Floating Shelf Lighting and Black Devices in a Washougal, WA Kitchen Remodel

This Washougal kitchen remodel was down to trim-out. The design had floating wood shelves with lighting underneath, a dark herringbone backsplash, and a request to swap the kitchen outlets and switches to black so they’d disappear into the tile.

Lighting under a floating shelf

Shelf lighting looks simple and isn’t. The fixtures are low-voltage, so each run needs an LED driver somewhere, and the driver needs to be reachable later without pulling the shelf off the wall.

On this kitchen:

• Leads come out under each shelf, positioned so the strip or puck lights mount on the underside where the wiring is hidden
• One driver sits inside a base cabinet, behind the doors but easy to get to
• The other driver is on a closet wall next to the kitchen, for the shelves on the far wall

Planning driver locations before the tile goes up is what makes this work. Our kitchen electrical page covers the rest of what goes into a kitchen remodel, from small-appliance circuits to GFCI requirements.

Black devices on a dark backsplash

White outlets on a black herringbone backsplash stand out like light switches on a chalkboard. The homeowner asked for five outlets and two 2-gang switches changed to black. It’s a small change, and the backsplash reads as one surface instead of being interrupted by white rectangles.

Black devices come in the same GFCI and tamper-resistant versions code requires at a kitchen counter, so there’s no tradeoff in protection.

Part of a bigger remodel

The finished kitchen has recessed lighting, a glass pendant over the island, and a wood range hood. The shelf lighting is the detail that pulls it together at night. For more remodel jobs in the area, see our electrical work in Washougal section.

Planning shelf, cabinet or toe-kick lighting in a remodel? Call 360-828-7143 or plan the driver locations with us before the tile goes up.