I spent eight months designing and building a wall lamp from scratch despite having no prior experience in woodworking or LED strips. The project began after moving into a new living room with an empty wall space, sparking ambitions for an indirect lighting fixture that doubles as an art piece with lasercut Plexiglas panels, LED animations, and wood paneling. Realizing the complexity, I started smaller with a bedroom lamp to complement my beech wood bed frame.

I purchased a second-hand beechwood countertop for 15€ in May 2025, later selling the unneeded IKEA legs for 30€. I chose design #1 featuring backlit Plexiglas panels and an aluminum extrusion frame to hide LED strips and electronics. Planning involved selecting SK6812 LED strips, a Quin LED Dig-Uno controller recommended by @Make It Work Tech, WLED software, and a 75W Meanwell power supply.

The build required learning milling, wiring, and mounting techniques from the ground up.