the rule.

The reading nook in the reading nook: this is the one I'm most proud of. We installed a Marit there too, and having proper reading light in that nook has made it actually get used. Before the sconce, kids would drag lamps in from other rooms or use flashlights. Now there's a real light, and the nook gets used every day.

Cost Summary

Two Thyra sconces for the master bedroom: $149.90. One Marit for our daughter's room: $49.95. One Arle for our son's room: $49.95. One Marit for the reading nook: $49.95. Cord cover kits (×4): $40. Total: $339.75 for four bedside reading lights across the house.

For context: a single hardwired sconce installation with an electrician typically runs $150–$300 just for labor, before you buy the fixture. Going plug-in saved us a significant amount, and the result looks just as clean.

The hallway sconce placement project we did last year cost us more than this entire reading light overhaul because two of those were hardwired. I've become a plug-in evangelist since then.

One final note: if you're on the fence about doing this project, the thing that pushed me over was realizing it's genuinely reversible. If I hate them in a year, I unscrew the bracket, patch two small holes, and repaint. It's not like flooring or tile. The stakes are low, and the upside, reading in bed without a lamp on the nightstand, is genuinely life-improving in a small but daily way.

That's the kind of home improvement I'm interested in: low stakes, big daily impact, and done in a Saturday afternoon with a drill, a level, and a cord cover kit.