Meet Your Kitchen’s New Under Cabinet Lighting

Whether looking for ideas for remodeling or for a quick kitchen update, consider installing under cabinet lighting. This type of lighting is beneficial for everyday use and even increases the overall value of your home. If you think under cabinet lighting is the best solution for your kitchen, the first step is to familiarize yourself with what it is, the options available, and the various benefits to using the always-popular under cabinet lighting solution.

What Is Under Cabinet Lighting?

Under cabinet lighting is a type of light fixture that is installed directly underneath your cabinets. When you use countertops around the edges of the room, kitchen under cabinet lighting reduces the problem of shadows interfering with your working spaces, making food preparation safer. Visually, it also adds depth to your kitchen design and emphasizes colors and lines included in surface tile and backsplash choices. It offers gentle illumination for nighttime use or to help with home security lighting. Under cabinet lighting is a useful addition to any kitchen or other home working area, from the laundry room to the home office, improving efficiency and comfort in a single, quick installation. 

Where to Use Under Cabinet Lighting

There are many places in the home where under cabinet lighting can be used effectively and enhance your experience of your space. While the kitchen is the most common place to find this type of lighting installed, either under or over a cabinet or hutch, the unique efficiency of these useful lights allows you to create a similar, consistent look from room to room. Here are a few other design ideas for ways to use under cabinet lighting throughout the whole house.

The RV

A great place for utilizing under cabinet lighting is the motor home, RV, or camper. There are plenty of low-voltage or battery powered lighting options. Some under cabinet lighting is quickly placed using a tape adhesive or magnets. The options are highly customizable, from easily shaped strip lighting to puck lights, so there’s a solution for each corner of the RV that won’t be a drain on the power supply. 

Around the House 

A popular place for under cabinet lighting is in the den or living room. The undercabinet lighting can be used over display shelves or around your DVD or record library. There are colorful LED strips that can be used to line the shelves of an entertainment center, or even the back of a TV to reflect off the wall behind it as a bright frame. These types of lights are statement pieces, creating a strong design impact within your space.

If your living room or bedroom has lifted ceilings, or exposed areas between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling, under cabinet lighting can be placed to reflect off the ceiling. The upward light accents the walls to add ambiance and soft lighting at night. Humidity resistant and flexible, LED strip lights can be applied to the back edges of bathroom mirrors and picture frames so that they create colorful reflections on the wall behind them. Rope lighting is good for seasonal decoration or as lighting for stairways, hallways, and steps between rooms. In addition to accent lighting, these lights can act as a nightlight for safer nighttime trips to the bathroom or kitchen.

The Kitchen 

Finally, let’s consider a few lighting ideas for the home kitchen. All the above design tricks can be used in the kitchen, too, and there’s still a few more to mention. The most popular look is to add the lighting under the overhead cabinets aimed down at the countertops for bright task lighting. Some of these lights offer various colors or dimming options, so with the right choice in fixtures, the under cabinet task lighting can double as an accent light. Another option is to line the underside of the floor cabinetry with LED rope lighting, which is durable, bright, and a helpful way to save anyone from accidentally kicking the paneling. If these under counter lights are hardwired into a light switch, they are easy to turn on and off for low-level safety lighting during late-night snack runs.

Types of Under Cabinet Lighting 

There are a wide variety of electrical choices, formats, and types of lights on the market that are designed to make customization easy and fun, and under cabinet lighting solutions are no exception. Take a look at a few of the benefits of each type of under cabinet lighting as you consider what would work best in your space.

Under Cabinet Lighting Electrical Choices 

There are different options for you to choose from when deciding on your under cabinet lighting. You can choose to install hard-wired, plug-in, or battery-operated under cabinet lighting. Each of these options presents different benefits and challenges when looking for a small space lighting solution. 

• Battery-Operated - These will have to be turned on individually,  and often come equipped with remote controls to make them ideal for corner placements, shelf illumination, or even closet spaces, to turn on when and where they’re immediately needed. The batteries will need to be replaced occasionally. 
• Hard-Wired – The benefit of hard-wired under cabinet lighting is that the lights turn on at a pre-existing switch, and they run off the electricity from the home. With the right bulbs, such as LED under cabinet lights, the lights use little energy but can light up much of a room.  
• Plug-in – With a plug-in under-counter light solution, the ON/OFF switch is on the light bar or pucks themselves. These fixtures plug into a standard outlet and do not require batteries.

Popular Light Formats 

Another benefit to under cabinet lighting is the very simple design choices. The fixtures aren’t complicated or overly ornate. The whole point of under cabinet lighting is to serve a useful function in a variety of places, and the light is meant to reflect down rather than illuminate a statement piece, so the format for these bulbs is very basic.  

The two most common formats to choose from are bar and puck lights. 

• Light bars are rectangular and shed light over larger areas. 
• Pucks are small, round- or square-shaped, and concentrate light into a smaller area.

Puck lights can come in various sizes, so you can find the right shape and size for your counter spaces whether being used in a kitchen or perhaps as a shelf light in the office or den. The light bar format is designed to cover a larger area more efficiently, with fewer breaks in light coverage, and it is quite common to find them installed end to end, close together to make sure there’s no shadowed area in between fixtures.

More recent additions to the world of under cabinet lighting include rope lighting and LED strip lighting. These alternatives offer the benefit of being able to create round corners, rather than create sharp end points. Most will be plug-in fixtures that can be easily attached to the underside of a shelf or cabinet.

Types of Light 

One of the determining factors in the type of under cabinet lighting that will work best in your home is the type of light the fixtures use. The choices include LED, incandescent light, and halogen bulbs, which are all equipped with their own benefits and advantages, depending on the area they will be installed in. In recent years, the more popular choice is LED lighting, as LED offers the most benefits, such as lower energy use and cost, or even light sources that stay cooler to the touch.  

With so many different options, you get to choose the style of under counter light that is right for your room and budget. Choose the under cabinet lighting that offers the most benefits for the specific needs of your space, whether that means the amount of light, the color of light, or the shape of the fixture. LED under cabinet lighting can offer as much light as a light bar equipped with an incandescent bulb, providing flexibility when it comes to making a purchase. The shape and your budget will likely play a bigger role in the choice than the functionality of the under cabinet lighting source you decide on.

Benefits of Under Cabinet Lighting

If you’re on the fence about whether to invest the time and money into this type of home lighting, here are a few extra reasons why it is worth considering.

1. Install Under Cabinet Lights for the Unique Style

Style is always a perfectly good reason to change up easy-to-install home features like lighting. Under cabinet lighting is extremely popular and adds value to your home when it comes to selling. Under cabinet lighting can add a unique style to your kitchen due to the layered aspect of the lights. The lights are designed to reflect light off the surfaces under them, creating a lot of opportunities in how you decorate, from the countertop materials to the decorations and accessories.  

A custom, modern style in your kitchen or den can add a comfortable ambiance. By creating customized lighting dimension and character in your existing kitchen design, under cabinet lighting can even make the kitchen look larger when placed to eliminate or accentuate shadows.

2. Easy on the Budget

Under cabinet light fixtures can be easy on your budget because you can install them yourself, saving on the hassle of rewiring the electrical system. There are so many different varieties of these lights to choose from, just look for the most energy-efficient options. Under cabinet lighting can even help to save money on your energy bill. This is especially true if you opt for an LED light fixture.

It’s also important to note that you don’t have to illuminate the whole room just to cast light on the countertops below. Any quick task that needs a little light can be put under a spotlight instead, even if the light is only used as a nightlight. Using less light means using less energy, ultimately making the overall energy bill just a little lower month to month.

Typically, the most affordable options are the battery-powered fixtures, as these are used primarily for decorations and often come in seasonal colors. Plug-in under cabinet lighting solutions offer a good middle-ground purchase, as they don’t require professional installation and rely on a standard home electrical outlet without using up a lot of energy.

3. Easy to Install

Another undeniable benefit of under cabinet lights is the fact that they are quite easy to configure and install. Even if you’re not planning a full kitchen renovation, installing this type of lighting isn't an overly difficult task to complete. Unlike pendant or recessed lighting that may require professional installation, some under cabinet options only require you to screw or nail a strip of light underneath your cabinets and plug them in. Other under cabinet options include removable tape adhesives that won’t leave a mess on the wall.

4. Enhance Interior Value 

Under cabinet lighting can enhance the way a room looks through the elimination of shadows, the addition of color, or even just the appearance of warmth. When installed correctly, this type of lighting can make a whole room shine. Adding effective under cabinet lighting in the kitchen is one of the easiest DIY projects real estate agents suggest to instantly improve the value of your home. 

5. Make Your Kitchen Safer

Shadows can impede your ability to cook and prep meals in the kitchen or treat a stain in the laundry room, so having adequate lighting can be very helpful. With under cabinet lighting, you are not standing between the light and the countertop that you are working from, so there are very few shadows that you will have to deal with.  

Installing lights directly under your cabinets will provide you with a clear view of the countertops below. This makes you less likely to accidentally nick your finger as you cut your veggies and prep for meals. They can also light up the floor, which can help you stay on your feet at night. With a low-heat, energy-efficient lighting type, undercabinet lighting even makes a good nightlight or security light to accompany home security systems. 

A professional can also help you pick out the best bulb for your needs. If a certain type of bulb or color temperature may hurt sensitive eyes in the household, a professional can make sure that safety is kept in mind and help you pick out a bulb that is best for you.

Is It Worth the Upgrade?

If you are still on the fence about the benefits of under cabinet lighting or wondering if the design overall would improve your home decor, you can talk to a professional for ideas about how to customize specific spaces in your home rather than all at once. There are many options, from a simple trip to your local home improvement store, talk to a contractor, or call up your favorite online experts on lighting. 

 Think about why you are considering under cabinet lighting for your kitchen.  

• Do you like the look of a well-lit workspace?  
• Do you want to add ambiance? 
• Is it time to chase out the dark spots in the kitchen?  
• Do you want to make your kitchen safer and more efficient?  

If this is the case, under cabinet lighting may be the best choice. 

No matter your reason for wanting to install under cabinet lighting, they may be just the solution you are looking for. Remember, this type of lighting comes with an easy installation process. For many homeowners, you will likely be able to install on your own, but if you have questions there is someone out there who can help you through the entire process. 

Don’t wait around until your energy bill is too high or for an emergency room visit because of a poor lighting-related kitchen accident. Start considering the benefits of under cabinet lighting today, and then start looking at all your options. You'll be surprised at how many options are available. You’re sure to find one that is right for your style, your budget, and your unique needs.