Wall wash, graze and accent spacing

Washing, grazing and accenting are three different jobs and they want the fixture in three different places. Washing sets it back from the wall so the beam covers the whole plane evenly. Grazing pulls it tight against the wall so light rakes across the surface. Accenting aims it at one object at roughly thirty degrees, which is the angle that lights a picture without bouncing the reflection back into the viewer's eyes.

The thirty degree convention is worth internalising because it solves two problems at once. Shallower than that and you get a hot reflection off glass or a glossy finish, straight into the face of anyone standing in front of the piece. Steeper and the object is lit flat from above, which flattens texture and drops a shadow off the frame onto the wall below.

One warning about grazing: it is brilliant on stone, brick, board-formed concrete or heavy plaster, and merciless on drywall. Raking light across a flat painted surface reveals every taping seam, screw pop and roller mark. If the wall is not meant to be looked at that closely, wash it instead.