Adding a little Christmas lighting to your kitchen....
I always admire all the decor some people put on top of their kitchen cabinets! But other than a few pieces of crystal and a few VERY old bottles of wine, I really don't do a lot.
As a matter of fact, I had so severely neglect my cabinet tops, the grease and gunk had run amuck. Then I saw this nifty idea on Pinterest about putting wax paper down and I featured that little chore here several months ago. Before Thanksgiving, I changed out the wax paper and wiped down the crown molding. I was soooo proud of myself for actually following through with the plan!
Anywho, the tops of my cabinets usually get neglected during the holidays as well. But I had a lot of "leftover" stuff and I am so in love with my UNDER cabinet lights that I decided to give the tops of my cabinets a little festive facelift!
Stringing lights without the ugliness of extension cords is really not that hard. I decided the best place to hide an extension cord is through the cabinet above my refrigerator. It is a small cabinet with little use and the refrigerator would hide the cord!
The first thing I had to do was move the fridge so I could drill a hole in the underside of the cabinet. Okay, seriously, move your fridge a few times a year and clean! I do at least once a year and still had this nastiness under my refrigerator!
After moving the fridge and sweeping up the nastiness, drill a hole big enough for an extension cord to pass through in the underside of your cabinet and another one directly above it on the top of the cabinet. I used a hole saw attached to my drill. (Seriously, I am not left handed...I just can't take a picture with my camera while holding the drill with my right hand!)
String the extension cord through the holes leaving the end you will plug your lights into (the "female" end) on top of the cabinets.
I used a strand of small white lights. I SERIOUSLY advise you to test the lights BEFORE you string them out! Nothing is more frustrating than doing all this work only to find that your lights don't work!
I just strung them out and laid them on top of the cabinets...really no need to "anchor" them.
I attached one of my "remote plugs" to the extension cord so I could use my little remote clicker to turn the lights on and off. You can buy the remotes at Lowe's. They usually come with three plugins and a remote clicker. Neat little devices that let you turn your lights on and off with a click of a button so you don't have to climb behind your trees! On some of my decor I use timers...but I don't want the trees or these lights on a timer so I used the remote!
After adding your timer or remote to the extension cord and plugging in your lights, plug the extension cord into the outlet behind the refrigerator and move it back into place.
After my son-in-law installed my under counter lighting (featured here) I decided I might-kinda-eventually want some lighting above my cabinets. Now I am convinced.
But for the season, the little Christmas lights will do. And since I was putting up festive lights I had to give some of my crystal a little festive uplift as well. I will feature that, and a few other little "Christmas pops," in the near future!
Again, soooo simple...big impact...inexpensive!
