This is Sleepers first post, of hopefully many tech-related projects. This is a fun one I did in about a day. My girlfriend moved in and bought a brand new sectional. The back is slightly lower than the cushions and makes a great raceway for LED strips. Her only stipulation was warm lighting; she hates the cool-white LEDs I put everywhere else.

Parts used:

• 5M SMD5050 Warm White 300 LED Strip Light ($11 on Amazon)
• 5M RGB 5050 SMD 300 LED Strip Light ($9 on Amazon)
• 12v/8a (black box) power adapter ($15 on eBay)
• Wall-mounted Touch Panel Full Color RGBW Dimmer ($40)
• 1 Gang Junction Box 86x86x40mm ($8 on Amazon)
• Male and Female 5.5mm/2.1mm Barrel Pigtails.
• Half a roll of Gorilla Clear Repair Tape ($7 at Lows)
• Total Investment: About $100.

The first part of this is replacing a junction box. I ripped the original junction box out of the wall and replaced it with a cut-in box. Ripping the original box out caused a lot of dry-wall damage, so I just cut a larger hole and moved the box away from the stud a bit. I originally replaced the junction box so I could run grounded Romex into it, but this time it was so I could run a wire into it for my 12V adapter. I’ll add pictures of that soon.

This whole process was pretty easy. I hid the 12V/8A adapter in the wall right next to the LED controller you see in the first picture. You can also (barely) see the gray cord for the adapter in the large open hole at the bottom. The adapter connects inside the new cut-in junction box (behind the LED controller) and to the back of the LED controller. I’ll add pictures of that soon. The six wires (two for 12V) come off the LED controller and out a small cut in the wall you can also see in the first photo. At the end of those 6 wires are 3 barrel connectors. I literally chopped them off of three old useless low-amp 12V wall warts; the 18AWG wires are contiguous from the controller to the plug.

On the couch I attached the LED strips using their 3M self-adhesive backing then covered that with Gorilla Repair Tape. This stuff works great. I’ve used it for under-cabinet and acrylic-faced LED lighting too and it really keeps the LED strips in place.  All LED-to-wire connections are soldered and most are covered with shrink tube.

I plan to extend this lighting to underneath my bar and behind my TV. Again, I’ll add more pictures soon.

(below) Both new junction boxes are completed and painted. To make the patch look like the original texture I just threw mud at the wall and tapped it with my knuckles. Then I sanded it down after it dried. It looks really damn close and you can’t tell it was patched unless I tell you about it.

These pictures show how the LED strips connect  to “the wall.” The couch just has three wires hanging off of it with barrel connectors.  

The corner of the left side-sectional. 18AWG wires. Soldered and Shrink Tubed. Nothing special.

Where the two sectional pieces join. They can be easily unplugged.

The cushions hide the LED strips.

The finished product. Keep in mind the sun is up and coming in those blinds behind the couch. It also doesn’t look “this intense” in person. The colors show up a lot more vivid in those photos.

Only Blue is on. Looking directly at the strip.

Here it is Blue and (warm) White.

I totally plan to edit this some more. Please leave your comments!