We just made cutouts out of tar paper (was sitting around the building site anyhow) of the various fixtures we were thinking about and put them up on the side of the house until it looked right.

One of my pet peeves is the "pimple on the wall" look with outdoor lights. IMHO, so many homes have outdoor sconces that are too small and don't look in proportion to the area that they are supposed to relate to. And side doors out of garages get even less consideration. I've seen numberous examples of these lights being even smaller and a totally different finish despite them being just around the corner from the garage door.

I think it's a great idea to make tarpaper or cardboard cutouts of various fixtures. It's all about scale and proportion.

The person who helped us at the lighting store had us pick the fixture we liked for the front door, then the size...after we had what we wanted, she ordered the next size up for the front, and the next size after that for the garage bays...they looked large initially, but now we love them, and they add a lot to the exterior. Like other posters have mentioned, undersized exterior lights are no good...pick what you like and then order the next size up.

It is very hard to judge how large sconces are when looking at them inside. I looked at some that looked absolutely huge. The salesperson walked me outside and asked if I liked the size on the building. I did. Same size. They look big inside, but look small once outside. Don't go too small. You also have to consider quantity. I have 9 (I think) hanging lights on my porch. I went with small Cape Cod lights. If I went with the larger light it would have looked like too much because there are so many. But I used the larger sconces on the garage since there are only 2. Also be very careful about the height they are installed at. Don't let the builder slap them up wherever he wants them.