Pillars in a niche: lighting a wall

Most rooms are lit from the ceiling, which flattens everything. A single candle placed against a wall does the opposite. The flame lights the plaster around it, the wall becomes a soft field of light and shadow, and the room gains a depth it never has by day.

Find the right surface

A niche is ideal, but any wall with a little texture works: lime plaster, old brick, rough stone, even painted wood. Glossy surfaces reflect too sharply; matt ones hold the glow. Stand the pillar a hand’s width from the wall, never touching it, so the heat does not mark the surface.

Choose a height

Height changes the effect. A short pillar lights the lower part of the wall and the surface it stands on; a tall one throws light upward and makes a ceiling feel higher. Three heights together, one of them lit, give a quiet rhythm that looks right in almost any room.

One lit pillar against plaster does more for a room than a lamp.

• Leave plenty of clear space above the flame, more inside a niche.
• Stand the pillar on a heat-safe plate or stone to catch any drips.
• Keep the niche free of dried flowers, paper and fabric.
• Burn it for an hour or more at a time, so the pool forms evenly.

Our pillars are pure, unscented beeswax, so they suit a living room or hallway where scent would be too much. Depending on height, they burn for between fifty and a hundred hours, and smell only faintly of honeycomb.

Light it for the evening

A wall candle works best as the only flame in its part of the room. Light it as the daylight goes, turn off the ceiling light, and leave a lamp on at the far side of the room if you need one. The contrast between the lit wall and the darker corners is what gives the room its depth.

Watch it as it burns down. As a pillar shortens, its light moves lower on the wall, and a tall niche may want a flat stone underneath to keep the flame where it looks best.