Lighting in my sewing room
 

My sewing room is 15x15 and my sewing room closet where I have all of my fabric stored on 84x48x14 chrome shelving units. After I moved everything out a couple of years ago, I painted the room a very light beige. In my sewing room closet, my husband hung two 4 ft. LED strip lights that I purchased from Home Depot for $129.00 each. That made all the difference in the world in my closet.

For natural lighting in my sewing room, I have very large windows that cover most of one wall and one window on the other wall - all of which works good during the daytime. I have several stand-alone OTT lights, several table top OTT lights and several other various lights plus a big clamp-on light with a magnifier. In addition I have a celing fan that has two bulbs inside the globe and 2 wall sconces. There was not enough light to sew at night (for me). I like lots of light - all the time. But - I really did not want to spend a fortune of fixtures (like I have in the closet - 8 would cost me well over $1,000 more)!

I finally told my husband that I am tired of worrying about what looks good rather than what works for me. I needed to remind myself - it's a sewing room, not a show room! I have been studying lighting, reading up on lighting, looking at lighting - until I was blue in the face! Decision time! Day before yesterday, we went to Costco and purchased 8 - 4ft. LED shop lights that can be installed in parallel. Each one puts out 3,700 lumens. Since there are no ballasts or bulbs to go out or replace, there will not be any humming, and they come on immediately when turned on. And, the price was right - $19.99 each on sale. My husband is installing them in a square configuration (with the ceiling fan in the center). So far, he has 3 installed and it already makes a world of difference! I can hardly wait until he has them all installed. To heck with beauty and design - I'm sticking to practicality!

I think you're brilliant (no pun intended). Without proper lighting, I can't sew at night either. I have noticed that LED bulbs are starting to come to the market at a price point that works well for consumers and your project supports this as well. Happy sewing.

That's going to be great!
Another thing that really helps me is an LED strip of lights that goes under the harp of my sewing machine so it illuminates exactly what you're sewing. Couldn't do without it!

Watson

I am surprised at many people think that LED light bulbs are the same as the swirly bulbs. They are not and it's hard to get many to try them especially at $12 or more for one 75/100 watt bulb. (You can use a 100 watt equivalent LED in a 40 watt rated socket) I have them in every light in my home. One insider decorator trick I learned is to put one regular bulb in with a group of LED bulbs and the light has a softening glow.

I have absolutely no decor in my sewing room. It's a plain functional room but that's what I wanted. Shop lights give awesome light. I have them in my kitchen for years (they were there when we bought the house). I got so used to them that when I remodeled the kitchen, I replaced them with a prettier version. Lowe's had some that had pretty decoration on them so they didn't look quite so industrial. They work just fine and the price was right.

I've found that as I age, I need more and more light to be able to really see what I'm doing. So far in my sewing room, I've just kept adding Ott Lites. I have quite a collection now :D

shoot, i have an LED strip to go under my kitchen counter and am still waiting on my son to install it! Good for you!!

I agree! LED's are the best! I rent, so installing light fixtures wasn't an option. Instead, I bought a tree lamp & put 19wt LED's in the 3 fixtures. I paid $20 for the lamp & $20 each for the 3 light bulbs. Best $80 I ever spent. It's light daylight at the equator in my sewing studio. And, best of all, I can easily move the aluminum lamp by the couch for when I work on my needle turn. A 19wt LED is equivalent light to a 120wt incandescent, but it is safe to put in a 60wt fixture provided there is enough space (it's the size of a flood light).

Smart decision. I bet they will look perfect when done.

I immediately went to look! They have gone to $39.99 and are out of stock right now! But great idea and I will keep checking!

OK, forgot to note the price I found was for a pkg of 2, so is very reasonable! I used my old friend Google who found me several vendors for them!