Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Basement Lighting

I need some input on what type of lights & how many for my basement. It is 13 ' x 27 '. I have a 6 ft. slider on one end on the long wall & a small basement window on an adjoining wall. I would like to use a spot light or some type of light for a book case that is built into one wall about 8 ft. long. It will have faux stone around it. We will eventually have a tv in the room as well as a couple of computers. They may be on one of the short walls with a full length work counter. I plan to have a couple of switches so I don't light up the whole room at once. What are your thoughts? Thank you.

There is a lot of leeway in lighting. It depends on many factors, including the color of the walls, the height of the ceiling, the age of your eyes, and the types of activities. For TV watching and computer work, you normally don't need much general lighting. Task lighting for the computer area usually works well, although if you have a large desk, you probably also want some ceiling lights above this area.

Unless the ceiling is low, I'm fond of recessed can lights in a basement. When fitted with eyeball trim, they make good lights for a bookcase too.

I'm also fond of wall sconces above where you might be reading, such as behind the couch where you might be watching TV (or not watching TV).

If you want general lighting for craft projects and such, I suggest dividing the ceiling up into equal size rectangles and putting a can light in the middle of each rectangle. For a 13x27 room, that might be about 8 lights, one centered in each 6.5x6.75 rectangle. If you use wide flood 65-watt bulbs, that will be plenty of light. Put them on dimmers for when you don't need that much light. They can all go on one circuit, but I'd suggest at least two separate switches (each controlling half the lights) for zone control.