Lighting for Quilt House
 

My DH is building a Quilt House for me, I am so excited. It's 20 by 20, I need to ask what type of lighting should we install. I know I need lots, my DH, thinks I should use track lighting. I am worried about shadows. Any ideas?

I personally do not like track lighting. If you are hanging a quilt, it will fade it. They give me headaches. I would rather have 4' flor. here and there and then task lighting for the areas as cutting board, ironing area, and then sewing machine areas. I forgot about the flannel board area. Make sure your switch at the door shuts all of the machines including your iron off. That is for safety. I would put the plug ins about 3' high up the wall in order for you to plug in something without crawling under the tables. Measure your tables, and ask him to put them a little higher for you. From past experience and for more safety for yourself, your sewing chair should face the door so you can see what is going on. Good luck. And have fun.

I am partial to LED fixtures as they provide so much light and will actually save money over florescent bulbs. IMHO "daylight" bulbs are the best and the provide light that is close to what you would have if the sun were shining. A couple weeks ago my husband changed the florescent fixture in our garage to a LED one that we found at Lowes. It looks similar to a typical florescent fixture but has an extremely low profile - about 1 inch from the ceiling. We love this fixture and a couple of them would be great for a "Quilt House".

I didn't like track lighting. Back in the 80's they were so HOT.

ragamuffin nailed it. She must have such a room. Especially the note about plugs should not be at the floor. Go back and re-read her post.

I have daylight 4' flor on one side, they give me a true color read on fabric. The new LED's (which are about $10 per bulb) are also good light and do not get hot.

My all time favorite lighting, was when I had a sewing corner (it was in an oversized living room, just around the corner from the wood stove - nice and snug). The walls and ceiling had been painted with a hi-gloss white enamel paint (only renting the house, so you get what you get - lol), all windows were behind me. I had track lighting over my sewing machines (it was like middle of the day daylight, even at 1 or 2 AM), the light bounced around in that corner so I had NO shadows. I think you need to go with MORE lighting than you think you will need (make sure you have the ability to turn off different areas of lighting individually - that way you have the amount of light you want or need at any one time), it's alway easier to turn off a set of lights then look for a way to get more after the fact. Lighting and your need will change, just as the times of day or night that you're using them. Good luck, you'll have lots of ideas to comb through.

I just did my sewing room, but we haven't done the lighting yet. We're going for the LEDs that look like the fluorescents for the reasons that Cactus Stitchin stated. Ask an electrician about having everything on one switch - my whole room is on one circuit and the lights dim and the pellet stove slows down when the iron goes into heat-up mode. When we get the lights, we're going to have the room split into a couple circuits so the iron doesn't affect my machine or the pellet stove's electronics.

Have fun!

Don't use halogen lights like I did. My room gets too warm as they give off heat

My husband is an electrician and he hung 2 8 foot fluorescent lights directly over my longarm, also in my sewing room and again over my ironing station. I love this lighting....easy on the eyes and no problem seeing. When I flip the switch in my quilt studio it's like lighting up a runway in an airport. Track lighting is not bright enough and is "spotty" Imo.