Over the years, sliding wardrobes have proven their convenience and rationality of use and have taken a worthy place in almost every apartment. However, the depths of the wardrobes, where clothes are folded or hung, often require additional lighting to find the right thing, or, conversely, without disturbing the peace of the household, to highlight only one shelf or section. For this, it is most convenient to use backlighting. In this case, it is necessary to clearly understand for what purpose it is installed.
Content
- Advantages and disadvantages of wardrobe lighting
- Types of Lighting: Pros and Cons of Options
- What to pay special attention to when choosing lamps and lighting fixtures
- What is special about kitchen unit lighting and how to use it in the interior?
- Selection and installation by yourself
- Video: DIY lighting of a cabinet with LED strip in an aluminum profile
Advantages and disadvantages of wardrobe lighting
Before talking about the pros and cons of cabinet lighting, those who want to install it need to understand its necessity. It is clear that placing lighting along the outer edge of the furniture will not play any functional role, but will remain a decorative design. There is no need for it either if the depth of the cabinets is small, and all manipulations with things can be done without additional lighting.
Among the advantages that lighting provides for sliding wardrobes, it is worth noting the following:
- does not take up much space;
- creates a unique color scheme in the room;
- provides convenience when searching for things or placing them on shelves;
- saves time;
- provides the ability to illuminate the area where things are located without using other lighting devices.
Another advantage is the ability to install lighting yourself. In addition, it should be taken into account that internal lighting allows you to maintain order in cabinets and clean them in a timely manner: remove cobwebs, wipe off dust, or detect mold or mildew on the inner surface of cabinets in time.
As for the disadvantages, here we can note the difficulty of lighting control.
Types of Lighting: Pros and Cons of Options
Not all lamps are suitable for interior lighting of furniture. For ease of use, preference is given to two types of lamps: surface-mounted and built-in. At the same time, halogen and LED lighting devices have become the most popular.
| Lighting type | Pros | Cons |
| Halogen | Increased light output.
Evenly distributed light that maintains its brightness throughout the entire life of the lighting fixture. Compact design. High level of security. | They get very hot and are a fire hazard.
The strength is low. React to voltage surges. The service life is relatively short. |
| Fluorescent | They don't heat up.
High light output. Long service life. Brightness that doesn't blind the eyes. Various color composition. | Limited power with significant dimensions.
Difficulty of connection. Dependence on external temperature. |
| LED | Slight heating.
Saving electricity. Durability. Fire and environmental safety. | Relatively expensive.
They do not produce diffused light. Expensive switching power supplies are required. |
| LED strip | Any configuration is possible.
Easy to install. High reliability. Works on low voltage Safe. | Poor color rendering ability.
The need to connect power supplies. |
What to pay special attention to when choosing lamps and lighting fixtures
When choosing lighting fixtures, you need to take into account a number of features that will help you choose the “right” one, the one that will decorate your apartment.
- It is important to take into account the features of the room where they will be installed. If the interior is already decorated, then the lamps and lights are selected taking into account the existing design so that they fit in organically.
- Don't forget to take into account the area and lighting of the room: luxurious huge chandeliers or cascades of lamps hanging from the ceiling are unacceptable for small rooms: they will visually make the room even smaller. A modest small lamp will also look ridiculous in a huge room with high ceilings.
- Particular attention should be paid to the selection of lamps:
- their power;
- energy saving opportunities;
- brightness;
- color scheme.
- It is important to decide on the price of the purchased product, establishing a certain “price corridor” within which the choice of lighting fixture will take place.
When choosing a lamp or light fixture, you should consider your family budget, rationality, quality and aesthetics.
What is special about kitchen unit lighting and how to use it in the interior?
Today, various sources are used to illuminate kitchen furniture: halogen, fluorescent and LED lamps and LED strips, with the latter increasingly being preferred.
The tape comes in different sizes and densities, and it is also necessary to consider:
- LED color, presented in a wide range of shades; in some cases, the brightness can be adjusted;
- if the kitchen furniture is dark in color, lighting under the bottoms of hanging shelves and cabinets will emphasize the elegance and refined taste of the interior;
- Correctly selected lighting will perform its direct functionality and will look great as a decorative element of the kitchen set;
- will add a certain zest to the design of the room where the kitchen set is installed, lighting the top and bottom of the wall cabinets.
Selection and installation by yourself
Before you start installing the lighting for your sliding wardrobe, you must, of course, choose the most appropriate lighting option. Experience shows that the most suitable lighting sources for sliding wardrobes are fluorescent and LED lamps or LED strips. They ensure safe use, save energy, and are not very difficult to install. But the simplest and most rational way to illuminate furniture is to install LED strips. In this case, you must consider:
- acceptable tape length;
- lighting solution;
- the need to purchase a 12W power supply.
In addition to the above advantages, LED strip lighting allows you to determine another advantage: there is no need to damage the surface of the furniture for its installation.
Despite the fact that the installation of such a light source does not require serious skills in working with electricity, this does not mean that they are not needed at all. Therefore, if the owner is not at all "friendly" with technology, it is better to seek help from a specialist.
However, if you have the desire, you can master even very difficult moments, and installing LED strips is not one of them.
The tape is mounted as follows.
- A plastic corner or small baseboard is attached to the prepared place for installing the tape, which is secured with “liquid nails”.
Box or plinth for installing LED strip - A tape is placed through the corners and secured to them.
LED strip in aluminum profile for furniture or ceiling lighting - The adhesive layer is removed from it and it is glued to the surface.
- The backlight is connected to the power source with the correct polarity (for some, this may be the most difficult step). However, for most, connecting it will not be difficult if you carefully read the installation instructions.
Advice: To avoid power loss, the length of the wire should not exceed three meters.
- The backlight switch can be installed on the side surface or under the shelf. It is better to place the power source at the top: it is convenient and safe.
Placement of the backlight switch on the side wall of the cabinet
Attention! It is worth remembering that the transformer heats up during operation. Therefore, when fixing it, it is necessary to comply with fire safety requirements.
- In order not to spoil the appearance of the furniture and protect household members from trouble, it is necessary to take care to hide the wires and cables.
The formation of the apartment interior using lighting will bring originality to its design, will indicate the taste preferences of the owners and their desire to live in comfort and beauty.
