Light sconces, sadly, are not on most folks' interiors radar, unless it's in the context of a bathroom. But illuminating a vanity is not the only task for a pair of wall-mounted fixtures.

Like anything that embellishes a wall, light sconces these days offer plenty of decorative options. With a little flourish, swagger, bling and sophistication, they are far more versatile than in the past and offer far more than task, accent or mood lighting. Styling has ramped up to a new level, with an ample range of bright ideas in traditional to contemporary designs as well as surprising materials, shapes, colors, textures and sizes.

"In the old days, (residential) lighting was limited to crystal and some sort of brass," says Nigel Maynard, editor of Residential Building Products and Technology, a digital trade publication. Particularly in contemporary lighting, he says, "European designers have raised the bar. And Americans are stepping up their game."

High-end interior designers and architects long have looked to Italian companies such as Artemide, Fontana Arte, Foscarini and Leucos for edgier, off-the-chain styling in metals and glass, including clear, frosted and even glorious color. And those seeking authentic mid-century modern, Art Deco or '60s and '70s pieces might start with the impressive global online retail site 1stdibs (www.1stdibs.com) for excellent examples. And for a good representation of au currant styles, check out Horchow (www.horchow.com), where sconces range from $195 to $895.

"Sconces definitely are having a moment," says architect Andreea Avram Rusu, who also designs lighting. "It has been building for a while. It is winning public consciousness. For so long, lighting was uninteresting." To compound the blandness, there was repetition. "Everyone was using the same thing," she says.

But Avram Rusu sees different levels of beauty in lighting. "It's the most important thing in the room in general, for how people look, how people feel. Light transforms space."

Sconces really can add ambiance and an artistic note -- without taking up precious real estate. Tel Aviv-based designer Ayala Serfaty, is known for the sensual shapes of her light sculptures for Aqua Creations, some of which evoke couture fashion touches such as pleated and shirred silk. In addition to such textural pieces, other sconces add movement, like those that mimic the form of cascading chandeliers.

And there are hybrids -- fixtures that can attach to the wall or ceiling, to float. They're plug-ins, so they go anywhere. There are candlestick designs that are elongated, exaggerated more like torchieres. There are sconces that look more like table lamps with giant shades, some of which are on articulating arms. And there's new respect for the backplate, often merely there to cover the junction box, now designed as an integral part of the piece.

Some backplates are more fanciful, shaped like stars (especially eye-catching when they're composed of beveled mirrors) or a series of clear circles to create their own artistic universe. A fan of faux coral creates a background nest for lights.

A light sconce called Nelson from Hudson Valley Lighting has traditional references, including the suggestion of candlestick lights and textured crystal bobeches (flat "collars" designed originally to catch candle wax drippings). The brushed gold finished piece has an arched arm that extends between the pair of lamps, and it's fastened to a matching backplate that rests on a beveled mirror keystone for striking effect.

Even the meticulous teaming of disparate materials adds more depth and interest to sconces. West Coast designer Marjorie Skouras, who has been inspired by the sea for many of her furnishings, married natural orange-patterned shells with eglomise (reverse-painted) glass medallions in a striking double-tiered wall sconce.

Some finishes dial down the shiny, favoring matte looks (although gleaming polished nickel remains a favorite in modern interiors because of the tasteful sparkle and elegance it imparts). Burnished gold is hot, in keeping with home design trends where metals are warming up. Patinated or bronzey finishes lend a vintage or industrial vibe, especially impactful with see-through shades to bare bulbs. Complex finishes include painting, distressing and glazing.

Materials also include wood veneers and embellishments such as capiz shells and beads as well as the more familiar crystals. It's an imaginative mix that sets apart some designs.

"We mix modern with rustic, elegant with casual, romantic with relaxed," says Carla Regina Zajac, partner in Regina Andrews. "It's an eclectic vision that resonates with natural style -- a new look at how we live today."

As in other areas of home design, fashion references also are shedding new light on design. Global Lighting, a New York-based company, produced a catalog that merges design, fashion and magazine look-book, including eye-catching shots of models in layouts where the lighting relates to the outfits -- and holds equal weight.

As a producer in the decorative lighting business, Global Lighting's CEO and founder, Larry Lazin, calls his products "fashion for light bulbs," and says that in the lighting arena, designers should hold themselves to the same standards as fashion designers producing "couture level" fixtures.

With a new crop of fashion forward and artistic light sconces, perhaps more thought will be given to where they might dress a room. A single sconce or a pair adding sparkle to the front door. In the foyer, above a table. At the bottom and top of a staircase. In the living room, flanking a mantel. In the dining room, at the sides of a sideboard. In the library, framing a sofa and a wall of art. In the kitchen, on cabinets at either side of a window. And let's not forget theater lights, which might even channel the Art Deco styling that graced 1930s movie houses.

But these are, after all, conventional applications. Edgier sconces, such as those designed by Canadian architect and industrial designer Omer Arbel, demand unorthodox treatments.

Arbel, who creates evocative pieces for the Vancouver-based lighting company Bocci, fashions pieces into blown-glass globes that are artistic, playful and functional all at the same time. One particular model, the 14 Series, is in itself quite subtle. Its cast-glass half-sphere with a frosted cylindrical void houses a 10-watt xenon or 1.5-watt LED lamp. The light glows from within, kind of like a candle encased in ice.

What's particularly cool about the design is that bubbles and imperfections within the glass interact with the light source to create a halo. By nature of the medium, each piece is unique. So a mass installation -- dozens of these 4 1/2-inch pieces, seemingly randomly placed on a wall -- is as magical and hypnotic as a night summer sky filled with fireflies. Some of Arbel's pieces also feature colored glass, introducing another exciting layer.

Historically, the idea of a light source on a wall existed in early abodes, where torches lit up dark caves. Less primitive perhaps, were the "sconces" that illuminated medieval castles and the gothic and rugged iron looks for lighting expanded to large-scale chandeliers. As lighting design became more polished, the epitome of lush, grand styles were on display at places like the palace at Versailles, where chandeliers and sconces dripped with dazzling crystals.

Sconce choices today pretty much channel all of those looks and then some -- with designers pushing the envelope, exploring new media and combinations, and providing more options for a personal touch.

Sources

-- Aqua Creations, 212-219-9922, www.aquagallery.com; or contact Atelier Gary Lee, 312-644-4400. www.ateliergarylee.com

-- Astele, 203-557-3332, www.astele.com

-- Avram Rusu, 718-389-0350, www.avramrusu.com

-- Bocci, 604-639-5184, www.bocci.ca

-- Boyd, 415-778-4300, www.boydlighting.com

-- Corbett Lighting, 626-336-4511, www.corbettlighting.com

-- Currey & Co., 877-768-6428, www.curreyandcompany.com

-- Global Lighting, 914-591-4095, www.globallighting.com

-- Regina Andrew, 734-250-8042, www.reginaandrew.com

-- Visual Comfort & Co., 866-344-3875, www.visualcomfort.com

SIDEBAR

ARTISTIC ILLUMINATION

Lighting and art certainly have been mentioned in the same breath before -- to wit, Tiffany stained glass and the more contemporary glass artist Dale Chihuly are hugely collectible. But in the last five years there's been an evolution to what some describe as art lighting.

One thing is clear. There's a strong desire for the one of a kind -- or at the very least, designs that stand out.

"It's bespoke, it's fashion," says architect, interior and lighting designer Andreea Avram Rusu. "Clients are very specific: they say they don't want what everybody else has. They enjoy experimenting, pushing boundaries."

That sometimes translates to higher price tags (an Avram Rusu Confetti sconce ranges from around $2,800 to $3,500).

The fun, of course, is in the search. As for art -- well, just like beauty, perhaps, it's in the eye of the beholder.

CAPTIONS AND CREDIT

(NOTE: These photos are for ONE-TIME use ONLY. At Home photos, with the proper credits, are to be run ONLY with At Home stories. Conversion to black and white is OK.)

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With black and white, there's no middle ground. It's high-contrast. Crisp. Classic.

In home design, the teaming is a perennial favorite -- one as beloved as it is in apparel, especially by purists. It has its place in traditional decor, with styles from Art Deco to Country French (think toile prints) to Neoclassical. And, of course, it's about as modern as it gets. It runs the gamut from sleek black-tie Hollywood glam to romantic country casual, where the fabrics may be washed linens and soft plaids and the finishes matte and distressed.

But this year, black and white has emerged as one of the big furnishings stories. It started across the pond, where it was not a coincidental occurrence, at the big Paris show, Maison et Objet. It continued on this year's fashion runways. From Dolce & Gabbana oversized horizontal stripes to Jason Wu black on white luxe embroideries to Marc Jacobs animal prints -- zebra, snow leopard and giraffe -- as well as cheeky op art prints and Louis Vuitton's playful checkerboard.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from all that black and white is its current moxie -- from color blocking (bold swaths side by side a la Mondrian) to distinctive patterns (houndstooth, chevron, stripes, op art and geometric designs are packing the most punch).

"The energizing power of black and white is not confined to apparel," says Ron Fiore, creative director for Bernhardt Furniture. "Black-and-white combinations are easy to live with, grounding, and mix with any palette. Stripes are familiar, and to mix a floral pattern with black-and-white stripe is kind of cool."

What's especially cool is the unexpected -- teaming up a traditional silhouette and frame with a very modern cover. Holly Blalock, vice president of merchandising and marketing for CR Laine, a furniture manufacturer based in Hickory, N.C., did that with a couple of recently introduced chairs. The frame for the Bradstreet chair was inspired by an 18th-century chair with a series of turnings on the front arms and feet.

"There's something almost odd about it," says Blalock. "It turns from thick to thin. It doesn't follow columnar scale. And the ball at the end of the arm is even more exaggerated. I liked that quirkiness."

And although even the finish of the chair is distressed, Blalock chose a totally modern zigzag pattern for upholstery.

For another traditional armchair, the Aledo, Blalock pieced together linen in black and white to create an asymmetrical sassy stripe.

"We have always interpreted this chair more traditionally -- with hand-blocked prints and matelasses," says Blalock. "Sometimes you just have to start from scratch and reinvent. When the linens are sewn together, they create this overscale graphic stripe, which completely comes alive."

A sort of color blocking in furniture in the last year or so has teamed light and dark finishes in single pieces. For example, an ebony dresser is set with contrasting ivory drawers, for example. Also popular are inlays, typically of bone or mother of pearl. Many of these have a range of global sources as well as styles, some with Moorish inspiration.

Inlays add textural dimension as well, because they're essentially like mosaic strips or tesserae that create a pattern. And mother of pearl lends sheen as well. One versatile cube (table as well as stool) recently introduced by Bernhardt is the zebra, which is composed of white bone inlay with black poured resin. Its op-art pattern snakes around the corners and adds a compelling graphic focal point, almost like visual upholstery. The piece certainly will add an exclamation to a quiet corner.

Indeed, one enormous advantage of a black-and-white palette is its ability to change attitude, with a simple addition of color. And just about any color is smashing. Lipstick red is a favorite go-to combination for pop. So are yellow and mustard. Cobalt blue or turquoise. Purple, magenta or hot pink. Orange or coral. Lime green or emerald.

"Once when I was in New York, I saw a woman in a Kelly green trench coat with a zebra bag," says Fiore. "It's an image I've never forgotten. When a black-and-white room gets hit with a piece of color, that brings it out even more. The color could be in throw pillows or a slipcover, a funny little ottoman, a couple of vases, a big dish or a book."

So just as in fashion, a single black-and-white piece goes with just about everything -- it just depends on how concentrated the graphic is to pull it off.

"Black and white is a classic combination which can both ground a room and add a pop of intrigue and excitement," says New York-based international designer Sara Story. "It is timeless and modern at the same time."

When Story introduced a wallcovering collection called Story late last year, she included a black-and-white palette for each of the five patterns, all contemporary interpretations of Asian motifs. "It's a way to make it fresh, hip and new. You don't see too many black-and-white wallpapers, and I wanted the line to stand out."

If you want to furnish a full room in black and white, you can create an envelope with walls painted simply in either hue, perhaps with contrasting moldings. Choose white or off-white slipcovers for a soft look, and furniture in ebony frames. In this kind of setting, amped-up patterns can be especially effective.

Or stick to all-white furnishings with patterned walls -- muted or high octane. A black-and-white floral or a wide stripe, perhaps horizontally placed, can be dramatic. Ground it with a graphic black-and-white rug in a different pattern. Then pop in a few black accents: a vase or a lamp.

Designer showhouses often spark clever ideas, and with black-and-white themes there often are surprising applications. Earlier in the year, one showhouse in Greensboro, N.C., for example, featured a bedroom with white walls and bedding on a natural linen upholstered bed. The bed was framed in black, with a canopy and curtains in a stripe of varying widths. That same fabric was repeated in the window treatment. But what really punctuated the scheme was a treatment on the ceiling, where the designer had a pair of double borders painted around the room.

Another room in the same showhouse did black borders as well, but these were actually applied moldings painted black.

For a real modern edge, that's the kind of edginess that transforms a space.

"Graphic shapes breathe new life, making black and white modern," says Sara Story. "There are a million ways to reinvent it -- you just have to keep it fresh."

Sources

-- Bernhardt, 828-758-9811, www.bernhardt.com

-- Bungalow Belt, 708-442-9009, www.bungalowbelt.com

-- CR Laine Furniture, 336-841-3224, www.crlaine.com

-- Sara Story Design, 212-228-6007, www.sarastorydesign.com

-- Surya, 877-275-7847, www.surya.com

SIDEBAR

PATTERN POWER

Designer showhouses often are a treasure trove for creative decorating ideas. Not surprisingly, a black-and-white palette often is part of the mix, as it is a perennial favorite.

And just as in fashion, strong pattern is pivotal in some of the most memorable interiors. Checkerboard on the walls and floor for example, may not be for the faint of heart. But it made for a smashing bathroom at the Kips Bay Showhouse in New York this past spring.

In an adjacent room, designer Sara Story also covered the walls and floor in pattern, but in a different level of intensities. She chose one of her own wallpaper designs, bamboo -- a riff of a traditional Asian motif. "Bamboo is a symbol of strength and that aura infuses the space. It is graphic without being rigidly geometric, striking without being too serious, fun without being self-conscious, and it serves as a great backdrop for artwork. "

On the floor are carpet tiles "intentionally rigid geometric, which grounds the room." Pale lilac sofas further play with the geometry while adding a color burst. And the ceiling, painted to match with a reflective sheen, "works to mirror the patterns back into the room and is a minimalist way to add texture."

CAPTIONS AND CREDIT

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Sidebar Captions

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Atmospheric and ethereal, some images defy references. There are unlikely patchwork montages, graphically arresting, which actually reference a colorful range of intricately patterned silk scarves. Watercolor abstractions in intense hues are spellbinding. Blooms of dahlias evoking more psychedelic than natural colors are explosive. Mega-scale, mural-sized photos are crisp and realistic. Brushstrokes and drips of paint may, in fact, be real.

This is the world of the today's most creative wallpaper design. It's a modern movement with deep roots in nostalgia, both in history and in imagery.

Technological advances, including ink-jet printing, have opened a new world of scale, color and technique, one that has been happily embraced by artisans, many of whom have been trained in fine arts, graphic design and photography.

In an ongoing effort to push the envelope with unique surface coverings, in recent years we've seen an uptick in the use of leather, skin and more unconventional materials such as metal, resin, beads, shells and even Swarovski crystals, which add dimension as well as texture and sheen. One London-based company, Meystyle, even embeds LED lights into its sophisticated patterns.

Pattern certainly has played a pivotal role in dimensional or textural examples. But perhaps the most excitement these days is in the imagery itself -- in traditional silk screens, hand-painting, and digital and print technology.

And these days, there is so much more than meets the eye. There's a mix of sophistication, serendipity and wit at play with the creative process.

The latest collection from Trove, for example, features ethereal looks with names such as Nimbus, which evokes puffy clouds, and Heze, which features abstracted circles. For partners Jee Levin and Randall Buck, the design was a new, experimental adventure. The two created the images by making a series of paintings with flashlights and fiber-optic toys, exposing light to different photographic papers.

"It's playfully lighthearted," says Jee Levin, who says the concept was inspired by New York City street fairs. "We started seeing weird, odd toys, like bracelets and wands. We thought, 'Let's play with those and use them as an unconventional art tools.' So we gathered the pieces, brought them into a darkroom, used a variety of photographic papers and exposed light at different speeds. The experiment involved time, light and color. We learned that red does not actually expose light to the paper, and you can see interruptions in the patterning, sort of gestural brushstrokes. Color was the process, not just informing the process."

Look closely at the patterns in Alyse Solomon's wall coverings and you may begin to recognize elements. What they resemble may be anything from embroidery to pointillistic art to pixilations. One study of red lilies, composed on a ground of leaves that look as if they have been cut out of paper and set in, takes on a whole different vibe with a shift of color to fuchsia on olive, where you get lost in stylized pattern.

Solomon combines a background in graphic and textile design with photography. "I always create pattern and texture and color through the camera," she says.

So the artistry has really given a boost to rethinking the wall in interiors.

"People are using wallpaper as a kind of artistic statement," says Shanan Campanaro, creative director and founder of Eskayel, a company based in Brooklyn, N.Y. "It's less expensive than a giant piece of art. You can use it as an accent rather than everywhere."

Or what is now often referred to as "the feature wall."

"You can create an atmosphere that dominates a room," says Carl Robinson, creative director for Wallquest. Robinson's father was a wallpaper maker in England. "A mural is unlike regular wallpaper, a faux-finished or plain wall." Its impact, even at elevated price tags of several hundred dollars per roll, is less expensive than a piece of fine art.

Some companies, like the Los Angeles-based Black Crow Studios, actually operate in bespoke products -- totally custom. So they pride themselves on hand-painted coverings without repeats that cover entire walls in grand scale.

"Interior design is evolving, becoming a little more minimalist and graphic at the same time," says Alyse Solomon. "With (the graphic papers) you can take a space and create an amusing, unique environment that you walk in and find fascinating. A lot of hotels now choose one wall in the lobby and paper it," which she says substitutes for a framed piece of art.

Complexity, richness of pattern, even a bit of whimsy are part of Solomon's repertoire. One paper titled Edgeless looks like a miniprint. Look closely and a beach scene is revealed in black and white with vivid orange splashes of cushions. A paper at Flat Vernacular, an explosion of disparate objects to create pattern, is amusingly called Lots of Stuff. Another company, Flavor Paper, actually created a custom toile depicting vignettes of Brooklyn for Mike Diamond of the Beastie Boys.

"Wallpaper adds depth and personality to a room," says designer Frances Merrill, owner of Reath Design in Los Angeles. "I love to mix patterns and wallpaper is another opportunity to do that." Her own tastes run the gamut from "old fashioned looking" to very modern.

Some actually attribute the hip factor of today's wallpaper to nostalgia. "People feel they want to be connected to something in their memory," says Chris Sotz, head of home buying for the Philadelphia-based retailer Anthropologie. "Everybody grew up with wallpaper in their mother's or grandmother's home, so they're really drawn to the sense of familiar, a reminder of another time."

At the same time, technology has made the medium more modern, especially with graphic kaleidoscopic patterns or intriguing designs whose subjects are ambiguous.

"People are drawn to the idea of customization and individuality more than ever," says Sotz. Anthropologie has been featuring wall coverings and murals for several years, from European and U.S.-based companies as well as in-house designs. "Five years ago, we always had the powder room discussion -- about papering a small room that you didn't necessarily spend a lot of time in. But we're embracing larger spaces now and that's really impacted the way we think about scale. We can create incredible accent walls.

"People are so exposed to everything out there -- on Pinterest and Instagram -- amazing designs from artists big and small. Wall covering is a great way to create a big impact."

One in-house design called Grand Bazaar was inspired by buyer trips to Turkey and Morocco. "In Turkey, at the Blue Mosque, there were all these amazing tiles and Islamic art patterns, kind of fading away. It was almost like a watercolor. In Morocco, there were about 35 rugs laid out on the ground. We mixed the two images to create the pattern."

Subtext for many boutique as well as conventional wall-covering makers today is an emphasis on eco-friendly, from papers (from recycled sources or well-managed renewable forests, some certified by the Forest Stewardship Council) to inks (water-based) to management of residual inks and water.

"I love that people are embracing (wallpaper)," says Soltz of the newer bolder papers. "It takes a bold person to wallpaper a wall."

Walls may not talk, but these days they're likely to be the source of a lot of conversations.

Sources

-- Anthropologie, 800-309-2500, www.anthropologie.com

-- Black Crow Studios, 310-266-7819, www.blackcrowstudios.com

-- Carl Robinson Collection, Wallquest, 610-293-1330, www.wallquest.com

-- Eskayel, 347-703-8084, www.eskayel.com

-- Flat Vernacular, 347-457-6227, www.flatvernacular.com

-- Flavor Paper, 718-422-0230, www.flavorpaper.com

-- Juju Handmade Wallpapers by Avery Thatcher, 503-764-7610, www.jujupapers.com

-- Meystyle, in London (+44) 7953664960, www.meystyle.com

-- Ode Creative, 734-827-7777, www.odecreative.com

-- Alyse Solomon, paper + art, 212-473-2735, www.alysesolomon.com

-- Porter Teleo, 816-820-6266, www.porterteleo.com

-- Trove, 212-268-2046, www.troveline.com

SIDEBAR

HOMEBOUND NO MORE

The thirst for innovative coverings is being quenched well beyond walls at home. Last month at NeoCon, the international furnishings trade show for contract design at Chicago's Merchandise Mart, 3-D and other creative surfaces were introduced, offering dynamic textures, undulating surfaces and technology that combines surprising materials.

Salt Lake City-based 3form (www.3-form.com), for example, worked with artisans from Senegal to create stitched strips of handcrafted fabric in a flowing patchwork. The strands of fabric were carefully encapsulated in Varia Ecoresin sheets to create a colorful striped effect. The resulting resin panels can be used as translucent walls, room dividers, sliding doors and more.

The appearance of porcelain or plaster relief creates a 3-D effect on a surprising medium: medium density fiberboard. Several patterns are available, on 4-by-8-foot panels or small modular formats from 3form.

At Ode Creative, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company, innovative design processes include several trademarked decorative options for decorating wood panels. They include perforations allowing light to shine through; recessing; filling with laminate or wood veneer; inscribing as in a marquetry style etched line flush with the veneer; bas-relief overlay; and imprinting digital images.

Decorative metal also has benefited from ink-jet technology, with unexpected patterns and hues. So aluminum laminates from a company called Moz offer a variety of modern motifs, hand-etching with vibrant washes of color, perforations, corrugations and weaves in a bendable "fabric" that can even be wrapped around columns.

Digital printing also has enabled the creation of modern, decorative images on glass at Skyline Design and on photo film at Trove. In addition to wall coverings, it offers, Trove has a line of film prints, sheer panels that allow application of its images. These can be used for windows, doors or room dividers.

While many of the designs may appeal for residential use (and savvy interior designers know where to find them), they're more likely to turn up in fashionable hotels, malls, offices, hospitals and retail stores, adding style, glamor and cutting-edge sophistication.

CAPTIONS AND CREDIT

(NOTE: These photos are for ONE-TIME use ONLY. At Home photos, with the proper credits, are to be run ONLY with At Home stories. Conversion to black and white is OK.)

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)