28 Clever Ways To Use LED Light Strips To Brighten Up Your Home In Style

LED light strips are a flexible solution to instantly improve the lighting and ambiance in a room. They cast a calming, glowy light wherever they're placed, and since there are so many options available, you can easily create your ideal lightscape. With plug-in, battery-powered, and solar-powered versions, LED light strips can be installed almost anywhere. Water-resistant versions can even bring the light outdoors. Overwhelmed by your options? We've rounded up some ideas so you can decide where to place LED light strips around your home.

There's a range of LED light strip products, so it's important to consider your needs before you shop. White and color versions are available, many with adjustable brightness. Adjustable lights can come with remotes or smart capabilities (the latter can connect to a smartphone for control from anywhere). Strips come in various lengths and have varying levels of weather-resistance, so make sure to think about the installation location before you buy. Speaking of installation, mounting is often simple, with many LED light strips coming with their own adhesive. Just one word of warning: you may want to rethink using these options if you're worried about self-adhesive light strips damaging surfaces. These strips are often very lightweight, so it is easy to use alternative mounting options (whether hooks or Command Strips). Bring glowy mood lighting to your space with these LED strip lighting ideas.

Netflix nights, cozying up under a throw blanket, and drinks with friends are all even nicer with some soft LED living room lighting. To get this moody effect, install LED light strips following the perimeter of the back side of your couch. You have a couple of installation options. You can follow the example set by @our_gaff_ on TikTok and install a light strip on the wall behind the couch. Or, if you're worried about wall damage, but not so concerned about your couch, you can attach the light strip directly to the back of your sofa. This DIY works best with a couch that's against a wall to hide the light strip.

Not sold on placing LED lights behind your couch? Try underneath instead! This is an excellent alternative if you're worried about damaging the visible parts of your sofa or the wall. If a sticky strip causes some damage along the bottom of your sofa, it won't be easily visible. This placement is also a great option if your couch isn't against a wall — it will keep the LED lights out of sight, anywhere in a room. The downlighting effect looks great with edgy modern furnishings.

Along a similar vein as placing LED light strips behind a couch, you can bring the idea to the bedroom by installing them behind your headboard. It provides a similar glowy effect. Similar to the couch idea, place the light strip around the perimeter of the headboard, either mounted to the wall or your bed. The soft lighting is perfect for winding down for the night, and if you have the controls nearby, it can also work as a nightlight for those middle-of-the-night wake-ups.

If your bed does not have a headboard, you can still dress it up by placing LED lighting underneath, around the perimeter. It makes even the simplest bed look more elevated, imparting a moody glow which will add ambiance to the room. This placement will work with any bed that has at least an inch or so of space around the underside of the frame. You can hide the power cable by placing your bed in a corner against an available light plug, or tuck it away using a wire cover like this one from Amazon. It's another way to add a soft glow of light to a bedroom.

This accent wall is easy for any DIYer to put together, and it looks extra impressive with the addition of LED strip lighting. Use your molding of choice. For a simple look similar to this video, you can use furring strip boards. These boards are very affordable; for example, you can grab an eight-foot board for $1.75 from The Home Depot. But decorative molding is the pick if you want a more ornate-looking wall. When installing the molding, your goal is to line it up so you have a gap where you want the lights. That way you can hide the light strip.

This video from @experimentingwithdecor shows how you can use molding to create an elegant accent wall. Instead of installing crown molding along the ceiling, leave a few inches of space. Since you don't have to line it up with the ceiling, just make sure to use a level so the molding is straight. Then, you'll be able to add LED light strips along the top for classy-looking upward lighting. With a more ornate crown molding, this wall design looks beautifully old-fashioned.

LED light ropes are like light strips but a bit more polished. You can place them directly on a wall and bend them into a variety of shapes. They have a silicone cover that makes them look more finished compared to typical LED light strips, where you can see the electronic components. A product like the iNextStation Neon LED Neon Rope Light costs $24.99 from Amazon. It's flexible so you can craft a custom piece of wall art for a neon-like look.

Designing an abstract shape from scratch isn't for everyone. Maybe you don't have the wall space, or you might prefer a design that coordinates better with your current decor. Instead, you can use an LED light strip to trace the edges of your wall, along details like beadboard or wainscoting and around picture frames. You can draw little shapes along the way if you want to make the light strip more noticeable. A flexible rope light is also a good choice for this project.

A strategically-placed LED light strip can make a gallery wall look so much more beautiful. This project is great for fun gallery walls; it has a more relaxed and informal look. Another project that uses attractive rope lights, it looks even better when it glimmers with a rainbow of colors. To get the same effect, use a product like the Govee 32.8ft Neon Rope Light, which costs $179.99 on Amazon.

This idea is as practical as it is decorative. It provides more lighting under your cabinets, in an area where overhead lights can't really reach. If you do a lot of finicky work in the kitchen, like carefully measuring ingredients or decorating intricate cookies, you'll appreciate the extra light on your counters. It also looks nice when the big light is off. This idea isn't only useful for kitchen cabinets; you can use this hack to add lighting to a dark garage or workshop as well — really anywhere with an overhead cabinet or shelf to which you can attach the LED light strip.

Want to bring natural-looking light to a space, like a windowless hallway or office? You can craft a faux window using an old window frame. Optimally, you can line the perimeter of the frame with small pieces of wood, which you can then mount the LED light strips onto, facing them inward. This makes the light look more like it's coming through the window since it will direct the light to the correct spot. Even better, use bright lights, mount to the wall, and place a sheer curtain over the top. Then you can pass it off as a real window.

This video from ​​@shootingGBS walks through the steps to make a realistic fake window. A layer of window vinyl wrap makes it fairly opaque, so you can see the light but not the light strip inside, which creates the "daylight." Mounted on a large frame, you can pass the finished project off as a window or a skylight. This project is particularly a good option in a basement with few windows. Need more light still? Brighten up your windowless rooms with these basement lighting ideas.

This project is an easy solution if your window's full sun potential is blocked by your neighbors, you live in a cloudy climate, or you dislike the earlier sunsets of fall and winter. Line the window frame behind your blinds or curtains with an LED light strip. When your blinds are closed, you can switch on the light, and it provides the illusion of sunlight behind your window coverings. To mimic sunlight, choose a light strip that has adjustable light temperature and brightness. It's not quite the same as sunshine, but it's better than nothing.

The TV is often the focal point of the living room, especially if you love watching movies and bingeing shows. Some people find it to be a bit of an eyesore though. LED light strips behind a TV can make it look a little nicer. Choose one with adjustable brightness (and color options if you want to change the hue), and stick it to the back of your TV. You'll then be able to light up the area and adjust it as dim or bright as you'd like, whether that's a dim backlit glow or a bit brighter as a background mood light for a party.

An LED light strip can turn a child's dollhouse into absolute magic. Stick it through the dollhouse using tape or glue, however you wish (one option is to just stick it around the back or to the wall behind the dollhouse, if you 're worried about possible damage). With the main lights off and the LED lights on, it lights up the dollhouse like a Christmas tree and creates the ultimate cozy play space. Be sure to supervise younger children to prevent misuse.

Similar to lining a window frame, you can place an LED light strip following along your curtain rod to light up the upper part of a window or sliding door. When your curtains are closed and the lights are on, it looks nice and glowy. Placement depends on your setup — just try to place it in a spot that is mostly concealed when you're looking at the window or sliding door. If you get a lot of sunlight, a solar-powered light strip can also work along the inner top edge of the window frame.

Mirrors can make a room look larger and brighter. To draw even more attention to a nice mirror, you can add LED strip lights. Line the back of the mirror along its perimeter, and it will impart a soft light. Just place the strip strategically to make sure that it isn't squashed against the wall if it's a mounted or leaning mirror. Color-changing lights make this project even more fun and can turn your mirror into a coveted photo spot.

LED light strips are popular amongst gamers and streamers, but it's possible to incorporate them into any home office setup. For aesthetics, make sure the strip lights are hidden by installing them against the back side of your desk, monitor, or computer. Choose white lights for a more elegant glow, though you can choose colorful lights if you want it to feel more fun. This project is especially nice for a work-from-home setup to give your desk area more appeal (and add useful lighting too).

Take full advantage of the light that an LED strip can provide by using it to line a room. At its brightest, the light can be quite useful as general lighting, particularly as an addition to a too-dim ceiling light. At its dimmest, it can be a soft light for relaxing in the evening. If you don't like the look of a visible light strip on your walls, you can use crown molding to hide it, either by leaving a gap between the molding and ceiling or using a crown molding designed for indirect lighting (which you'll find in our next project idea).

You can use crown molding to hide an LED light strip around the perimeter of a room. To do so, look for molding that has a gap along the top, where you can fit the light strip. There are products that are made for DIYers that want to install this type of lighting. For example, Creative Crown Foam Molding ($164.95 for 40 feet from Amazon) and Orac Decor Coving Crown Moulding ($57.86 from Lowe's) have a small gap along the top that hides the light strip nicely.

Whether you're displaying some knick-knacks, collectibles, or fine china, your display shelf is for those items that you want people to see. Draw the eye even more with some LED lighting. An easy way to light up a display is to add the light behind the shelf or cabinet as backlighting, which keeps the strip nicely hidden. Follow these simple steps from @rumzy_rt on TikTok. Color-changing lights can take your display to the next level. And, even if your shelf is primarily for everyday storage and not display, why not make it look a bit nicer with this affordable lighting idea?

To really display what's inside a shelving unit, add lighting between the interior shelves. This looks even more fabulous in a display shelf with glass doors. It's a little more of a process; you'll want to mount the lights in a way that they aren't an eyesore. But, the finished look is so much nicer, making your display cabinet look elevated, like something out of a gallery or museum. It's worth the effort if you want to show off your favorite items!

With the range of ideas on this list, hopefully we've shown that LED lights can work under almost any piece of furniture that you want to add a glowy light source too. One more idea is to install them beneath floating cabinets or shelves. Unlike under couches or bed frames, the higher wall-mounted placement allows the LED strip to give off more light. It's a more noticeable location and a great alternative if you don't want to install an LED strip to your TV but want some extra light on the wall.

This modern DIY lamp looks so trendy and chic, you can astound all your guests by telling them you made it yourself. It's straightforward to build: you need a round base piece (that's wide enough to support your desired lamp height) and a long, tall piece of wood that makes up the main part of the lamp. Paint or stain the wood to your liking. Attach the plank of wood to the round base using corner braces, then attach the LED light strip up the wood plank. Plug it in, and you have an efficient, self-made modern floor lamp.

This DIY idea is similar to the previous project, but for making a wall-mounted light instead. It starts with a PVC wire channel, cut and painted to your ideal size and finish. It's possible to use a metal wire channel as well if you prefer the look, but PVC is easier to cut and more lightweight for mounting. Stick the LED light strip inside the channel, then mount it to your wall. It's that easy! This affordable and simple design makes an impressive piece of wall art with a few LED strip lights.

There are a few ways to elevate your outdoor space with LED strip lighting, and one of our favorites is to add them to your balcony. Suitable for both homeowners and apartment dwellers, you can use LED strip lights to outline any area on your balcony. This example from @bakken.camilla shows it along balcony flooring, but you can also place it along railings, outdoor furniture, and exterior walls. Just make sure to get weatherproof lights, for example, the Govee Outdoor LED Strip Lights, which cost $49.99 on Amazon.

It's hard to see everything in a dark closet, and when you're trying to put together a fabulous outfit, you want to be able to see what you're working with. Adding wired-in lights to a closet is a lot of work. LED light strips are an excellent alternative, taking little effort to install. Bright versions can illuminate your closet as effectively as a real overhead light, and if you have a color-changing option, it can bring the mood to your daily routine as well.

Maybe you already have a nice closet, with an overhead light and all, but it just feels a bit bland. LED light strips can take a nice walk-in closet from plain to luxurious. Install strips inside your closet spaces as backlighting, similar to what you'd see in a clothing store. For an even more high-end feel, use smart lights — then you'll be able to control your closet lighting right from your phone. You could even set timers to coincide with your morning and nighttime routine.