Lighting My Sewing Space

Ok…one can’t say enough for having adequate light to sew by. We live in a rather small house and my sewing space has previously been the dining room table. With my daughter being in her senior year at college and living in her own apartment I have commandeered her room and turned it into my temporary sewing space. On this particular day I decided to finally get the room together and get it lit properly.

What I had been using previously was two, rather small desk lamps and the light of the machines themselves along with the two windows. Needless to say this was not working. Trying to sew in a cave-like atmosphere is not conducive to being very productive. Basically when the sun went down the sewing ceased to continue.

On Friday I decided that I’d head to our local Target store after work and pick up the necessary lighting that would make my life easier. I figured I’d be able to buy what I needed and be back home prior to dinner time and have the room set up while dinner was in the oven. Mmmmm…best laid plans never work out as one anticipates!!!

While putting my light together I noticed the switch wasn’t working correctly. I continued on anyway and got the floor lamp put together and ready for the installation of the bulbs. Well…I was right about the switch…it was bent in an odd direction and when turned would only light one portion of the three-way bulb. I proceeded to test out the new bulbs I had purchased as well…and guess what…they were glowing only one-way. Unbelievable…

Knowing I really wanted to get back up and sewing on Saturday I decided to head back out and make the 40 mile round trip to Target once again. Only issue this time…rush hour traffic on a Friday evening heading to the mall…UGH. Upon arriving at the store I was greeted at the service desk cordially with the return only taking five minutes. With money in hand I headed back to the lighting department to get another light, except this time I decided on a different floor lamp.

Lesson Learned: You get what you pay for…I “cheapened” out on the first light and paid for it in lost time. Never again…

Back home and the new light went together without any issues. Thank goodness…I did not want to repeat that process again! I made dinner and proceeded to spend the next five hours picking stuff up and getting things situated to my liking. By 12:30 AM I’d had enough and retired for the evening knowing I’d be able to start sewing the next day.

• Two Trips to the Mall = $20
• Going 40 miles out of your way = $10 plus another 1.5 hours of your time
• Spending extra $$$ on a second lamp = $30
• Having a room that is well lit….PRICELESS :-D

Onward…