There are dimmable fluroescent fixtures but you will need to go to an electrical supply or lighting showroom to obtain these. I don't believe the big box stores have anything like this. I would like to suggest that you may want to think about incorporating different types of lighting in your basement. The play area can have a fluorescent fixture. You may want to have incandescent lighting (lamps) for the TV and reading area. The future bar area should be worried about later as with a drop ceiling you can add lighting. Since I am not sure the depth that you have in your drop, you can check and see if you can get recessed fluorescent lights for the play area. Any reliable electrical or lighting showroom should be able to assist you with this. If not, you can always check the fluorescent lighting manufacturers on line to get the specifications of what is available. Try Lightolier, American Fluorescent or any of the like. The recessed fluorescent lighting that they are doing now is really quite nice. You can even get lenses that will cut the glare. For the different lenses you can check Malcolite. The only reason I suggest different types of lighting is that you are doing different tasks. Most people like to read by incandescent lighting and lamps really are the softest for this purpose. Also, in the TV area, you would want to be able to regulate the lighting so that there is no glare on the TV. If you want you can place a few recessed cans around the perimeter. Also, you can check out the fluorescent websites because they are doing extremely shallow fixtures that are surface mounted.

I'm looking for Classic Lighting Chandeliers or American Brass Lighting chandeliers- best I'm finding online $375-$475+...Are there real good discounted online store or NYC lighting district?

I'm sorry I don't have any good recommendations (I wasn't ignoring you, but Iw ante;d our question to float at the top in case someone who COULD help would see it. My observation of other people's GCs indicates that they're not really the best at maximizing the space (they never space shelves closely enough, for one thing). You might consider wandering down to the Container Store and asking them to help you figure out an Elfa solution. Then even if you decide not to go w/Elfa, you'll have a sense of how many shelves, how far apart, etc.

There is a recent discussion on pendant lighting originally specific to larger pendants but the conversation has covered a lot more. I would recommend you check it out. I purchased my bathroom light fixture at faucetdirect & had great customer service dealing with a part that was back ordered. For pendants, these are the sights I have found most useful but I have yet to buy from any of them except lighting by gregory & that was a few years ago. Note - I have been looking for contemporary or simple period "style" pendants (such as schoolhouse) so the list leans that way. Consolidators - carry many manufacturers (more contemporary) http://www.lightology.com/ www.shadesoflight.com - good pricing for copies of higher-end stuff like restoration hardware www.lightingbygregory.com www.ylighting.com Only carry their own stuff www.schoolhouseelectric.com - period lighting www.rejuvenation.com - period lighting www.restorationhardware.com - period lighting www.techlighting.com - contemporary pendants & some period style through one of their brands - Wilmette which has a link on the homepage Here is a link that might be useful: Pendant discussion