Guide to Cabinet Lighting

Cabinet light is ideal as task lighting in the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom. You can illuminate kitchen worktops for food preparation, stage beautiful cabinets and light up dark corners with cabinet lights.

Cabinet lighting areas

The cabinet areas that lighting can be installed in include the following:-

Under cabinet

Under cabinet lighting is primary used to illuminate kitchen worktops or counters to provide light for food preparation areas (such as cutting up vegetables and preparing meats). Under cabinet lighting can also give out a softer light in bedrooms or bathrooms to assist with daily tasks.  

View our range of under cabinet lighting.

In cabinet

In cabinet lighting can also be used as shelf lighting to assist with finding items within the cabinet. This is particularly important if you have darker coloured cabinets or your cabinets are situated far from other lighting.

Browse our range of in-cabinet lighting.

Over cabinet

Over cabinet lighting is another option for mood lighting. Turn it on by itself to provide mood lighting in your kitchen or showcase beautiful cabinet doors.

Check out our collection of over cabinet lighting.

Under worktop/under counter

Under worktop or under counter lighting is used as decorative lighting in the kitchen or bathroom. Under worktop lighting can break up the worktops and cabinets to add a pleasing aesthetic to the room.

View our under worktop lighting collection.

Cabinet lighting styles

LED tapes

LED tapes tend to be used as continuous lighting when it is used for cabinet lighting. We have a wide range of LED tapes including IP Rated LED tapes (which be used in the bathroom or near the kitchen sink), CCT tapes and RGB tapes (to display different colour temperatures or colours) as well as dotless tapes to provide a completely dotless tape appearance.

Take a look at our full range of LED tapes.

Cabinet lights

Available in square, wedge, rectangular, triangular and round/circular shapes, our range of cabinet lights features mains powered, SMD, COB and much more. The cabinet lights also range in terms of wattages and size to ensure you customise the light exactly to your room. These can be recess or surface mounted, depending on the light chosen.

Find out more about our cabinet lighting collection.

How to choose cabinet lighting for your rooms

There is no right or wrong cabinet lighting choice when choosing for your rooms. This is usually down to the customer or designer’s decision. However, you should take into account the following:-

What style of lighting is desired

Strip lighting is more suited to more modern style kitchens, such as those that feature handle-less drawers. The continuous lines of light product by LED tape match perfectly with the linear style designs in a contemporary kitchen.

Spot lighting tends to be more suited for traditional kitchens where lighting is placed in individual areas rather than in continuous lengths. It is also the more cost-effective form of cabinet lighting for instances where keeping a tight budget is important.

Read our blog on the differences between spot and continuous lighting for more information.

What colour temperature is required?

This again is often linked back to what style kitchen has been selected.  A modern kitchen which lends itself better to strip lighting is more suited to a natural white 4000K colour temperature, whereas traditional kitchens can often look better with spot lighting and a 3000K warm white colour temperature to match.

Find out more about temperatures with our guide to colour temperatures.

How much natural light is in the room?

An absence of natural light means that areas such as worktops will lack illumination and will therefore require cabinet lighting that makes up for this.  Or LED rectangle panel lights or 9.6W LED strip are perfect for this issue.

What colour worktops have been chosen?

Darker worktops will absorb light so for instances where they are being used, it is again important to choose cabinet lights that produce as higher light output as possible.