Last updated on April 19th, 2022 at 07:41 am

Lighting Glass Countertops with LEDs

We get many requests from people who want to understand options for lighting Glass Countertops with LEDs. Glass Countertop. We believe there is no bad way to light a glass counter, just good, better and best.

If lighting an untextured glass top, you can silicone an LED strip onto the side of the glass, and use either an angle iron or C-channel to protect/hide the LED strip. This in our opinion is not very exciting as there is nothing to deflect light and create depth…just illuminated edges

When lighting textured glass, we only recommend that you EDGE LIGHT vs UNDER LIGHT. The difference is astonishing. The reason is simple. When UNDERLIGHTING the top, it completely illuminates the textures equally and does not allow highlight the textural features. It simply does not do a great job of showing of the deep textures we create in our glass countertops. Also, Underlighting can be expensive and will always raise the level of your glass countertop well above the 36″ AFF that is normal countertop height.

EDGE LIGHTING provides the best dynamics in our opinion for lighting textured glass countertops and sinks. The textures are well-defined in Downing Designs textured glass. By edge lighting, the beams of light travel laterally, and enhance the light/dark natural shadow casting created by the rippled textures. This has the effect of making the textures appear even deeper and more interesting.  Our Textured Glass SurfBoard provides an excellent example. We use (2) different LED strip lights, one on Starboard, one on Port side. As can be seen by this video, the Green vs Blue LED lighting stays sharp and clear…each on its own side of the texture…no muddling.

The difference in the two photos showing EDGE LIGHTING vs UNDERLIGHTING is simply too dramatic.

Please call us to discuss your project needs at (813) 784 5211. Thank you. Jeff Downing, DowningDesigns.com

Textured Blue Glass Island