ManiacQuilter2

Donna, I would first check that that the garage will be insulated. I used florescent tubes but I bought a special GE tube that gave true lighting @ Walmart. Just make sure not to use the bulbs that get hot. You might try to draw a scale outline of the shed and cut you furniture to scale so you can figure out the best usage of where to put everything.

Maureen NJ

I am not of any help but do go to Leah Day's site. She talked a lot about lighting for her shed/studio. Very interesting following her process.

quiltinghere

I have 4 foot florescent fixtures with daylight bulbs. Light/white walls will help with lighting too.
Don't know where you're located but insulation and heating cooling is important for your comfort.
Lots of outlets on separate breakers could be of value too. Overloading one breaker could knock out power to the whole Studio.

Congrats on your new Studio.
Nan

tessagin

When my friend set up her studio (former shed) 10'x10' she had her husband put the outlets at waist height. After he did this he decided to add onto his garage and knocked out a wall. He did the same to his outlets and said it was the best money spent, raising the outlets.

nativetexan

OH those daylight bulbs are terrible. blue light! i do sew with them but hate it. One day I will get different ones.

rryder

When we had our kitchen re-done the electrician put in a bunch of led can lights. You never have to change the bulbs. Granted, when they burn out we will need to replace the entire fixture, but it's rated for enough years, that we're not likely to be in the same house then anyway. Also, the ones we got are on a dimmer, they don't add heat to the room and the quality of the light is amazing.

In my tiny sewing studio I have a combinations of led lights, color-corrected fluorescents, incandescent and daylight. I switch them on an off as needed for specific tasks.

Congratulations on getting your own dedicated space. Like others, I'm wondering if you will have it insulated and a/c/heating installed. Easiest to do that before you get everything moved in. And it will make a big difference. I know because I used to have a jewelry studio out in our uninsulated garage and it was way too hot in the summer, even with all the doors open, it wasn't useable. Winter was a little more bearable if I had my torches and my kiln going, but other wise I found I could only use it about half the year.

Rob

quiltingshorttimer

go for LED's--our guild meeting space recently upgraded old flurescents to newer flurescents, but wish we could have gotten the LEDs--they would be even nicer. And yes--plug in's at waist height! What about flooring? a friend just upgraded her long arm space with cork flooring and really likes the extra cushion it provides--but think it's pricey.

Know it may seem extravagant, but I would want a switch in the house that could shut off the lights/iron, etc in the shed--that way if I was inside for a break and decided not to go back out, I could shut down easily. If the electrician will be running the power from the house anyway, think it would be fairly easy.

quilting cat

LED bulbs are currently the least expensive to operate, and are supposed to last for just about forever. They, too, can be found in different color spectra including "daylight".
Overhead lighting, with one movable/adjustable lamp that can highlight a work area is my plan for my new sewing room.

Bree123

Actually, my brother & SIL just got some gizmo that turns on/off a few of their lights just by using an app on their iPhone. They got some kind of rebate from the power company & it ended up costing them something like $35 after the rebate. Not super cheap, but not bad to be able to turn on/off some lights & the little heater in their newborn's room since Baby likes the house warmer than the rest of the family.

Reba'squilts

My sewing room is in our unfinished basement. The cieling is 10 feet high. I have to use the long fluorescent fixtures to get enough light. My machine sits next to an 8 ft door wall so we do get some daylight. The bulbs we use are the daylight ones that are super bright. I like lots of light. They make the long bulbs in led now but I have not found the very white ones ....Yet! My husband loves led...loves saving on the electricity. Lucky you getting to configure your room your way!!