Shelf lighting can make a huge difference to the look and ambiance of a room, adding both cosiness and drama to your décor as well as providing practical benefits. Whether you’re using it to display ornaments or highlight book titles, lighting your shelves will always make a valuable contribution to the design and sophistication of your space.
There are various options you can use, including LED strip lights, puck lights, spot downlights or LED light bars (these are made by running an LED strip inside a rigid channel). LED strip lights are popular because they’re flexible, easy to install, provide even illumination and importantly are easy to conceal LED strips are slim and flexible. This makes them ideal for installing in tight spaces such as along the underside of shelves. They come in an increasing range of types and sizes, and can be as slim as 6mm wide and under 5mm deep to easily tuck into a recess or behind a shallow fascia along the front of a shelf.
Here are some tips on what to think about when choosing and installing LED strip shelf lighting.
- Placement: Different effects will be achieved according to where you put your strip, so you need to think about how you want the lighting to look and work. For example, for your bookshelves you would want to light the spines of the books so you can see the titles, and therefore the strip should run underneath the front of the shelf. If you have glass ornaments or bottles, running the strip along the bottom at the back creates wonderful back-lighting to shine through the glass (this can work particularly well in bathrooms).
- Measuring: LED strips can be cut to specific lengths so you can customise them to fit your shelves perfectly. If you leave a short gap at the end of each shelf it will avoid light ‘pooling’ in the corners and provide a more even light spread in the alcove. Remember that all led strips will come with a driver (or transformer) that will need to be positioned on or near to the shelves, so discuss this with your electrician before they are fitted.
- Installing: Installation of LED strip lights is generally straightforward and requires minimal tools and expertise. Most strips come with adhesive backing for easy attachment to surfaces, and many kits include all the necessary components for installation.
- Dimmable Options: You may wish to be able to dim your shelf lights in which case you will need to ensure that you have a dimmable driver. Dimming is a wonderful tool for adjusting and balancing the light levels in a room, creating the brightness according to the function or ambiance you want to create in the room.
- Colour Options: LED strips are available in a wide range of colours, including various shades of white as well as a rainbow of other colours. Warm white tends to create a cosy atmosphere, cool white is more modern and energizing. While coloured lights can add a fun, decorative touch. As a lighting designer however I would suggest you ideally choose an led strip that is 2700k which will give you a warm, comfortable light for a relaxing atmosphere.
- Energy Efficiency: LED strip lights are highly energy-efficient compared to traditional lighting options. They consume less electricity, which can lead to lower energy bills over time. The also have an incredibly long lifespan, often lasting tens of thousands of hours before needing replacement. Make sure you buy a good quality led strip however to ensure a good constant light emission.
- Examples: To help you choose how you would like to light your shelves, contact me at Cat Lighting for examples of shelf lighting projects we have done for a number of clients in different and imaginative ways.
