Installing a LED strip on a desk

[Oliwerko]

Hi folks!

I decided to buy an RGB LED strip to light up the wall behind my desk. Now the thing is I don't really know how would I go about mounting it. I don't want to do anything with the wall, so that pretty much leaves me with mounting the thing on the desk. It's 1cm wide, so it's quite a good dimension.

Now, the top board of the desk is approx. 5cm from the wall and cannot get closer due to the wide base of the desk, cables behind it, etc. The board is protruding from the desk base enough to mount something on the bottom side (the board protrudes about 2cm). I hope I made it clear, if not, I can provide a picture when necessary.

What I don't know is whether it's better to have the LEDs facing directly upwards (thus the strip being perpendicular to the wall); or to have the strip angled a bit towards the wall. I want as much light on the wall as possible. Any ideas what plays the main role here? Is it the angle? Or the distance
I mean, how far from the wall can the strip be? Does the wall lose a lot of light from it when it's placed a few cm from the wall?

Based on whether it will be angled or perpendicular I'll think about how to mount it. Simply put, I have a board that's 5cm from the wall, and I want the strip to emit as much light as it can on the white wall. Any mounting ideas?

The problem is that if I simply screw a metal plate on the bottom side of the board and stick the strip onto it, I'll see the LEDs directly when sitting here, 'cause the board is only 1cm thick. And that's a no-no, the LEDs would burn my eyes out like that. So they need to be either placed deeper behind the desk; or angled at a wall.

Or am I completely mistaken here? Any advice?

Thx a lot 

[InCreator]

LEDs are light. If mounting not directly onto wall but some solid surface, use simple  thick 2-sided tape. With some hot water you can get it easily off afterwards.
Angle I don't know. Just test. Mine work better when directly upwards and I mounted them onto top and bottom of little shelf on the wall behind monitor to have some light and save eyes.
I didn't even use all length of a tape but just little pieces here and there so it's easier to remove if I want.


4 strips that you can arrange or position any way you want, color controller  box (seen on left wall of shelf) and 3 modes - static, blinking through colors and smooth transition. â,¬17.50 at IKEA.

I don't think mine work as true light source, even all 4 together are not that bright really unless color is cyan/white.

[Oliwerko]

Thanks for info!

What about the distance from wall? I guess the best setup is facing directly upwards as you say, AND no gap between the strip and the wall.

Now I realized I cannot mount it on the desk board 'cause there's cables hanging down which would make shadows.

I think of maybe getting a simple old 1cm thick board and just putting it behind the desk, sticking the strip onto the top edge. The cables would then run between this board and the desk down to the floor. This way I could also customize the board height, and there would be no gap between the LEDs and the wall...