I hang mine with light chain and hooks so they can be lowered or raised as the plants grow. There are sets of shelves and lights available from some seed catalogues but generally they cost much more than building your own. Florescent lights do not give off as much heat and should be three to six inches above the plants. As the plants grow raise the lights to stay just above the plants. If you build shelves with adjustable brackets it makes it easy to re-arrange shelves to fit the height of the plants.
Florescent light is also very good for starting and rooting cuttings.
Use regular cool white bulbs till the plants are established and then switch to grow bulbs. Try starting regular annual flowers like French Marigolds, Violas, or Dianthus with 16 hours of light. When buds start to form set the timer for 12 hours to induce blooming. Even Miniature Roses will grow from seed and bloom in the middle of winter under lights. You can even bring your favorite geranium indoors, give it a rest in a dark cool corner of the basement and then bring it back into the light to grow and bloom in the winter.