Some Bright Ideas For Using LED Strip Lights In Your Home
Posted by Richard Clarke on 19th Apr 2013
If you’re planning on using LED strip lights in your home, but don't know where to start, here’s a room-by-room list of ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
First up is...
The Living Room
If you’re relaxing in front of the telly after a hard day at work, ambient LED backlighting is a perfect stress reliever.
Lighting has well-known mood-enhancing properties, and LED strip lights are the ideal type of product to achieve this effect.
Simply take some RGB Colour-Changing RGB Strip and affix it to the rear of your TV using the 3M self-adhesive with which all of our strips are equipped.
And voila, a gorgeous, ambient lighting display!
Our Advice:
- In order to avoid pinching and possibly damaging the LEDs, use some LED Corner Connectors to adjoin two lengths of strip light.
Feeling peckish? Let’s move into...
The Kitchen![Kitchen LED Strip Lights Kitchen LED Strip Lights](/content/uploads/2013/04/kitchenledstriplights.jpg)
As you can see from the image above, LED strips can be incorporated into many aspects of your kitchen.
In this particular example, Dual Colour LED Strips have been added to the plinths and pelmets, creating a halo effect on the floor and ceiling. You’ll also be able to brighten up your worktops by installing these LED strips beneath your wall hung cabinets.
This type of LED strip is perfect for applications like dual-role kitchen/living areas, because they contain sequenced warm and cool white SMDs, so you’ll have the option of changing the intensity of each colour to achieve a wide range of colour temperatures that range between 3000K and 6000K.
Thus, when you’re chopping and peeling in the kitchen area, you’ll have the advantage of the bright, precise cool white (6000K) light to aid your vision. Then, when you’re relaxing in the living area, you can switch the lighting to warm white (3000K), as it’s much mellower.
Single Colour LED Strip Lights have also been used to illuminate the glass-fronted cabinets above the sink, transforming them into an eye-catching feature.
Our Advice:
- Use a mid-brightness LED strip light for under-cabinet lighting and a low-brightness strip for plinth and pelmet lighting.
- You can run more than one length of LED strip from a single LED driver. This will be particularly useful where you have cabinets that are separated by an extractor fan.
Next, we’re going up the wooden hill...
The Stairs
The image above shows a Single Colour LED Strip in a warm white (3000K) colour temperature.
It has been incorporated into a floating staircase, and the light it emits will create a fantastic wall-washing effect that will add a sense of drama and give definition to the shape of the staircase.
You can also create a feature of your staircase by combining LED strip lights with a frosted perspex sheet.
Mount the sheet onto the wall, leaving just enough room for your strip lights behind. The light from the LEDs will diffuse evenly across the sheet, creating an impressive display.
Our Advice:
- Cable can be a tripping hazard, so make sure it’s tucked out of the way.
- When using LED Strip Lights in ‘high traffic areas, choose a hard-wearing IP65-rated coating to protect them against accidental contact.
Right, now we’re upstairs, so let’s check out...
The Bathroom
In this example, cool white LED strips have been added to a bathroom, giving it an ultra-contemporary feel.
The strip on the mirrored cabinets doubles as a task light, providing more visibility around the sink area. A similar strip has also been added to the underside of the bath, resulting in a pleasant and apt floating effect.
You don’t have to use the single colour LED strips in your bathroom, though. Why not let your imagination run riot and install some incredible colour-changing RGB LED Pixel Tape in there to have some real fun at bath-time?
Our Advice:
- Check the IP-Rating of your LED strip lights to ensure they have sufficient water-resistance. Ideally, for areas in which they’re likely to be splashed with water, you’ll require an IP65-rated strip.
Fancy a rest? Let’s hit...
The Bedroom
The kids will love what you can do with LED lights in their bedrooms!
In this particularly imaginative display, LED Decking Lights have been combined with a reel of RGBW LED Strip Lights to achieve an incredible, ceiling-mounted football pitch.
The RGBW LED strip can produce in incredible array of colours that’s enhanced further with the aid of the additional white LEDs.
Even better, your son or daughter will have their very own RGBW LED Strip Light Remote Control to mess about with. They’ll be kept happy (and quiet) for hours!
Our Advice:
- When you’re customising the length of your LED strips, ensure that you cut them only at the marked intervals, to avoid damaging the SMDs.
All rested up? Let’s check out...
The Garden
With proper planning, LED strip lights can really spruce up the appearance of your garden and patio area.
Here, concealed strips of Single Colour LEDs in cool white have been used to highlight the detail of the garden walls. Not only does this look stunning, but it also allows for improved visibility during the evening.
Our Advice:
- Protect your LED Strip Lights from the elements by using a suitable IP rating. Nothing less than an IP67-rated coating should be used outside.
Hopefully, this has given you a few new ideas about using LED strip lights around your home. .
Should you fancy a chat, or you need some LED Strip Light-related advice, call one of our customer service advisors on 0116 321 4120 or send an e-mail enquiry to cs@wled.co.uk.