A good craft light is essential for any creative who draws, crafts or paints their projects. Properly illuminating your worksurface will reduce shadows, which assists with the accuracy of your work, and will ease eye strain if you are devoting hour upon hour to your creation.
Good craft lamps are available in many sizes and forms, from multi-function floor lamps for your studio space to slim and adjustable desk lights for your work area. In the guide below, we’ve evaluated the best craft lights we’ve found across different categories, testing each for its performance, versatility, practicality, special features such as dimmers or magnifying lenses, and value.
We’ve divided this buying guide into the best desktop craft lamps and the best floor-standing craft lights but be sure to check the size of each lamp as they can vary a lot.
If you need more kit for your work setup, see our guide to the best craft tables. We also have guides to the best sewing machines and the best cricut machines.
Best desktop craft lights
01. Daylight Company Techne Artist Lamp
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Best craft light for desks and small easels
Size: 50 x 43.5 x 30cm, 1.4kg
Colour temp: 1000-6000 Kelvin
This smart brushed steel craft lamp easily attaches to a desk, easel or drawing board to light your work area and packs aways neatly. It's sturdy and won't mark, and the lamp's gooseneck head can be adjusted through 360 degrees. There are three colour temperature settings enabling from 1000 to daylight-quality 6000 degrees Kelvin, which is ideal in a lamp for crafting.
02. BenQ e-Reading LED Desk Lamp
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Best craft light for designer looks
Size: 59 x 22 x 62.5cm, 4.8kg
Colour temp: 3000-5700 Kelvin
Don't be confused by the name, this is a bright, clean lamp intended for crafts as much as reading. It's designed to light wide areas thanks to the curved mount. There are some unique features, apt for a tech brand, including automatic ambient light detection, the option to cycle through 13 levels of colour temperatures and 23 levels of brightness.
03. Cricut Bright 360 Table Light
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Best craft light for Cricut
Size: 22 x 79–99 x 42–69cm, 2.4kg
Colour temp: not stated
Featuring a four-foot-square lamp head, this provides a wide lighting area and rich, accurate colours. It has adjustable brightness from warm to bright white, reaching 1500 Lux. There's a slider switch to adjust the brightness of the light. It's not the brightest light, but the flexible head is very useful.
Best floor standing craft lights
01. Daylight Company DuoLamp Floor
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Best craft light overall
Size: 21 x 53 x 132cm, 3.5kg
Colour temp: up to 6000 Kelvin
A tall stand ensures this craft light can reach across a large work table or provide excellent lighting for an easel. The two heads can be independently adjusted and lit, so you can have one dimmer than the other (it does take some time to set the colour temp on each). It can be turned up to 6000 Kelvin for daylight illumination – great for crafts, and the size is perfect.
02. Daylight Company Artist Studio Lamp
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Best craft light for artists' studios
Size: 28 x 26 x 220cm, 2.35kg
Colour temp: up to 6500 Kelvin
We rate this as the best large craft light for artists who use easels. It has a tall stand with a sturdy tripod support and it comes with one lamp that can output 6,500 Kelvin / 1,800 Lumens. It can support up to three further lamps if needed, and they attach easily using the brand's patented 'Clamp-Lock' system, though this will reduce mobility.
03. Daylight Company Gemini Floor Lamp
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Best craft light for flexibility
Size: 57 x 90 x 135cm, 2.4kg
Colour temp: up to 6000 Kelvin
Another from the same brand, this professional craft light delivers high contrast and accurate colour with dual flexes that you can point wherever they're needed. It's expensive but lightweight and portable. Its flexibility makes it great for pulling in close when you need it and then moving it to arm's length.
04. Daylight Company Electra Lamp
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Best craft light for versatility
Size: 43.9 x 33.2 x 7.3cm, 4kg
Colour temp: up to 6000 Kelvin
This bright, flexible lamp features three colour temperature settings: a subtle switch raises the temperature to 6000K, or reduces it to a cool 4000K. The black satin finish and slim design stand out and make this a light that's just as well suited to the home as a reading light as it is leaning over a craft table.
05. Brightech Litespan
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Best craft light for multiple rooms
Size: 26 x 26 x 134cm, 0.28kg
Colour temp: up to 6000 Kelvin
This is another versatile option for a craft room and living room. The lightweight pole is easily assembled and can be adjusted to the height you need, and the wooden stand and casing come in several colour options. If you're being energy conscious, consider that this shines at a bright 850-950 lumens and only uses 12 watts of electricity.
05. Brightech Leaf
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Best craft light for style
Size: 10 x 49 x 134cm, 3.44kg
Colour temp: 3000 Kelvin
This beautiful looking LED floor lamp comes in black or silver. While it only has a colour temperature of 3000 Kelvin, the Leaf is well made and has a wonderful swing that makes it useful for lighting details when needed and folding away when not required. It does light at 1150 lumens, so it is bright even if the light is 'yellow' rather than bright white.
How we test craft lights
Our arts and crafts experts have many years of experience across a wide range of creative disciplines. Drawing, painting sculpting, paper engineering and even knitting fall into their expertise, and they have been able to test the craft lights and lamps in real studio conditions, assessing the practicality, flexibility and above all the light quality of each product listed in our buying guide to the best craft lights.
How to choose a craft light
Two key considerations are the area you need to illuminate and the type of creative work you will be doing. Will you be working on a desktop or worksurface and focusing on a relatively small and fixed area? Or, do you need a lamp that will move and adjust, illuminating a wider area such as a large table or a full-size easel?
If the type of projects you undertake are quickly accomplished you may not need all the power of 2500 Lumens and a 6000 Kelvin colour temperature. However, if you you spend long hours working on each piece, the higher end and higher priced craft lights in this guide will help reduce eye strain and will keep your project sharply lit as you meticulously craft each detail.
Craft light FAQ
Good craft lights are able to illuminate a space and disperse shadows. Most are LED and reach 6000 Kelvin, these have largely no heat but are very bright. The best craft lights will lift the contrast on anything being illuminated, which is why a good reading light can also be a good lamp for crafting.
Lumens measure the brightness of the light, or how much light is being generated. For crafting and sewing, you want a light that is around 2000-2500 Lumens.
Degrees Kelvin is how the colour temperature of the light being produced is measured. A yellow dim light is around 3000 Kelvin. A bright white light, useful for dispersing shadows, is 6000 Kelvin.
High wattage LED light bulbs are the best for craft lights and lamps for artists. These can come in various watt strengths and produce a range of colour temperatures. It's good to consider how you will use the light; will it be at a distance for an art easel or closer in for working with Cricut machines and sewing machines?
If money is no object, you can’t go wrong with a high-quality lamp from The Daylight Company, Purelite or Native Lighting. There are less expensive options too. Regardless of cost, look for a large and movable light head and ideally with colour temperature control to adjust through the day.
Ideally, yes. You need to be able to position a craft light so it can disperse shadows and pull the contrast out of the fabric, paper or craft project being worked on. For this reason you need to be able to move the lamp as the light in a room changes.
I’ve shared a lot of lighting posts over the years… in fact, I’ve actually covered this topic before, but thought it was time for an updated post, based on the amount of questions I receive on this topic. Good designers are experts in lighting- they know how to layer fixtures, they know how to adequately light a space based on its function, and most importantly- they know what lighting temperatures look best in a room. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- our home feels most magical and cozy during the evening hours, and I credit that solely to lighting. You can have a beautifully designed home filled with gorgeous light fixtures, and the color of a simple light bulb can really damper the overall look and feel. In today’s Designer Trick post, I wanted to chat about light temperature… how to choose the best temp for your room, expand on the color scale, and share my personal preferences when light bulb shopping. Click through to check it out!
As I previously mentioned, there are two main terms you need to know when choosing a bulb: Kelvin and Lumens.
Easy to understand, right? My personal preference in terms of temperature (or Kelvin) is 2700 K. Sometimes I’ll even go as low as 2400 K. I prefer a warm, cozy light… I also think it makes my interior look its best. It’s easy on the eyes, never looks clinical, and absorbs nicely.
I do think that your Kelvin preference is dependent on your home and aesthetic. I never use lights during the daytime. Our house gets great natural light and they’re really not needed… not even in my office or the kitchen (unless the weather is bad). Since I only use lights during the even hours or during stormy weather, the warm light feels like a perfect fit for our home. I even prefer warmer bulbs for our exterior lights (porch lights, holiday lights, etc). I just think they’re more inviting! If your house is naturally dark and doesn’t boast much natural light, you may want to consider bumping your temperature to 3000 Kelvin for a more even hue… remember, the higher the Kelvin (K), the cooler the temperature. My 2700 K preference looks warmer than a 3000 K bulb, which would read a bit cooler. Make sense? When you get into the 4000 – 5000 K, I personally feel like rooms begin to take on a clinical or sterile feel, which isn’t my favorite. Again, that’s just my personal preference!
Brightness (or Lumens) totally depends on the function and the fixture. Are you using a light to cook? Is it the only fixture in the room? How many bulbs does the fixture contain? Is the bulb exposed or concealed? If the fixture has a shade, does it have a diffuser? Is it on a dimmer? All of these things play into the Lumens (or brightness) you’ll want to choose.
I do have a few lighting tips that should help with your lighting decisions…
Lastly, let’s talk about bulb design and shape. This is a big one for me! I feel like as LED bulbs took over the market (for good reason based on their efficiency), some fast, bad design crept into retail stores. Don’t worry- there are plenty of good bulb styles to choose from, but I also intentionally avoid shapes like spiraled bulbs and odd flattened, flood shapes. Why? Unless your bulb is totally concealed in your fixture and you’ll never see it, I want the bulb to look aesthetically pleasing. If I’m lounging in bed and look up at my sconce or lamp, those little details make me crazy. For fixtures with exposed bulbs, clear globes, or open shades, make sure you choose a bulb shape that looks cohesive with the light fixture itself. I stick to basic white or clear bulbs, standard shapes, round shapes, and vintage shapes (like edison style bulbs). This has nothing to do with performance, brightness, or bulb temperature… it’s purely an aesthetic decision.
For more posts & resources on lighting, check out some of these below…
Additionally, you can find the entire Designer Trick series here. I’ve been sharing my industry tips & tricks for almost two years now! I hope these posts are helpful.
Hit me with your lighting or bulb questions in the comment section below! I’m happy to help. While it can seem daunting, bulb temperature and brightness is really pretty easy! I think it just requires practical thinking. I hope this updated bulb post makes things a bit easier for you the next time you’re bulb shopping! As always, let me know if you have other design questions or topics you’d like me to elaborate on in future blog posts. I feel the best posts are always the reader requests. I’ll drop a bunch of warm bulbs below (in my preference of 2700 K- also called “soft white”), if you prefer to buy bulbs online…
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