I like the clean lines of this choice a lot. I can see your house is an unusual mixture of siding and brick with window bump out and closed eave gables. In fact, the many textures make the all white finishes seem a bit out of proportion over the garage where for a traditional cottage look you might often see a shingle siding in the gable areas and a shift between that and the garage door. That is consistent with the front door/ sidelight style you have now. If you are a fan of more modern lines, something your house could get to by highlighting the mondrian blocks, in future you may want to explore color and a modern entry door - i adore the crestviewdoors.com site for options or light kits for slab doors.
that said, your light fixture choice would work with either modern or traditional exterior emphasis. primary issue is scale - fixtures you have now are on the small side, so check dimensions when you pick out something that can stand up to the height of your facade at the garage. Black will always work with your charcoal roof.

Do you plan to landscape?

I think you're right, libradesigneye, the size is too small. Thank you also for the info (I was also a little weird about the amount of white space above the main garage door).

Three brick heights (stacked) is 10", which is about the same size as the current fixtures. If I'm going up in size to 20" tall, that changes the price by about $1400, so it will be further along on my to do list. We bought this house for the inside, not the outside. In the mean time I may just paint the existing fixtures until I am ready to buy the new ones. I'm also worried about whether or not I should spend that much in our neighborhood and on this house. I'm trying to find something transitional that is just modern enough and just appealing enough to people who don't love modern (aka the next buyers of this house if we should ever move).

Forgot to attach an image. Looks way too small.

Aja, this picture was taken a month ago, there are actually plants growing, now. I'm waiting until everything is in full bloom to decide what stays and what goes, but any suggestions are appreciated. I always like to hear opinions.

Why not just choose something in a nice, shiny goldtone or brass?
or even white?

Black is difficult to see against the dark brick.

I'm okay with that. I don't want it to stand out too much. There's a house across the street with very similar brick color, white siding and black roof that has black fixtures and I like the way it looks. That house is also a traditional 2-story style, not ranch like ours, so I was also wanting a more modern style of black so as not to 'copy' the other house. I also thought about the polished brass, but that makes me think of east coast colonial houses, not a more casual ranch style.

Perhaps, you are "over analyzing" your choice.

I would choose what looks most attractive visually.

At $500 a light, I am definitely going to over-analyze! :)

lighting would be the last item to think about.

I've been looking again tonight at more lights. This one is a lot like the Hinkley Harbor Collection, but a little less pricey: http://www.lowes.com/pd_432327-44509-523B_0__?productId=4607150&Ntt=z-lite+mesa&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dz-lite%2Bmesa&facetInfo=

And this one is similar to what you just posted: http://www.lowes.com/pd_338653-85992-LWS1204B_4294713172__?productId=3822581&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

And I haven't been just looking at Lowe's, it's just that those ones grabbed me. They are not too anything, more transitional.

Dytecture, I am not going to do anything to this house for many years except the lights. It may not be what I would have chosen, but it is functional. I'm not happy with having three different finishes in the front (copper, brass, and black). If I put any more money on the outside it will be a garden in the back, nothing in the front except the lights and door hardware.

It would be a cold day in hell before I spent $500 on that scrawny light!
LOL
I would invest in landscaping.

A tree will appreciate as it matures and adds to the resale value.

The little light is an example of the one I had picked. That one is 10" tall and around $150-200 each. The larger sized one is 20" tall and $500 each.

Valerie, it looks like a lot of the lights you're looking at have a Mission feel. Have you looked at any of the ones in the sconce category? I know these may not be the size or the exact style but I'm thinking along these lines:



I understand the issue of working on the landscaping. But I also really appreciate the importance of lighting on that part of your home. If you don't have good street lights nearby providing adequate light, that area of your home could be hard to navigate after dark. If you have visitors who aren't familiar with your home or if your family comes and goes after dark, having good lighting there seems very important to me.

Yes, I do like the ones that have a mission feel to them, but that aren't completely mission style. I love the Murray Feiss model you just posted. I think that's a very strong contender at that price! I have looked and looked and not seen that one before. It also goes with the Mondrian theme pointed out by libradesigneye.

We do have really good lighting in the area. I have the path lights that are plugged into a sensor so they go on when it gets a certain level of darkness, and also there is a street light outside.

Well, maybe not, it's only 11.5" tall, but it would have been perfect. It still gives me a clearer vision of what I want, though, so thank you.

I like the mission feel, and think that you may be closer to a look you would like to add shingle siding in your gables - that seems like a big item, though as a DIY it is probably only a $700 item painted out. This is siding that looks like shingles and adds a little bit of cottage style. Painting the gables a contrasting stone green shade, without the different texture of the shake shingle, would also help,
and that is a few gallons, plus a tall tall ladder and some time.

I like to search lightingdirect.com because you can filter to all black, all 15" high or more and so forth. I've been obsessed with the modern / craftsman blend of this http://www.lightingdirect.com/kichler-49061-contemporary-modern-single-light-large-outdoor-wall-sconce-from-the-ripley-collection/p1035471
for awhile. Not available in black, however . . so I went looking to see what I could find - http://www.lightingdirect.com/acclaim-lighting-9622-bali-1-light-18-5-height-outdoor-wall-sconce/p2071028
http://www.lightingdirect.com/thomas-lighting-sl9106-traditional-classic-3-light-outdoor-wall-sconce-from-the-mission-collection/p373206
http://www.lightingdirect.com/the-great-outdoors-go-71192-pl-energy-star-rated-craftsman-mission-single-light-outdoor-wall-sconce-from-the-delancy-collection/p308532 iron oxide not really black, but price and looks

I don't think it has to be 20" high, but I think that the scale wants to increase to at least 15 - 17 because of the way they finished your gables here - the whole elevation seems taller due to this.

The first one you posted I actually found and really liked, but wasn't sure if it fit the style of the house. I also thought about adding shingles, but wasn't sure about that because of the clean white lines of the siding. If money were no object, I would probably remove the brick and siding and have a designer figure out what would look best.

On the lightingdirect site I found these: http://www.lightingdirect.com/forte-lighting-1062-01-14-outdoor-wall-sconce-in-royal-bronze-with-clear-seedy-glass/p1792153
and
http://www.lightingdirect.com/progress-lighting-p6001-merit-single-light-medium-aluminum-outdoor-wall-lantern-with-etched-glass-shade/p1886396

I like the first one because it doesn't look like I tried too hard, so it would fit in better with this neighborhood, where it looks like everyone has the less expensive builder's options.

So I found some lights that I liked enough for a temporary solution. At $25 each, I couldn't pass them up. And I'll be saving up for better ones. After installation, I don't think I like the black. I'm just not sure.

Copy your neighbors!

Wise decision.

Okay, so I switched out the plug in plastic black path lights for solar and had to go with the copper because it was the prettiest. Now I'm 99% sure that I need better (and bigger) wall sconces. The black doesn't look good enough against the red brick, so I'm thinking of going with an earth tone.