The Lighting Trick That'll Make Your Walk-In Kitchen Pantry Feel Bigger

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Much like bedroom closets, pantries rarely feel big enough to store everything you need. At the same time, you've probably had the unfortunate experience of finding a food item at the back of the shelf that has long been expired. If you're tired of your pantry feeling cramped and messy, then it may be time to change the lighting. The ability of lights to change a space is often overlooked, but just like there are clever lighting tips that'll make your small closet feel bigger, you can use a lighting trick to make your pantry look bigger and your shelves more visible without overspending or doing a major renovation. All you need is some LED strip lights.

A single overhead light fixture is a common walk-in pantry setup, but this style makes the space feel much smaller than it really is. Overhead lights shine down and sometimes out across the ceiling, which can nicely illuminate some spaces, but they are less than ideal for a pantry. Shelving is the most important feature in a pantry, but shelves, and the food stored on them, block a lot of light. The shadows cut off corners and parts of the shelves, making it look like the room ends where the light does. 

Limited lighting also makes it hard to see all of the space and items on your shelves. This could result in accidentally buying duplicate items, letting items expire, or not seeing spills. But fixing the lighting is easy and affordable by adding LED strip lights to each shelf of the pantry. 

Strip lights illuminate each shelf thoroughly, letting you see the entire width and surface of the space. This makes more of the space visible and usable. Implementing this lighting trick is just a matter of buying the right LEDs and putting them in place. If you already know how to choose the right color for your kitchen ceiling light, similar factors apply when choosing pantry lighting. You want something bright enough for everyday tasks, but you don't want the pantry to have the cool lighting of a refrigerator. For this, about 3,500 to 4,000 Kelvin is ideal. 

Adhesive LED strip lights in this range cost about $35 for 16 feet, such as the Joylit Diffused LED Light Strip. Options without adhesives also work if you have glue or another method to secure them. Placement is important for getting the right effect. The most functional choice is to install the lights on the bottom of each shelf so they shine on the shelf below.

You'll also need to consider where on the bottom of the shelf to stick the lights. Avoid the back of the shelf. This placement creates a cool backlit look, but it makes it hard to see your items. Instead, choose either the center of the shelf or the front of the shelf based on your shelves' size and other lighting in the space. Before installing anything, test out different locations at different times of day to see how it looks. If your pantry happens to have drawers as well, you may benefit from the useful drawer addition you won't want to overlook during a kitchen reno.