Lighting a staircase: steps, wall lights and controls
The staircase is the place in the home where poor lighting is most costly. What matters here is not the quantity of light but its direction: you must see the edge of each step without being dazzled when going down. Here is how to light a straight, winding, or narrow staircase, with the appropriate heights, spacings, and controls.
You are not lighting the room, you are lighting the steps
The goal is to make the nosing of the step visible, that is, the front edge of each step. This is what the eye automatically looks for when going down. An abundant but uniform light, which eliminates all shadows, paradoxically makes the steps more difficult to distinguish.
Count about 100 to 150 lux on the steps, which is equivalent to a well-lit hallway. If the flooring is dark, dark carpet or very deep wood, go up slightly: a dark material absorbs a large part of the light received.
The real risk: glare when going down
Going down is the dangerous direction. If a bare source is facing you, at the bottom or in the middle of the flight, the eye contracts and the steps become less visible. The same effect with a light fixture with clear glass and an exposed bulb placed in the line of sight.
Two solutions: fixtures with diffusing glass, and sources placed to the side rather than in the line of sight. A wall sconce with crafted glass, like this emerald green and brass glass sconce, diffuses without creating a bright spot in the field of vision.
Wall sconces: height and spacing along a flight
The measurement is taken from the nosing of the step, never from the lower floor: count about 1.70 to 1.80 m above the step located directly below the sconce. The light fixtures thus follow the slope, parallel to the handrail.
As for spacing, a sconce every three to five steps is suitable in most cases, i.e., about 1.80 to 2.50 m of vertical distance covered. The general installation dimensions are in our article on the height and spacing of wall sconces.
Narrow or winding staircase
In a staircase less than one meter wide, choose low-profile models and mount them slightly higher, around 1.80 to 1.90 m: you quickly bump a sconce with your shoulder when going up with a bag or a laundry basket.
In a winding staircase, prioritize lighting the winder steps, the most irregular and accident-prone. Place a light source just before the entrance to the turn, on the outside wall side, so that the light sweeps across the narrow part of the steps.
The landing and the stairwell: the volume to fill
Above the landing, a central light fixture provides general lighting and gives height to the volume. In a stairwell open to several levels, the room becomes as decorative as it is functional, like this round iridescent pink glass pendant chandelier.
Keep 2.20 m above the first step and check the lowest point from the upper floor as well as from the ground floor. All the details of length, mounting, and maintenance are in our article on the stairwell chandelier.
Controls: two-way switch, sensor, night light
A staircase is controlled from both ends, by a two-way switch. This is the most obvious comfort rule, and yet one of the most often missing in older homes: no one should have to go up or down in the dark to reach the switch.
The motion sensor makes perfect sense here, with instant-on LEDs. Another option appreciated at night: leave a single sconce on a dimmer, set very low, which serves as a permanent night light for negligible consumption.
Bulbs: warm, faithful, instant
Stay between 2,700 and 3,000 K to remain consistent with the adjacent rooms, and aim for a color rendering index greater than 90: it helps to perceive the relief and contrasts of the steps. Also check that the bulbs turn on at full power immediately, without warm-up time.
The details of sockets, lumens, and compatible dimmers are in our article on bulbs, Kelvin, and the dimmer.
Being able to change a bulb without acrobatics
This is the criterion that is forgotten at installation and regretted later. A light fixture placed directly above a flight becomes impossible to reach without scaffolding: always prefer a location above a landing or a flat area.
For wall sconces, a stepladder placed on a step is never stable: plan for models accessible from the landing, or a platform suitable for stairs. The rules of mounting and verification are recalled in our article on light fixture safety.
Choosing the light fixtures for your staircase
For a regular series along a flight, order several copies of the same model from our blown glass wall sconces, especially the low-profile vintage models, or a milky white pleated glass sconce for a very soft diffusion. For the landing and the stairwell, browse our blown glass chandeliers, and for the adjacent spaces, our article on lighting a hallway.