Using LED light strips to add accent lighting

Most of us know that doing something ourselves is a great way to add a personal touch to our home and to save some money. Adding LED accent lighting is an inexpensive and incredible way to add some class to a room.

In most homes there are some spots where there just isn't quite enough lighting for the room to feel comfortable. In some homes this may be in the kitchen on the counters or possibly, at a desk, in a closet, or at a workbench. Maybe a room just needs some accent lighting around the crown molding or below a shelf.

What are the benefits?

Depending on your installation, the lighting can be added in places where it's a matter of increasing visibility or improving the ambiance of the room.

This will provide benefits, such as:

• Easier to view hobby projects
• Better lighting when cooking
• Adds extra light for reading

Styles of available LED light strips

There are a few different styles of LED strips available for installation. There are various varieties of each style of strip, but these are the overall categories:

• Hard inflexible strips
• Softer flexible strips
• Waterproof versions of each of those

Pre-Wired Kits VS Do-It-Yourself Kits

Some companies sell pre-wired LED kits, while other places sell the individual strips and power supplies to wire them yourself.  The pre-wired kits are generally easier to install and use, but they offer no flexibility in installing them.  Some customers may find that using a pre-wired kit will result in lights hanging out where they don't want them, or them having to run normal extension cables to get the LED strip where you want it.

The DIY LED installation kits are usually a better way to go. That is, as long as you are comfortable with doing some simple soldering.  If you are comfortable with that you will find that you can install the LEDs in the exact location you need and can hide the power cables with much less effort.

More Information:

If you want to know more about what goes into doing an actual DIY LED light installation read this step by step guide: How to Install Your Own LED Light Strips.