It’s been a while since we’ve posted a DIY project, and some of our members took notice. To help us along, here is an incredibly innovative and inexpensive project that one of our community members KennethYim has gratuitously shared with us.

While many of us have under cabinet lighting installed in our kitchens, Kenneth decided to find an unconventional solution to the typical problem of countertop task lighting. Here are the before and after images of his kitchen with LED mood lighting installed.

As you can see, the use of colored LED lighting provides a nightclub/lounge feel to your small urban space. This works especially well with open concept living where the lighting floods the entire suite mesmerizing your guests as they drink and lounge to some contemporary chill-out tunes. The best part about these LED lights from IKEA are they are can be set to 7 different colors, or configured to alternate and rotate between colors with a push of a button.

The materials needed for this project are:

• IKEA DIODER lighting strip
• Cosmetic aluminum L-shaped trim (optional)
• Double-stick adhesive tape
• Drill
• Wire stripper
• Electrical tape or 2 wire twist connectors
• White shelf backing board, hammer, penny inch nails (optional)
• Construction stapler

Here is a closeup picture of the install. While we won’t go into too much detail about how to wire everything up, you can get an idea of how everything fits together. These lightweight LED strips can be simply fastened to the upper cabinets using strong double-stick adhesive tape. Depending on the depth of your cabinets, you may require a cosmetic lip to be fastened to the front to conceal the lighting strips. The aluminum trim used here is available at any local hardware store and is also fastened using strong double-sided adhesive tape. The wires can be secured using construction staples, and strung to your nearest electrical outlet.

While some condo buildings have pre-wired junction boxes, most do not. Here is a tip that I’ve used in the past for many under cabinet lighting installations. The easiest way to get power to the lighting is from the outlet behind the refrigerator. All that is required is to drill a tiny hole in the side of the gable close to the back corner. Cut off the head of the electrical cord so that the wire can be snaked through this small hole. From the other side, with the refrigerator extracted from its nook, reattach the head of the electrical cord using
a wire stripper, wire twist connectors, or some electrical tape. If you do not have any experience with basic wiring, please consult a professional. With everything connected back in place, plug in the unit to the refrigerator outlet.

The final step is to conceal the wires if you require a cleaner look. This can be done by cutting a small piece of thin white backing board found at your local hardware store to the same size of the underside of the cabinets, while leaving a gap for the newly installed light strips. Fasten this backing board with small penny inch nails, nailed at an angle to avoid the board from sliding off under its own weight.

And that’s it, turn on the lights and fall into a trance. As a final note, this unconventional lighting system works best with very neutral white kitchens with particularly a light reflective backsplash and white countertop. Because the clean white neutral materials of the countertop and glass backsplash reflect the light so well, the overall effect is incredible!

Thanks again to KennethYim for sharing pictures of his hip and urban living space. If any of our members would also like to share their projects with the rest of the community, please feel free to drop us a line and attach images at contact@suitebase.com. We look to keep empowering the community of condo owners with inspirational and instructional articles.