Glowing IKEA Bookshelf

by berlingozzo in Circuits > LEDs

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Glowing IKEA Bookshelf

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Hi all,
This is my second Instructable, hope you like it. If you do, please consider voting for it using the "Vote!" Button that you see on the top right of this frame (if you are on a computer), or on the bottom of the page before the comments (if you are on a mobile device). Then click on "Vote" for each of the contests where I'm involved.

Also, if you like this instructable, you'll probably like this one as well:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Automatic-IoT-Sta...

Thanks! :)

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What?

Glowing back-lighting of a bookshelf (this one is from IKEA).

Why?

This project has a simple reason: the ratio outcome/efforts was so much in favour for the outcome :) So I made it.

How?

I used the following components, scroll down for the building steps:

1) rgb LED strip with controller and remote:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5M-3528-Non-Waterp...

This was 7.35$, around 6.5€.

Note these ones are R, G, and B LEDs, they are not RGB LEDs. That means if you want white light you need to switch on all of them. When used behind something reflective this is not a major issue, the final result is the blend of the three color components and it looks ok.

2) any bookshelf. In my case I used this from IKEA:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/storage-furnitu...

This was on offer at 116€, or around 130$.

As the dimensions of this are 180x180, and I had 5m of LEDs, I ended up with just a few centimeters not covered by LEDs on the bottom of the two sides. Not a big deal, as I have something else on the bottom anyway.

Connect the Electronics

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This project is amazingly simple. Just connect the LED strip connector to the controller (match the arrows to make sure the right pins are connected), put a CR2050 battery (not supplied) into the remote, and that's it!

Fit the Strip

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Thanks to the pre-installed adhesive behind the strip, all you have to do is to clean the bookshelf surface of the back of the shelf, remove the adhesive protector, and stick the strip to the sides.

If you want to make sure to be able to use the remote, hide the controller on the bottom of the first level of the cells of the shelf and make sure the InfraRed (IR) receiver (the black tiny pin coming out from the controller) comes out from the cell, so it sees your remote. You can use some adhesive or a screw to make sure the controller and the receiver stick to the bottom of the cell in an invisible way.

That's it! :)

Play With the Remote

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Now you can use your remote and switch on the lights with various glowing colors and animations.

So simple! :)

Njoy! :)