Easy Smart Home Kitchen Cabinet Lighting Ideas
We’ve been spending quite a bit of time in our cozy basement this season. I know, it seems contradicting for a basement to feel warm & inviting, but believe me… since renovating our bar area and the media room, it’s one of our favorite spaces to relax in the house. Since we’ve been spending so much time downstairs, it recently became obvious to me we were lacking an important detail- adequate evening lighting in the kitchen. Since we’re hosting quite a few house guests this month, I felt motivated to remedy this issue sooner rather than later, and wanted to share our solution with you. Click through to see our easy smart home kitchen cabinet lighting, along with other simple ideas, as well as the installation process. It’s a great way to add warmth, depth, and ambiance to your entire kitchen.
This post is sponsored by Lowe’s. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to create unique content while featuring products we actually use & enjoy!
I shared our basement bar reveal back in March, and the basement media room reveal shortly after. Be sure to give those posts a scroll to see the before images or where we started! One of my favorite projects we tackled in this space was the vintage hutch transformation– which is now our beautiful, custom bar. The only issue? We never reworked the lights within the cabinet. Though, I’m happy to report that problem has been solved, with this practical solution…
Our Basement Kitchen Lighting- or Lack Thereof
I photographed this entire project and installation during the evening hours without the overhead lighting, to give you the most realistic version of how it looks. Here is a before image…
Having spent so much time in the basement, I quickly realized our kitchen was missing low accent lighting. Arguably, the most important part of a cozy bar. The space really only had two light sources… a semi flush mount above the sink, and recessed ceiling lights to illuminate the entire room. Don’t get me wrong, those lights are important and perfect for high light, work surface situations- such as food prep and cocktail mixing. However, the majority of our time spent down here, low lighting feels most appropriate. I added a countertop lamp as a quick fix, but that didn’t feel sufficient. I wanted to light the kitchen cabinets… specifically the bar and undercabinet lighting.
My goal was to find soft, aesthetically pleasing mood lighting that was practical for illuminating the space in a warm way that didn’t interfere with the open concept media room next to the kitchen. Is there anything worse than light shining in your peripheral while you’re trying to watch a movie? I began to brainstorm…
Kitchen Lighting Solutions
I wanted to light our lower cabinetry, as well as the built-in bar cabinet. We stayed at White Barn Inn during our Maine road trip a few months ago and I fell in love with their lower cabinetry LED light. I thought it was very well done, and coming from a beautifully designed resort- I had the reassurance I needed to head in that direction.
Our entire basement lighting plan is synced to our smart home. It has been really convenient to set timers, control our lights from the app (including the temperature and brightness), and set a schedule. It was important to us to find lighting solutions that could easily integrate into our existing system. I also prefer warm lighting, so whatever we landed on needed to be warm (or adjustable), as well as dimmable for brightness control. Here are some easy lighting options from Lowe’s we considered…
- Under cabinet strip or tape lights for the toe kick (a good choice for many kitchen vignettes)
- Under shelf puck lights (I had these leftover from another project… pictured below)
- A picture light (for above my cocktail art, on the backsplash)
- Under shelf light bars (the brightest under shelf option)
- Additional hardwired fixtures (I love these sconces- paired with a tapered shade)
Ultimately, we landed the easiest option because it checked all of our boxes… the GE Cync Direct Connect light strips. They plug-in (don’t have to be hardwired), are easy to install (adhesive backed), are dimmable, the light color & temperature can be adjusted, and they connect to our existing smart home app.
How to Install Smart Cabinet Lighting (Without an Electrician)
Once our lights arrived, this is what the installation process looked like. Since these lights plug-in… there is no need for an electrician or hardwiring. It was super easy… and simple to conceal, so you never see the plugs or boxes. We began with the toe kick LED strip lighting. Here is everything we used:
Supply List
- GE Ge Cync Light Strip and Extension Bundle (the best lights for smart home features)
- Power Drill (for installation)
- Cord Cover (to hide cords, if needed)
- Diffuser Trim (if needed, only if you’d like a softer look)
Drill for the Cord
First, Emmett opened the cabinet beneath our kitchen sink and drilled a small hole, so we could feed the lighting wire into the toe kick, while keeping the box concealed behind the closed cabinet doors.
Plug-In and Connect
This gives you a better visual. Plug-in and connect the box to a power source, feeding the tape light through the drilled hole. We mounted it on the interior side of the cabinet, out of the way… so it doesn’t take up precious storage space.
Apply the Lighting Strip
Next, pull the backing off the light strip to reveal the adhesive. Stick the tape light onto your desired location. We really tucked it up behind the cabinets for the most diffused look. I always prefer the softest light possible… otherwise, you begin to see the LED dots within the tape. My advice for the best results? Keep it snug to the top and out of sight.
Sync to Your Phone
The last step is to sync the lights to your preferred smart home app. We have ours sorted per room and some are set to a schedule. As an interior designer, my philosophy is layered lighting looks best… so we have quite a few in the basement. Check out this post for tips for layering lighting like a designer!
We repeated this process with our upper bar cabinet, lining the lights below the edge of each shelf. We did add a diffuser to these lights, to make them even softer (since they’re directly in the line of vision at the bottom of each shelf). Both were quick and easy! In the matter of a couple hours, we had a beautifully lit bar and basement kitchen.
Before & After Images
I’m honestly surprised just how big of a difference this simple and affordable update made. Lighting may be difficult to capture in photographs, but in person- the aesthetic feels so warm and thoughtful… definitely a better vibe! I also appreciate that on a whim, we can run into Lowe’s and find what we need to tackle a little refresh or update.
Toe Kick Lower Cabinet Lighting
After staying at White Barn and taking note of the designer details there, I was most excited to install the toe kick lighting for a warm glow near the floor. While that did make a big difference, I think the vintage hutch lighting was most impactful. I was not prepared for that transformation…
Bar Cabinet Lighting
FAQ
It plugs into an outlet in the lower section of the bar cabinet… behind the blue & white bowl on the countertop- in the above image. We used this cord cover to hide it (painted the same color as the cabinet), so with some clever styling, it’s pretty unnoticeable. It’s easy since these lights are low profile.
It does! We have hardwired puck lights for our upper cabinets, as well as three sconces on a dimmer… along with a countertop lamp. We turn on a combination of those lights during the evening hours, so it feels really well rounded and finished.
Yes! That’s one reason we landed on these specific lights. Check out a glimpse into the app below… you can choose various colors from the color wheel, and the top bar adjusts the brightness. The LED bulbs are really versatile and high quality.
Good eye! The counter top is viola marble. Since the strip lighting was an easy installation, we also considered lighting beneath the countertop, but ultimately decided it would be too much. That’s another option though.
Related
Looking for more posts and guides on lighting and kitchen design? I’ll link some reader favorites for you below! I hope these are helpful…
- Guide for Properly Lighting a Kitchen
- How to Replace & Upgrade Your Cabinet Doors
- Tips for Layering Lighting Like a Designer
- How to Select Different Countertop Edge Profiles
- Your Guide to Recessed Lighting
- How to Choose a Marble Slab for Your Renovation
- Hiding Cords for Wall Sconces & Picture Lights
- How to Clean a Fabric Lampshade
- Designer Light Fixtures That Will Never Go Out of Style
- Designer Trick : Light Temperature & Bulbs
I hope this post was helpful if you’re in the market for lighting. With the days being shorter and darker, I much prefer this soft lighting in a kitchen during the evening hours. It feels cozy, inviting, and easy to navigate- almost like the glow of a nightlight. Let me know if you have any lighting design questions in the comment section below. I’m happy to help. I’d also love to hear what the current lighting situation is in your kitchen?
