Kitchen Cabinet Lighting Inspiration

Types of kitchen cabinet lighting design

Depending on the position of your cabinet lighting, it can have a dramatic impact on your kitchen. From targeted tabletop lighting to an ambient overhead glow, explore the impression each light placement can create.

In-cabinet lights

A handy solution for finding items easily in cupboards on dark evenings and an elegant decorative feature of glass cabinet displays, inside cabinet lights can be both display lighting and functional shelf lighting.

LED lights 

When positioned inside a kitchen cabinet, LED strip lights often look best along the bottom or top inside edge of shelving, creating a warm glow that reaches outwards from the back of the cupboard and into the kitchen.

Glass cabinet display lights

Some LEDs, like this Glazed Cabinet Light, are designed to be fitted to glass shelves. Their two-way illumination projects light up and down the cabinet through the transparent shelves, bouncing off items on display.

Puck lights

Normally positioned in the top inside panels of overhead cabinets, these recessed spotlights create a soft downward glow that invites you to look inside.

Motion sensors

Motion sensor lights give your ground-level kitchen cabinets a delightfully techy feel with their hands-free solution to illuminating your cabinet contents with a swing of the door.

Under cabinet lights

Under cabinet lights often serve as task lighting in a kitchen, with their brightness focused on the countertop workspace beneath for safer food preparation and recipe reading. 

LED lights

An LED strip light is a brilliantly flexible option for brightening the whole length of a countertop.  They fit easily and neatly underneath your cabinets and water-resistant options like this Link LED Strip Light are perfect for withstanding steam-prone kitchen environments. 

LED light placement also reduces shadows from overhead lights, illuminating your workspace and bringing a more ambient overall feel to your space when cooking for those around the kitchen table.

Puck lights

Puck lights are sometimes seen as a more sophisticated alternative for under-cabinet task lighting. 

Round in shape and mounted to surfaces or recesses, puck lights create individual spotlights from under your kitchen cabinets. When placed at certain distances or under selected cabinets, puck lights give the impression of separate, glowing zones in your kitchen.

Plinth lights

Plinth lights are an altogether different option, offering ground-level illumination. These recessed lights are usually dotted along the plinth or “kickboard” of ground cabinets. 

Plinth lights offer wonderfully low lighting, brilliant for when you’ve powered down your kitchen for the night but want to offer a few breadcrumb lights for wandering feet to find their way.