How to make hidden ceiling lighting - 10 useful tips

The essence of hidden ceiling lighting is that light sources (usually LED strips) are hidden in the ledge. All that is visible to a person is dim light along the contour of the room. This light is enough not only to illuminate the room, but also to create an interior with a “twist”. Next, we will provide step-by-step instructions with photos and video examples, thanks to which you will understand how the hidden ceiling lighting can be done with your own hands.

Illuminated eaves

Most often, this option of hidden lighting is installed in the living room and bedroom, less often in the kitchen. This is due to the fact that ceiling cornices are made of drywall, whose service life is noticeably reduced when exposed to moisture.

As you know, in the bathroom and kitchen the humidity and temperature are slightly elevated, therefore cardboard constructions are rarely used here. In this case it’s better install spotlights to the ceiling!

Now we will look at the types of hidden ceiling lighting, as well as how to make such lighting with your own hands.

Idea for decorating a bathroom sink

Types of Cornices

As we already said, the first thing you need to do is install the cornice, which will hide the LED strip. Today it is customary to make designs of their drywall and polyurethane. Both that and other option look quite attractively, the difference is only in cost and strength properties. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Drywall construction

Gypsum plasterboard for concealed ceiling lighting is a structure of profiles (UD and CD) and gypsum, in which the lamps are mounted.

Drywall box with spotlights

Design Advantages:

  • high strength;
  • You can install both tape and spotlights;
  • attractive appearance;
  • the niche under the ceiling is heat-resistant;
  • heavy fixtures can be attached to profiles.

Disadvantages:

  • high cost of installation;
  • long installation time (at least one day);
  • the need to use the services of specialists.

Based on this, it should be concluded that if you have enough time and enough money, to make a hidden ceiling illumination from drywall would be a better solution!

Polyurethane construction

Polyurethane cornices are more popular with installation of electrical wiring in the house or apartment. Such demand is justified by the clear advantages of this type of niche.

Illuminated polyurethane box

Benefits:

  • low price (cost of a strip measuring 2 meters within 1500);
  • simplicity of installation work (you can easily make a design with your own hands);
  • low time costs (hidden ceiling lighting can be done in a few hours).

Disadvantages:

  • low strength (it is impossible to fix large lamps on it);
  • less resistance to high temperatures.

The bottom line is that if you decide connect led strip, then the second option is more reasonable, because it requires less time and money!

Backlight Mounting

We figured out the advantages and disadvantages of each type of cornice, now we will consider the methods of self-installation of hidden ceiling lights.

Gypsum niche

First you need to prepare the following materials and tools:

  • drill;
  • electric plane;
  • screwdriver;
  • hacksaw;
  • building tape;
  • marker;
  • scissors "for metal";
  • self-tapping screws;
  • dowels with screws for fastening the profile;
  • drywall;
  • profile (UD, CD);
  • LED Strip Light.

So, first you need to create a drawing of a niche for installing hidden ceiling lighting. It can be closed and open type (an example is shown in the picture).

Drywall Cornice Device

Drywall Cornice Device

Further, according to the design, the walls are marked for fastening profiles. To do this, use a marker and a construction tape measure.

After that, with the help of a screwdriver, the UD profiles are attached to the wall on the dowel. Already to these profiles you can attach a CD profile (every 50 cm).

When the frame of the profiles is completely ready, you can install plasterboard sheets.

We draw your attention to the fact that the fastening of the sheets should be done joint to joint. Be sure to seal all the seams with special putty, and when it dries, prime the finished cornice and proceed to the installation of the fixtures.

The method of attaching drywall sheets to profiles

The method of attaching drywall sheets to profiles

It is best to install the hidden ceiling lighting with an LED strip, it just fits inside the structure with the power supply.

Overview of the finished gypsum plaster box

Visual video instruction

Polyurethane Niche

When installing a polyurethane cornice, it will take much less time.

A variety of polyurethane cornices

A variety of polyurethane cornices

First you need to prepare the following materials and tools for installing hidden lighting:

  • building level;
  • roulette;
  • marker;
  • finished cornices;
  • adhesive (liquid nails or acrylic putty);
  • nylon clamps.

First, the walls are prepared for work: they are cleaned of wallpaper, putty, finished with paint or new wallpaper. Next, you need to mark the walls for mounting the cornice. To do this, it is recommended to draw a line parallel to the ceiling, 5-10 cm lower from the top, around the entire perimeter of the room.

Technological groove in a polyurethane eaves

We draw your attention to the fact that if the walls and ceiling in the room are uneven, then it is better to use not the building level, but the distance from the ceiling, it should be the same everywhere!

After that, you can proceed to the installation of the cornice for hidden lighting. It is best to use liquid nails. To make the joints of neighboring strips more securely fastened, use the screw connection with ordinary matches (small holes are created in the butt joints in which the connecting match is set). Such pins must be installed in the corner joints of the products. When the niche is ready (the glue hardens), an LED strip is laid inside, which can be additionally fixed with the help of kapron clamps.

Another important nuance - power supplies from the fixtures must be taken out of the niche. This is due to the main disadvantage of polyurethane - the inability to withstand high temperatures. During operation, the power supply heats up.

I would also like to note that polyurethane is often used in the installation of hidden lighting of a stretch ceiling.

Useful installation tips

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with some useful tips that will help make the hidden ceiling lighting more correct and, most importantly, safe:

  1. Wire Connection Method when installing fixtures - wagon terminals. There should not be any twists.
  2. Try to avoid connecting aluminum and copper cores.
  3. If the ceiling lighting scheme is complex, then to create it, select a separate group of wires from the main shield.
  4. Protect all wires inside the niche (if spotlights will be installed) with a corrugated pipe made of self-extinguishing material.
  5. At connecting light switch the phase conductor should go to the gap, and not zero.
  6. To install the backlight, use LED strips with a maximum length of 60 LEDs per meter. Products with 120 lamps will be too bright and will not create a cozy atmosphere in the room.
  7. Use fixtures of the same brand and power. If the scheme will include various products in one line, then the hidden lighting of the ceiling can have different brightness and intensity at distant points, which will ruin the appearance of the room.
  8. Do not lay LED strip longer than 5 meters in a niche in series. This will lead to the fact that in the place of its passage there will be a burned-out trace. A long tape must only be connected in parallel.
  9. The polyurethane cornice should have a large area for bonding with the wall. Otherwise, it will quickly fall away.
  10. When joining drywall sheets, glue them additionally with paper tape.

That’s all I wanted to tell you about how a hidden ceiling lighting can be done with your own hands!

Also read:

Overview of the finished plaster box

Visual video instruction

(6 votes)
Loading...

One comment

  • incognito

    I would like to add that for every five meters of tape, there should be a separate wire.

    To answer

Add a comment