Under cabinet lighting – the easiest (and probably cheapest) upgrade for your kitchen! Here’s how to find and install the right product for your space.
I’m a sucker for under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. I think every kitchen should have it, and our new kitchen was not complete until we finally installed our own.
If you, like us, were thinking that you’d love to put more lighting in your kitchen, but you don’t quite know how to go about finding the right thing, much less figuring out how to install it, I’ve got great news.
Now that there are so many options for under cabinet lights, it doesn’t need to be an intimidating project.
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How to Choose the Right Under Cabinet Lighting for Your Kitchen
The first question with under cabinet lighting is: where is the power coming from?
If you have electrical outlets in your cabinets, or in the backsplash just below your cabinets, you can use wired lights.
If you don’t have hidden outlets, or don’t want a wire coming from your cabinets into an outlet (and I wouldn’t), you’ll need to use battery powered lights. With LED technology coming so far, there are many good options for these. (More on this in a minute.)
The second question is: how much light do you need?
Are you just looking for ambient lighting, or do you need something brighter to really illuminate your work space? Consider dimmable lights if you want both options.
I wanted mostly ambient lighting, because let’s face it, I don’t really love cooking so I don’t need to get too far into the details of how to open that package from Trader Joe’s. But I love the soft light from below eye level that you get from under cabinet lights. And I like not having dark and dreary pockets along my counter tops and backsplash.
The third question is about the color of the light.
Do you like warm or cool light? Most lightbulbs now have labels such as daylight or bright white, and they also have a Kelvin scale that describes the warmth of the light.
The smaller the number on the Kelvin scale, the warmer (or more yellow) the light quality. The higher numbers give a cooler (or more blue) hue. For instance, 2700K gives a nice warm glow like lamplight. 4500K or more gives a more sterile light, which might be better for lighting work spaces.
I wanted warm glowy light that seemed very natural, so I opted for 2700K.
Some lights have adjustable temperatures that you set at the time you install the light. These are a bit more expensive but might be helpful if you’re unsure how the light will look in your space.
And finally, will the lights be reflected in your polished countertops?
I know that’s a weird question, but for me it was important not to have a runway of circular lights reflecting off my white countertops. I wanted to choose the smallest possible lights, with the least harsh outlines.
You might not care (no judgment here) or your counters might not be very reflective. If so, you can skip this question.
Under Cabinet Lights I Recommend:
What we used: ASOKO Dimmable LED Under Cabinet Lights Warm White 2700K, 3 Pcs 12″ Linkable LED Cabinet Lighting Plug in
These have a warm light color, were easy to install with several options for attaching to cabinets, are inexpensive, and they make it easy to add more light bars. Also, they do come in cooler light colors as well, if that’s more your style.
Best battery operated option: Diomart Under Cabinet Lighting, Wireless Rechargeable Under Counter Lights with Remote Control
Adjustable light temperature option: ASOKO LED Under Cabinet Lighting,3 Color Changing
How to Install Under Cabinet Lights
This project is so easy, all you’ll need for installation is:
- a pencil for marking
- a drill and drill bits (for wired lights)
(I’ll be showing you how to install wired lights. If you’re putting up battery powered lights, all you need to do is just stick them on the bottom of your cabinets. Your light kit should include double-sided adhesive strips, or you can easily pick up a package of command strips, which are handy for all sorts of projects.)
Measure and Mark
First, decide where you want the lights to go. If you already have outlets for the lights, you’ll want to make sure your plug will reach from the outlet to the first light. And if you’re connecting multiple lights, check that the connecting wires reach far enough between the units.
I recommend a trial run first: space the lights evenly along your countertop, then plug them in and turn them on. Make sure you like how the light looks as a whole in your kitchen. You may need to add lights or adjust your plan if you end up with shadowy corners or dark spots between the lights.
I like having the lights up against the front underside of the cabinets. That way they’re less visible on the cabinet, and they bathe more of the countertop with light.
Once you’ve decided where the lights will go, use a pencil to mark their locations on the underside of the cabinets.
Drill Holes for Wires
Next you’ll need to drill holes for the wires to go from the light up into the cabinet with the outlet. And you’ll need to drill holes between the cabinets for the wires that connect the lights, if you have multiples on one line.
In our case, we chose to use one outlet in a cabinet, and connect four lights together on that one plug. So we drilled one hole in the bottom corner of the first cabinet. Then we drilled three holes along the bottom of the cabinet frames to string the wires through and keep them invisible.
If your cabinet frames are not deep enough to drill through, you can drill a hole from the bottom up into the cabinet, and then through the sides to the next cabinet. In general, I try to drill as few holes as possible in my brand new kitchen cabinets!
Before you drill, locate a drill bit that is just slightly bigger than the size of the connector on the end of your wire. That’s the part you’ll thread through the hole.
Attach the Lights to the Cabinets
This part was the easiest and most fun. It was literally as easy as sticking them on with double stick tape. The hardest part was pealing the backing off the tape!
Once they were all stuck on in the right place, I used painter’s tape to secure them and give the double sided tape time to cure for a few hours.
Our light kits also came with option to attach the lights by magnets into metal (great for garage work tables!) or with screws into wood.
Put it All Together
Once the lights were up, I threaded all the wires through their holes and plugged them in. Voila! Instant mood lighting!
The only thing left is to clean up the wires by tucking them into the cabinets. I used ties to bundle the large wires together and hid them behind the dishes in the cabinet.
Under the cabinets, I pulled the wires taught, clipped them to the bottom of the cabinet with the included adhesive wire tabs, and pushed the excess bundles of wires into the spaces between cabinets.
The wires are invisible, and the lights are pretty much invisible, other than the soft light they give.
Now, our kitchen feels a lot more cozy and inviting. All due to some strategic lighting.
Pro tips:
We knew we wanted under cabinet lighting when we remodeled our kitchen, so we connected the outlets that we put in the cabinets to a light switch at the front of the room. Now we can switch on the under cabinet lights with one switch for the whole space. Something to think about if you have the luxury of designing a project like this from scratch.
Also, if you think you might move your lights in the future, use command strips to attach the lights and the wires. That way you can easily pull them off any surface without damaging it.
I hope this has helped you feel confident in your ability to transform your kitchen with lighting, no matter what types of cabinets you’re starting with. Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions I can answer for you!
