Installing under-mount lights can really update the look of your furniture, cabinets, and desk without too much time or expense.
You will need a drill, screw driver bit, drill bit, measuring tape, pencil, hammer, and the lights (we got them at Home Depot but they can also be found here).
1- Take the lights out of the box(es). We bought 2 with 3 lights each. We put 1 light on the top 2 shelves and 2 lights on each of the bottom shelves. Separate the light from the bracket. Keep in mind there are many different lights and the steps below could differ slightly or significantly based on the type of under-mount light you buy. We opted for these non-battery powered lights so that they didn’t need to be changed often.
2- Measure the hutch and find the center or measure in to install the lights where you want them to be and mark it with a pencil.
3- Take the screw and screw it in with an electric screw driver. Then reverse the screw out and install the bracket. It is important to note that you want the bracket to be facing the right direction (the cord hole should face the back of the hutch.
4- Feed the light cord into the bracket before securing the other side down.
5- Screw the next screw in and tighten both securely.
6- Pull the light’s cord so there is no slack in the bracket and click the light in.
7- Secure the wire to the hutch with the wire hangers and a hammer.
8- Install all the lights and then find out where the holes need to be drilled to run the cords. You can run them through holes and down the back of the hutch. There was literally no room for a cord so we ran ours down the front and put objects in front of the cords so you cannot see them very much.
9- Drill the holes with a big enough bit to run the smallest part of the light cord through it. We started with a smaller bit and then went to a larger one when we realized the holes were too small.
10- Hook up the lights and test them. If you want to be extra safe you can test the lights before you install them as well.
11- Secure the light box in a place that can be easily hidden. For us it was dead center because there is a plate platter on each row that hides the boxes.
12- Hide the cords as best as you can. You can tape them, wrap them in the same color ribbon and run them to the sides that are least visible.
13- Drill a hole out of the hutch (in our case a little square) to plug the cord into the outlet.
14- Buy a light timer and set the lights to go on each evening for a few hours or whatever time frame works best for you.
And you are done! The difference is incredible. Here is another project I saw on google that I love with under-mount lighting in kitchen cabinets.
For just a small investment of time (this took us just over an hour) you can do this inexpensive upgrade to your hutch, cabinets, or desk! We may add a little decorative molding on the top two shelves to cover the lights better (like the bottom shelf has). For other ideas on upgrading a hutch you can check out this post here.
For other ‘living rich’ tips and inexpensive home improvement projects Subscribe and/or Follow me on Pinterest.
Thanks for this post. All the pictures are really helpful!
Great Directions. We were just talking about doing this in the kitchen. I can’t wait to show him tomorrow morning. thank you
Donna- Thanks. I’m glad that you were able to see this. I searched all over online and couldn’t find step by step directions so I decided to make them as we did it. It looks so much better afterward. I’m excited for you.