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ontariomom

Can an additional piece of glass be put on a light fixture??

5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

Important edits: This is for a split-foyer space (small square footage, and 11.5 foot high ceilings. If you know this style of home, you will relate to that super tall wall and the fact that the foyer wall is open and part of the half flight above (hallway and living room). So the extra tall mirror (going to top of transom) need to be work for the rooms that are near to it).


We need to find very tall light fixtures for our foyer that has high ceiling and the rough in spot for the lights is high up the wall (around 7 foot). We found ones that would play very well with our dark, 8 foot door that has decorative glass. However, the light was designed to be installed horizontally. One side of this light is open (which does not show well in this photo, but did in customer photos and the idea is to have the light shine down or up off the ceiling for use as a vanity light.

Would it be safe to put a piece of matching glass on the open side so all sides are enclosed? I assume it would cut down the light some, but if would also diffuse the light. We will be having a mirror in the middle of these tall sconces. https://www.jossandmain.com/lighting/pdp/sparks-3-light-bath-bar-lfmf3745.html



Comments (31)

  • 5 years ago

    Keep looking. There are other fixtures designed for your installation.



    X-Calibur Sconces, Black Finish · More Info


    LNC 1-Light Matte Black Modern Thermometer-Like Wall Sconce For Foyer · More Info


    Matteo Lighting Likwid Series Transitional Sconce Black Finish · More Info


  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Thank you armchair. I appreciate you finding that light for us.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    placing a mirror that is 7ft up will be strange, the lights would be much to high up for the look you are going for. Have the outlets been placed already? if they have the other problem is the connection point will be in the middle of the light fixture, putting the top of a long sconce around the 8 ft level in the room. sconces and a mirror in a foyer should be sitting around eye level.

    how far apart are these light fixtures?


  • PRO
    5 years ago

    <div><a rel='follow' href='https://www.houzz.com/photos/puritan-contemporary-entry-detroit-phvw-vp~65712118' target='_blank'><img src='https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/8841c68407d18987_8-0949/contemporary-entry.jpg' alt='' border=0 width='500' height='718' nopin='nopin' ondragstart='return false;' onselectstart='return false;' oncontextmenu='return false;'/></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style="text-decoration:none;color:#444;" href="https://www.houzz.com/professionals/interior-designers-and-decorators/amw-design-studio-pfvwus-pf~344013317"; target="_blank">Photo by AMW Design Studio</a> - <a style="text-decoration:none;color:#444;" href="https://www.houzz.com/photos/entryway-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_741"; target="_blank">Look for entryway design inspiration</a></small></div>

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Hi RL Relocation. Thanks for your comment. Yes, the rough-ins have been done. They were done that high as the ceilings are 11.5 feet high (old part of house has a split foyer style entranceway that was slightly enlarged). The mirror we are planning is going to be huge. The main double door is 8 feet high plus a 16 or inch high transom. We calculated the top of the mirror to be level with the top of the transom (sorry I said top of door earlier) and then go down to human level (waist high). We wanted the sconces to be a few inches down from the top of the mirror (I believe allowance was made for the fact that the junction box would be in the middle of the tall sconces. I may have exagerated the height of the junction box. I just know that it is above my head.

    I will recheck the math to make sure we have the boxes where we want them. The rough-ins are approx 4.5 feet apart. The idea of the big mirror was to help visually "widen" the entranceway as it is a bit less than 8 X 6 with out of proportion ceilings. Having just a low mirror, it was explained by a designer, would look out of place with the 8 foot door. Also, having sconces at the mid point of the mirror or lower was also not what she was recommending. The mirror will also be able to be seen from the living room, which is half a flight up from the foyer. The designer is not working with us anymore as she has moved on to other employment.

    Thanks for the links. I will check them out.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    for some reason I cannot post any pictures, I would do a mock up for you but Houzz is not loading my images.

  • 5 years ago

    Thanks for the offer. Maybe later?

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I get it. sometimes it seems like I spend forever looking for the right thing, and I eventually I have to DIY a solution. if you have your heart set on this fixture, I think closing the side should be fine since LEDs don't get nearly as hot as incandescents. it's possible you'll need to open up a different section to vent a little. if you don't know what you're doing, you really should get somebody who builds custom lights to do it for you.

    but this could get expensive. I'd only look into it it if you really think it's worth it.

  • 5 years ago

    Hi BF. Thanks. Yes we can DIY the light fix. I am so sick of looking at lights. These were so much more affordable than our runner up options. We were thinking about opening the small ends of the light (or one of them to be sure there is some ventilation. I am checking with the seller how the bulbs get changed. If we close up the large side, we need to make sure we can still change the bulbs, lol.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    The fixture you like will not have tabs or a slot for an extra piece of glass BTW, so there will be no way to afix it, maybe double-sided tape. But I think first get some blue tape and a ladder and tape out where the sconces would fall if the electrical connection is in the middle of the fixture.

    ontariomom thanked RL Relocation LLC
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    no tape! not even epoxy. those kinds of things soften and loosen up when they get warm. you might need to figure out a way to get brackets soldered on, or some kind of "cold connection" (IE: rivets).

    ontariomom thanked User
  • 5 years ago

    Thank RL Renovation. We will mock up the junction box position once again to be sure (we did do some calculations at rough in stage). It is not a typical wall height, nor door height, so I suspect we are not far off where we want the lights to go. The good news is that area has been drywall boards up, but no tape, paint, mud etc. So if we have to lower them a bit, that works (also I believe the electrician added some extra slack to these boxes to allow for some changes).


    B F Thanks for your suggestions. We will find a way to solder on the extra glass piece. My biggest concern is making sure the bulbs can be changed once we close up the last side.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Without seeing the space, I'm guessing this fixture is way too small for the space.





  • 5 years ago

    Thanks Beverly. We need one that is around 24 inches tall to be in proportion to the tall wall. I am not sure what size the fixture you found is.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Can we see the wall?

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Both of these are 24" tall

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Thank you Beberly FLA. for finding those sconces.

    RL Relocation: I would really rather not post the actual home pictures as there is a great deal of tall crown material stored in the foyer right now (construction mess/materials that are too tall to go elsewhere), the stairs are not finished, no railings . However, I have posted a pic I found on a Google search of what a split foyer wall looks like (not mine). Ours has the 8 foot door and then 16 inch transom on top, so that really changes the proportions. This photo has a regular height door. The empy wall space above the regular height door in this photo is not our case due to the taller, dark stained door and rectangular transom (stained inside and out).


  • PRO
    5 years ago

    well we have all seen construction sights, I wanted to see your split level wall to see the junction boxes, I know what a split level looks like lol.

    ontariomom thanked RL Relocation LLC
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago





    One of the sconces is showing (over the coats) and the other is hidden behind the crown molding. The centre of the rough-in is 91 inches to bottom of the subfloor. We are roughly looking at a 43 inch wide mirror by 80 inch high. DH tells me our plan had been to have the top of the mirror align with the top of the transom, not door as I said previously. I am going to get my husband to draw out the proportions, hopefully today.


    Note: For some reason the glass in the door is blurred in the photo I took. You can see the detail in corner. Here is a better pic of the door from outside (ignore the ladder and lumber behind as we had to block access until the outside steps were installed).


  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Here is one that shows the door better (it seems to be hard to capture due to the light coming in).


    Houzz does not seem to like this pic.

  • 5 years ago

    turn on your flash.

    ontariomom thanked User
  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Can I ask why so tall with the mirror? do you plan to put a table there?, where will jackets go post reno? What is the space between the two sconces measure?

    Although the wall is tall, the "space is not that large footprint wise



  • PRO
    5 years ago



    ontariomom thanked RL Relocation LLC
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    @RL Relocation LLC: Thank you for the photo. The space between the two sconces is 49.5 inches (centre to centre). Jackets are going down in the basement mudroom post reno. This will be a guest only entrance. There will not be any table. We are debating on putting a chair rail at the living room floor height (around 3.5 or so feet up from ground at foyer level) and then having trimmed squares under the chair rail. From what I have read, chair rails and square trims also help with split foyer entranceways. The paint colour above and below the chair rail will be the same colour (off white) but the area below the chair rail will be semi-gloss and above eggshell.

    The reason given by the designer for the big mirror was to increase the space visually and to fiill up the big wall. The designer is no longer working as a designer and not able for us to ask follow-up questions. I understand what she was saying to some degree. If you look at the web photo I posted of a split foyer (not ours) and focus on all the wall space above the regular height door, you will see what we are trying to avoid. There is a great deal of empty space above the door in that pic and it makes the wall and door out of proportion with one another.

    DH is hoping to get things sketched out tonight. At the roughed in stage we had not decided on the sconces and had imagined different ones (regular height sconces with metal hanging down to create the illusion of more height). We are working on determining if and/or how much the sconces need to move down.

    Carol

  • 5 years ago

    @RL Relocation LLC Thanks for the photos. The one with the wreath on it, I believe is a slightly higher than normal door, but not as tall as 8 foot. I have seen that photo before and think that is what I have understood, but I am not sure. It is also a narrower door of course. The other two doors have regular height doors. I believe the dimensions, esp heights of the doors do impact the height of the mirror.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    If you want people to look at your ceiling............just saying, for the most part you want people to look at eye level. I am not sold on this giant mirror idea, seems intrusive to me?

    ontariomom thanked RL Relocation LLC
  • 5 years ago

    I found an article on dealing with oversize, tall walls. While the square footage is small, the foyer is open to the living room and the upper hallway. Here is an image of an oversize mirror. I was not thinking of having our mirror go down to the ground.

    Here is the link to the whole article. It might help others dealing with cathedral/tall ceilings. It talks about the importance of having the artwork, etc on the wall be in proportion to the height of the walls I think this was the thinking that the designer had in mind and also why our 8 foot door looks so much better than our original (before the addition/reno) regular height front door. https://www.remodelaholic.com/ideas-decorate-tall-walls/

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    RL. Thanks for your vote. It is a tricky space. I like the idea of the mirror being able to be seen from the living room. A shorter mirror would not allow for that. However, we are going to reach out to a new designer to see what she thinks. I appreciate your help. Can you clarify why this mirror would be intrusive?

  • 5 years ago

    I posted three options in a new thread. Looking for votes on which is the preferred entry mirror/sconce height option. All involve moving the right hand sconce out 5.5 inches to make the mirror slightly wider. Thanks. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5971141/tall-entry-mirror-to-match-tall-door