Bookcase Lighting

Because the bookcase is destined for an alcove on the back wall of a basement room, I think it needs some built in lighting.  We considered picture-lights from the pelmet, but experiments with our existing bookcase and a couple of angle-poise lamps showed up the flaw in this plan.  With glazed doors to the shelving, all you see is reflections of the bulbs.

Instead we have turned to the idea of strips of LEDs inside the bookcase.  These are low voltage LEDS sold on a strip and powered from a mains transformer.  I visited the workshop today as our furniture maker invited me to see a project he is building for another customer.

The LED strips are hidden behind a lip on the front edge of each shelf :

 

Brass strips with holes for shelf supports are let into the carcass of the bookcase.  One side carries low voltage positive, the other side negative, and each shelf has an embedded brass strip acting as an electrical pickup to power its own strip of LEDs :

 There is no visible wiring and each shelf can be moved without losing its lighting.  It is an elegant solution, but Jan wasn't keen on the brass strips.  For an expensive piece of bespoke furniture, this smacks a little of flat-pack.  I have to admit that despite liking the concept, I agree with Her on the strips.  The alternative is to use traditional brass eyelets and pegs, as here :

If we go this way, which I think we will, the LED strips will need to be mounted on the carcass itself rather than on the shelving.