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These under-cabinet LED lights make for a cheap and renter-friendly kitchen upgrade

White LED lights under cabinets illuminating a kitchen counter
Amir Ismael/Insider

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  • I wanted to give my kitchen a modern look without spending a lot, so I tried these LEDs from Amazon.
  • At $24, they're much cheaper than fully integrated kitchen lights or installing a smart light kit.
  • They look great, can change colors, and are useful when I need more light while using the counters.
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When I was apartment hunting last year, I narrowed my search down to two apartments that were a block away from each other. The first one was small, but it had a beautiful modern kitchen with a tile backsplash and adjustable lighting underneath the gray cabinets.

I went with the second apartment building because it was more spacious, had better amenities, and was still cheaper — but that kitchen, specifically the lighting, was something I couldn't get out of my head.

As I was furnishing my new apartment, I thought it would be cool to recreate the look of lights under the cabinets while sticking to a tight budget. I knew that installing lights that I could control with a wall switch would be too involved for a rental apartment. Popular smart light kits like Philips cost hundreds of dollars, so I took a gamble on these $24 Cadrim LED puck lights on Amazon and it worked out perfectly.

LED light on bottom of cabinet illuminating a kitchen sink
Amir Ismael/Insider

Installing the lights was incredibly easy. Each light requires three AA batteries and comes with double-sided adhesive pads to stick underneath your cabinets. No wiring, no pairing to your smartphone and WiFi, and no drilling are required to install.

The lights look amazing at night when the kitchen is all cleaned, but they also come in handy when I need extra illumination while using the counter space. You can turn individual lights on by clicking them or you adjust all of the lights at once with the included remote.

Hand holding a colorful remote that controls LED lights
Amir Ismael/Insider

I personally like the white lights best, but you can choose between a variety of colors as well.

Red LED lights under cabinets illuminating the kitchen counter
Amir Ismael/Insider

My kitchen might not be as fancy as that chef-inspired kitchen I fell in love with, but for $24, I couldn't be happier with the Cadrim LED puck lights.

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