I think it depends a lot on the sconce. Some sconces are pretty to look at, but don't send as much light out into the room. Some sconces send most of their light up and/or down, but not much out horizontally. And some sconces radiate most of the light from the bulb(s) out in all directions. If your sconces of choice are of the latter type, then I would think four 60 watt bulbs would be fine for lighting your 8' vanity area. Without seeing the layout of the room, it's hard to guess whether there might be any darker areas, or whether it would matter. (For example, if you read on the toilet, it's important whether that area is well-lit.) If all your light is along one wall, though, it's inevitable that there will be some shadows, because all the light is coming from one direction, and that's what creates shadows. Could you consider installing a couple of small (3" or 4") recessed lights in the ceiling to provide more overall lighting and wipe out the shadows? (They could be on a separate switch, and the switch could be a dimmer, if you're concerned about too much light at times.)

-- Eric

Thanks, Eric! The light I'm considering has a shade, so I suppose the light will be filtered from the shade itself and brighter from the top and bottom of the shade. I always thought I should put in overhead lights (recessed or a chandelier), but the electrician was discouraging me since the there is no attic space and the ceiling slopes (8 feet over the vanity rising to 10 feet at the back of the room). Toilet is in separate room. Shower has its own light. Monikam (??) mentioned in another post that she should have centered her recessed lights over the edge of the counter to avoid shadows, which sounds reasonable to me. Do you think that would help supply enough light? Also, do you think a chandelier would defeat the purpose of avoiding shadows? Thanks again for your help. I appreciate it!

Socalsister, I should begin with a caveat that I'm neither a lighting nor electrical expert, so these are just my opinions... ;)

I'm not a real fan of chandeliers in bathrooms, but I know many people love them. If you could put one where the ceiling is higher than 8', there's less chance of it being in the way. (In a bathroom, people put their arms up in the air more than in a dining room, LOL!)

Shadows are caused by light coming from one direction. Recessed lights will definitely help cut shadows. The only thing I'd be careful about is if you put them at the vanity, and since you have a deep room, whether it might not be bright enough a few feet away from the vanity. (Is your vanity on the 10' or 12' wall? Is your shower on the side opposite the vanity? If you could post a picture or sketch of the room layout, that might help.) Normally, I'd be inclined to put the recessed lights down the middle of the room, to illuminate where people walk. When you're at the vanity, you'd then have some light in front of you from the sconces and some light behind you from the recessed lights, resulting in far fewer shadows. Depending on the sconce and shade, you might also consider a few small recessed lights over the vanity as task lights illuminating the work surface of the vanity, and a few down the middle of the room for general lighting.

If you think recessed lights will create big holes in the ceiling, remember that they don't have to be the full-size 6" wide ones; I used 4" in my bathroom, and they also make 3" ones. With a white baffle (assuming you have a white ceiling), I find they're very unobtrusive. In terms of wiring recessed lights, you certainly don't need attic access above to do it (although that does make it easier). The electrician might need to make a hole or two in the wall to get electrical wire from the vanity wall where your current fixture is into the ceiling (Or, if you prefer to add a separate switch for the recessed lights so you can control them separate from the sconces, to run a line from the wall with the switch up into the ceiling.) After that, it depends how your ceiling joists run; he may need to make a hole or two in the ceiling to drill through the joists to get the electric line to the right spot for the lights. I'm not sure why the slope of the ceiling would be a problem though; they do make light trims for sloped ceilings, or you could put in an eyeball to control the angle of the light.

You might also consider using a difference sconce -- something with a white or fairly translucent glass shade which projects light evenly out into the room, rather than mostly or exclusively up and down as a sconce with an opaque shade will do.

-- Eric

lumen per watt

The amount of light = lumen
How many lumen the bulb produces, per watt.
This is What To Focus On.
The bulb.
First, the bulb, then the container it is in (a sconce in this case).

hth

I was hoping someone would come in to redirect attention (refocus).
Someone did.
I was hoping someone would come in to redirect attention (refocus), on the fact that fluorescent bulbs produce more lumen per watt (and less heat) than old fashioned bulbs which produce quite a few lumen and a lot of heat. There are many good shades of white available now in compact fluorescents.

A sconce fixture might direct a lot of its light in one direction or another, but I didn't say it because I figured that this was obvious. I agree with the previous posts on this.

It depends.

We're close to completing the renovation of a windowless 9' x 8' bathroom. The vanity top measures 103" long and has two sinks. Each sink has a mirror measuring 24" x 30". For lighting, each sink has a 6" recessed light with a 75 watt equivalent CFL bulb centered over it. And there are 3 Albion 60 watt sconce lights from Restoration Hardware. One is centered between the mirrors and other two are at the far ends of the mirrors.

Neither the recessed nor the sconce lights would have been sufficient alone. Combined, they provide balanced light that avoids unsightly downward shadows - at least that's what my wife tells me.

Jacobse, that first sconce you have pictured on the taupe/tan colored wall, any idea of the manufacture, it’s gorgeous. Thanks in advance.