14 Ways to Decorate Your Home with LED Light Strips
By Trae Jacobs,
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Adding LED light strips to your home is a great way to highlight an area and make it stand out.
Here are 14 ways to decorate your home with LED light strips.
Create a Floating Bed Effect
LED strips are a great way to create the illusion of a floating bed, which can act as a sort of night light for your bedroom.
Add LED light strips to the back of your headboard and all four sides underneath your bed frame to create a floating bed effect.
If you want to use your floating bed as a night light, look for LED light strips with a motion sensor.
These lights will automatically illuminate when they detect motion, then turn off after 30 seconds.
Light Up Your Closet
While some people have light switches inside their closets, not everyone is so lucky!
Adding LED light strips to the inside of your closet is an easy way to get the lighting you need to find your favorite pair of shoes without completing a big wiring project.
Some of the best places to add light strips to illuminate your closet include:
- Along the ceiling
- Around the interior of the door frame
- Under the top shelf above your hanging rack
Most closets don’t have electrical outlets, so it’s best to use battery-operated LED light strips.
While most light strips come with remotes that allow you to switch between white and colored light, you can get away with just white light inside your closet.
Illuminate Your Workspace
If you spend a lot of time working at a desk, consider highlighting the area with some ambient LED lighting.
Not only does decorating your desk with light strips look cool, but it can also help reduce eye strain from staring at a screen for so long.
Some of the best places to add LED light strips on and around a desk include:
- The rear edge of the desk
- Underneath the desktop
- The back of your computer monitor
Depending on the LED light strips you purchase, you may even be able to sync the lights to the music you’re listening to. TJOY Bluetooth light strips are a great option.
Show Off Display Cases or Shelves
Display cases or shelves are one of the best places to add accent lighting with LED light strips.
Whether you use it to show off trinkets, books, or even trophies, lighting a display case or shelf allows it to become a focal point.
You can add LED light strips to the underside of a higher shelf to let the light shine onto the objects below or the top side of a lower shelf to allow light to shine upwards.
If you’re lighting a lot of display shelves, battery-operated LED strips are the best choice.
Highlight Photos or Artwork
Maybe you have a big family portrait in your living room or hallway, or perhaps there’s an art piece you want to make the focal point of your entryway.
Adding LEDs around a picture frame or piece of artwork can really complement it.
It’s best to add LED light strips to the backside of a picture frame or piece of artwork.
Light shining from behind the image will naturally draw in the eye, creating a museum-like effect in your home.
Battery-operated LED light strips are typically best for lighting picture frames and artwork, as they ensure that no unsightly power cords take away from the effect.
Create a Floating Sofa
Similar to a bed, underlighting your sofa can create a floating effect.
Using a fabric-safe adhesive, line the underside of the front and sides of your couch with battery-powered LED lights.
Changing the light strip to an RGB color creates the perfect ambiance for movie night while changing the color to white allows the couch to act as a night light.
Backlight Your TV
If you like hosting viewing parties or having movie nights with friends, backlighting your TV with LED light strips is a great way to enhance the experience.
Much like backlighting your computer monitor, backlighting your TV will not only look cool, but it will also reduce strain on your eyes.
Some LED light strips are even equipped with technology that recognizes the colors on your TV screen, then syncs the lights to match.
Many of these color-syncing strips are available, all with different capabilities and at different price points. Some of our favorites include:
Some LED lights specifically designed to backlight your TV require a separate hub. But the Govee Envisual and ISNOW backlights can be connected to your TV right out of the box.
However, the Philips Hue Play Gradient requires a Philips Hue Bridge and Hue Sync box.
Light Up Your Cupboards
Underlighting your kitchen cupboards is a great way to set a “night mode” for your kitchen.
When you need to get up and get a glass of water in the middle of the night, LED underlighting means you won’t shock your eyes by turning on the harsh overhead lights.
Place the strip at the front or back of the underside of each cabinet to under light your kitchen cupboards with LED light strips.
Remember that kitchens often have a lot of steam and other moisture, especially near the stove and sink.
If you’re worried about getting your light strips wet, go with a waterproof option.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the double-sided tape that comes standard on LED light strips may not be strong enough to withstand moisture from the kitchen.
For best results, add a stronger adhesive when attaching your lights.
Add Some Light Inside Your Cabinets
If you want to light up the inside of your kitchen or bathroom cupboards instead, consider adding some battery-powered light strips with a motion sensor.
Just attach the light strip to the top of the cabinet’s interior or on the underside of each shelf to illuminate the shelf below.
With a motion sensor attached, the lights will turn on when you open the cupboard and turn off within 60 seconds of closing it.
Improve Your Mirror’s Lighting
Like kitchen cupboards, lighting your bathroom mirror is extremely beneficial if you need to get up in the middle of the night and don’t want to turn on the overhead light.
Lighting your bathroom mirror with LED light strips also makes it easier to do your makeup in the bathroom.
It gives you direct light to see every color better, mimicking the lights used in dressing rooms and salons.
Like kitchens, there’s a lot of condensation in bathrooms. For this reason, choosing a waterproof LED light strip is often best when lighting your mirror or any other area in your bathroom.
If your bathroom mirror is right next to a wall outlet, you can use plug-in LED light strips to light your mirror.
If not, battery-operated light strips prevent the need for an unsightly cord running from your mirror to your power outlet.
I recommend using LED light strip covers to create a more polished look.
Naked LED strips can look a bit unsightly. These strip covers make your DIY project look professionally done.
Illuminate Your Shower
Want to create the perfect mood lighting for your shower or bathtub? Try adding some waterproof LED light strips!
The best place to add LED light strips around your shower is along the ceiling line.
You can light just one side or go all out and light all four corners to replace your overhead light while you take a shower or bath.
If you add LED light strips to your shower, the most important thing to remember is always to use waterproof, battery-operated light strips.
Electricity and water should never mix, and you don’t want to endanger yourself. For extra protection, cover your light strips with light strip covers.
Line Along the Wall Trim
If you’re looking for a larger LED lighting project, connecting multiple strips and lining your wall trim with LED lights is a great idea.
Like to entertain or host parties? Adding LED lights along the top of your wall trim helps illuminate the whole room, creating the perfect party environment.
You can even get LED lights that sync and pulse to any music you have playing!
Like the idea of adding LED lights to your wall trim but don’t want a huge project?
Illuminating the wall trim in a dark hallway so you and your family can navigate it more easily at night is another great choice!
Lining the trim will create an easy-to-follow pathway to the bathroom, kitchen, or kids’ room.
Highlight the Ceiling Line
If you like adding LEDs along your wall trim, combining this with another strip along the ceiling edge is perfect.
Whether you want to add LED lights to your living room or use them to light up a walkway, hanging them along the ceiling is a great idea.
Remember that when adding LEDs along the ceiling, gravity works against you.
To avoid coming home to your lights hanging down to the floor, add a stronger adhesive to the back of the strip before attaching it to your ceiling.
Just be careful of what kind of adhesive you use. Use one that’s too strong, and you could accidentally rip the paint off the walls when you eventually remove the lights.
Light Up Your Staircase
Walking up or down a dark staircase can be a recipe for disaster.
If you’d like to add some depth to your staircase and make sure you can always tell where the next step is, consider lining the steps with LED light strips.
Line along the railing or wall is the easiest way to add light strips to your staircase.
But, if you don’t mind using 10-12 different strips, all with their power source, lining the underside of each step is much more visually exciting.
Like when working with a ceiling, gravity will work against you when you line each step with an LED light strip.
Use a powerful adhesive, but make sure it’s easy to remove when necessary.
Illuminate a Garden Pathway
If you have a walkway leading up to your front door or a path leading to the garden, adding waterproof LED lights can make it easier to see where you’re walking.
It’s important to only use waterproof light strips when lighting outside your home, as these strips will be exposed to rain, snow, and a wide range of temperatures.
Line each side of the pathway with an LED light strip. Make sure to use an adhesive intended for outdoor use, or your lights may fall off the path after the first rainstorm.
It helps to have an outdoor electrical outlet for this project.
But if you don’t have one available, you can always purchase an outdoor extension cord and plug the lights in through an outlet in your garage. Like in other areas of your home that see a lot of moisture, it’s best to cover your lights with LED light strip covers before completing this project.
