Question Kitchen Plinth/Kickboard Lighting

ChrisGTL

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I'm now close to finishing our kitchen - I have moved our washing machine so we have a continuous U-shaped plinth/kickboard.

I want to install some fancy lighting (the type that fires down towards to floor). I'm not overlay keen on the lighting where you can see the bulbs.

We have a nice white glossy tiled floor which should reflect the lighting nicely (don't want it too bright though, I'm not looking for a Blackpool theme here)

I've attached a crude drawing of our kitchen. Since I have moved the washing machine out of the way we have a perfect power point which is also conveniently switched above the worktops.

Does anyone know if systems are available where the LED 'hub' is like a USB hub in that you can have multiple light strips connected so I can go left with 3.3 meters of light strip and right with 1.4 meters of light strip.

Then comes the question of which brand? I quite like the idea of full range colors but it MUST be dimmable as I am looking for ambient lighting not some mad trip every time I enter my kitchen.

Would quite fancy a motion sensor too so it comes on when someone enters the kitchen - but this would have to work wireless as I am not ripping any plaster off to hide wires etc.
 

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I'm not sure about multiple strips running off a hub, although there is probably something as there always is - but you may find the power cable is just long enough to enable you to start at the far side of the 1.2m run on the right hand side anyway, then you just feed the lights back round counter clockwise.

I wanted a similar look to what you are after, but also had the problem of having very shiny tiles. I have 600x600 polished porcelain tiles in jasmine, look gorgeous but reflect everything (and are very slippery when wet). I bought some fairly cheap remote control RGB LED strips and fitted to the underside of the kitchen units, but you could see every SMD light reflecting back on the tile and it looked pretty awful. So I bought some aluminium profiles with frosted covers thinking that would diffuse the lights, but it didn't. They were dimmer, but it actually made it worse as you could see the SMD more clearly. So I ended up turning the LED strips upside down within the aluminium profiles, so they were effectively pointing up towards the underside of the kitchen units and bouncing the light back down. You can still just about see the individual light source, but not as much as before. Crude, and it still doesn't deliver the result I wanted, but it is better than before.

I've attached a close-up picture so you can see how mine looks.

I'm still looking for alternatives, so will be watching with interest to see what others can suggest!
 

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I'm not sure about multiple strips running off a hub, although there is probably something as there always is - but you may find the power cable is just long enough to enable you to start at the far side of the 1.2m run on the right hand side anyway, then you just feed the lights back round counter clockwise.

I wanted a similar look to what you are after, but also had the problem of having very shiny tiles. I have 600x600 polished porcelain tiles in jasmine, look gorgeous but reflect everything (and are very slippery when wet). I bought some fairly cheap remote control RGB LED strips and fitted to the underside of the kitchen units, but you could see every SMD light reflecting back on the tile and it looked pretty awful. So I bought some aluminium profiles with frosted covers thinking that would diffuse the lights, but it didn't. They were dimmer, but it actually made it worse as you could see the SMD more clearly. So I ended up turning the LED strips upside down within the aluminium profiles, so they were effectively pointing up towards the underside of the kitchen units and bouncing the light back down. You can still just about see the individual light source, but not as much as before. Crude, and it still doesn't deliver the result I wanted, but it is better than before.

I've attached a close-up picture so you can see how mine looks.

I'm still looking for alternatives, so will be watching with interest to see what others can suggest!
Aah. I see what you are saying.

We have the same floor tiles but ours are white. That glow is lovely but the diode reflection distracts from the ambience.

Have you tried installing the strips so the diodes face your ankles?
 
I did mine with Philips Hue Lightstrip plus.

IMG_2050.JPG


Dimmable, any colour you choose, any length you choose (up to 10m).

Stuck it on the underside of the front of the units.
 
Aah. I see what you are saying.

We have the same floor tiles but ours are white. That glow is lovely but the diode reflection distracts from the ambience.

Have you tried installing the strips so the diodes face your ankles?
I did, but you could still see the reflection across the floor, and you could see the strips when at distance... my entrance / hall way leads on to the kitchen, so you could clearly see the strips from the hallway when installed like that. I had considered sinking the lights in to the bottom of the units by making a cut-out somehow, perhaps with a router, but the cabinets were not particularly thick and I didn't was to weaken them.

The ideal solution would be one continuous light strip, rather than individual diode's, but I couldn't find anything at the time. I did look at rope lights, but I didn't think they would be any different.
 
I did mine with Philips Hue Lightstrip plus.

View attachment 812210

Dimmable, any colour you choose, any length you choose (up to 10m).

Stuck it on the underside of the front of the units.
That was the look I wanted, however, polished porcelain tiles put an end to that. The Philips Hue lightstrips are just the expensive version of what I have, albeit with a much better control system and colour spread.

Looks like you have a integrated dishwasher, did you have to do anything special with the lightstrip so the door didn't catch it when opening (as I assume it pivots down a bit when opening)?
 
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That was the look I wanted, however, polished porcelain tiles put an end to that. The Philips Hue lightstrips are just the expensive version of what I have, albeit with a much better control system and colour spread.

I did a little test before install.

I bought a short length of aluminium extrusion with an opal diffuser and put the Lightstrip in that.

It completely diffuses the individual LED's and gives a continuous light.

We went for Matt tiles so didn't need to use the diffuser, but that would sort you out I reckon.
 
I did a little test before install.

I bought a short length of aluminium extrusion with an opal diffuser and put the Lightstrip in that.

It completely diffuses the individual LED's and gives a continuous light.

We went for Matt tiles so didn't need to use the diffuser, but that would sort you out I reckon.
Where did you get it from? I searched high and low for weeks and ended up having to source from Germany as nowhere in the UK had anything opaque enough.

Also interested in how you ran the strips under your dishwasher - I edited my earlier response but probably after you responded!

Sorry ChrisGTL for slightly hijacking your thread!
 
I spoke to a lighting designer at the weekend who doesn't advise this sort of lighting because it highlights any dirt (eg, crumbs) on the floor.

I'm sure no crumb would grace your floor. But I thought worth mentioning.
 
I spoke to a lighting designer at the weekend who doesn't advise this sort of lighting because it highlights any dirt (eg, crumbs) on the floor.

I'm sure no crumb would grace your floor. But I thought worth mentioning.
Lol. I have no answer to that.
 
Also interested as to how you got over the dishwasher? Are the lights stuck high up on the plinth?
 
Also interested as to how you got over the dishwasher? Are the lights stuck high up on the plinth?
I had to bodge it by dropping the strip slightly so the door could clear it. You can't actually tell unless you got down on your hands and knees as I did to take the photo, but I know it's a bodge so it annoys me!

I fitted the kitchen so wonder whether I did something wrong with the plinth, but pretty sure it is regulation depth etc

But am interested in how others have done it.

1485619695180.jpeg
 
Ah I see it's a solid style, I'm a kitchen fitter and have this issue about what to do with the stick on style
 
I have the normal stick on strips, but put them in some 1m aluminium profiles in an attempt to diffuse the diodes.
good idea,so is the one under the dishwasher its own strip just set back from the doorso it will still open?
 
good idea,so is the one under the dishwasher its own strip just set back from the doorso it will still open?
No its a single 4m strip, fed through 1m profiles screwed to the underside of the units. Under the dishwasher, I attached the profile (cut down to just over 600mm) to the bottom of the profiles either side so it stepped down just enough to allow the dishwasher door to swing open
 
So did you just come up with the profiles yourself or can you buy them from somewhere, I'm guessing they're only around 10mm deep or you'd see them when standing from afar?
 
Nice!

So did you manage to diffuse the diode glare in the end? Can't really tell from your photo.

Which strips did you go for, Philips Hues or cheaper ones?
I've not diffused the lights yet but going to look at it as my night profile is much dimmer (the diode reflections are more obvious when dimmed).

This is the Hue kit.
 
I've not diffused the lights yet but going to look at it as my night profile is much dimmer (the diode reflections are more obvious when dimmed).

This is the Hue kit.
Let us know if you have any success. Would be nice to not see the diodes!

Are you planning on installing any lights under the wall units? Not sure whether to use led strips or led spots / downlights, or something completely different....
 

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