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Unlit, a book nook is a nice model. Lit, it is somewhere. The warm glow behind a window is the whole reason the format works, so it is worth understanding the light set before you build around it.
What is in the light set
Most kits include one or more warm-white LED strips or single LEDs on a thin wire, a battery box with an on/off or touch switch, and sometimes a decorative fitting (a lantern, a chandelier, a lightbox sign) that the LED sits inside. Some kits add a second colour — Riddle on the Seabed has blue as well as warm white — and one or two, like the Christmas Shop, add a musical movement.
Batteries
Batteries are not included with any of our kits. Where the maker gives the battery type (usually AAA or coin cells), it's on the product page; otherwise check the battery box when your kit arrives. Buy them before you start so you can test the light early. Rechargeable AAAs work fine and pay for themselves within a few months of evening use.
Fitting the light
- Test first. Fit batteries and switch the light on while everything is loose.
- Plan the route. Find the channel or hole the manual gives the wire, and note which walls it passes through before they are glued.
- Fix the LED where it is shown. A tiny dab of glue or the supplied tape is enough; heat is not a concern with LEDs of this size.
- Keep the battery box reachable. It usually sits in the base or behind a removable panel. Do not glue it in.
- Hide the wire last. Run it along an inside corner or behind furniture once the rooms are dressed.
The touch switch
Many kits use a touch-sensitive switch rather than a slider: a light tap on a marked spot, often a paving stone or a shop sign, turns the scene on and off. It needs a fingertip rather than a fingernail, and it will not work through glue, so keep the sensor pad clean while you build.
If it doesn't light
- Check the batteries are the right way round; most boxes have a small diagram.
- Check the wire has not been pinched where it passes through a wall.
- Look for a plastic tab in the battery box that needs pulling out.
- If the strip is damaged, tell us: parts replaced free, postage included. See Missing or Damaged Parts.
Living with it
LEDs draw very little; a set of AAAs will run a nook for many evenings. Switch it off when you leave the room, keep it out of direct sun (the printed papers fade before the wood does), and dust with a soft brush rather than a cloth, which catches on the small parts.
