Any ideas for NOT ugly grow lights for house plants?

winter gets super dark here, and it is the less than an hour of sunlight a week that seems to bother the indoor plants. Even low light plants struggle and die.

I want to get some lighting but it is all so ugly!

I need inspiration for indoor lighting for houseplants.

It might not be cost effective depending on how many plants / how much space you need light for, but you could look into white grow light bulbs and anything that accepts a light bulb, since those have a lot more possibilities for style/customization than hanging lights do.

Oh... white light grow bulb.  I've only seen the purple light ones.  

Maybe a floor lamp with a grow bulb?  But my floor lamp is in use in the winter... I see a trip to the second hand shop in my future.

Or use shop light but build them a little cabinet so you can't actually see them. Like you get at the top of a fishtank.

I have placed a space blanket tent around some 4 x 6 ft shelves.  I have led grow lights inside that.  I cover the whole thing with other material ... such as a blanket ....for cat protection.  It serves to start seeds and be a salad garden all summer.

To head off the obvious question, while I am tied into the grid, I also have over 2000 watts in solar panels.

I want to keep the plants on a table where I can admire them.  Cabinets are great if I had a lot of plants or growing seriously.  For me, these plants are a decorative addition to the room, so I want the things that help grow plants to be decorative or unobtrusive.  

For last winter, I used this set-up.



solar panel with battery could keep the grow light going for a week on one charge.  BUT... since we can go months without direct sunlight, solar energy isn't great in our climate.  

This worked well when there was only one plant.  I've got 12 to try to bring through the winter this year.  

also, that lamp is pretty ugly.  I don't like the way it clamps to the table.  

Not exactly pretty, but....

The purple light really bothered my wife and myself, so we added a second amber or green bulb to help "whiten" the light in the room. In her large light system, it was more cost and power efficient to do that vs. using full spectrum white grow bulbs.  They say plants need a little of the green light spectrum to flower while they are fine with the red and blue for vegetative growth.

I used the GE LED white grow light mentioned previously in the thread. To me, it still seemed to give off a pinkish hue, but not bad, it was livable. All in all, it's a good bulb for the price and seemed sufficient. It made my fig break dormancy in January and I got to enjoy sights of growth when most appreciated ;) Funny thing tho ...I was in a pinch for time and money last fall and ended up putting the bulb in a brooder lamp which I hung from the ceiling. Not exactly the best aesthetics, but cheap and effective... might be a "you know you're a permie type thing" ;) It was hung over a table and I found the light to be fine for writing, reading, eating etc. It wasn't too harsh like some LEDs can be. Because the plants where near a south window, I put the light on a timer with dual settings and used it for a few hours in the morning and evening during the winter months. I only kept a few plants under it. The fig was the largest. I also set my plants on stands to elevate them and put them closer to the light. The fig was about 6 inches away from the bulb.

One thing to remember with most grow bulbs like this, is they are wide (flood type) and need a wide lamp holder.
I have found GE 60 watt incandescent plant light bulbs locally, which will fit into a normal socket of most lamps. I plan to try this next with the secondhand lamps I found (table top and floor stand with goose neck). The downside, is this type of plant lighting is more like a spotlight verses the slightly wider reach that is possible with a flood light, but it's a little more aesthetically pleasing and affordable.

I still drool over the Soltech Solutions Aspect light.
https://www.soltechsolutions.com/product/aspect-plant-light/

I also really like what Modern Sprout offers, especially the growframes and the growbar which can be mounted in a bookcase and not appear too obtrusive.
https://store.modsprout.com/collections/grow-lights

I think indoor plant lighting has come a long way these days.
Hope this offers some inspiration :)

Regular LED bulbs in a lamp work, I’ve been using it for years. Find a pretty lamp you like and put one (or two) in and you’re done! You want the bulbs to be at least 5000K and 1600 lumens, and “daylight” color tone.
If I could figure out how to post pictures on here I can put up pics of some bulbs I use...

Figured it out...

I see you are at pretty high latitude, but I figure solar tubes should get a mention in this thread, I just wish they were cheaper...

Build a glass block enclosure and hide high intensity grow lights inside the enclosure. The lights will illuminate the glass blocks but you wont see the light fixtures. It will radiate heat in winter as well...