Backlit Picture Frame with Halo Accent Light

A backlit picture frame carries its own light behind the frame, out of sight. Lumi Frames Halo sets its LEDs into the back of the profile, facing the wall, so the glow you see is light reflected off the paint. The print itself is seen by the room’s own light, and the band of glow around it separates it from the wall.

Halo is also an accent lighting frame, a frame with a built-in light designed to make one piece of art the focal point of a wall. It borrows its purpose from accent lighting in interior design, where a focused light picks out a feature so the eye goes there first. Our guide to accent lighting ideas for every room shows how that layer sits alongside a room’s main and task lighting.

Lighting the wall is a different job from a picture light, which shines down onto the art from above. If you are deciding between the two, picture light vs illuminated frame weighs them up. And if you want the image itself to glow from behind, a backlit design such as Lumi Frames Lightbox is the better fit.

Backlit only tells you the light sits behind something. Which something it sits behind changes what you get. Put the light behind the frame and the wall glows around the art. Put it behind the print and the picture glows. Both are sold as backlit picture frames, and they suit different pictures.

Halo is the first kind. Its LEDs face the wall, the glow is reflected light, and the print is seen by the light already in the room. So a photo or art print on ordinary paper works, with no special stock to buy, and the frame still reads as a frame when the light is off.

The second kind is a light box. The light comes forward through the print, so the image carries the glow and stays visible in a dark room. It needs a picture that light can pass through: a poster on thin paper, or a print on backlit film. If that is the effect you want, Lumi Frames Lightbox is built for it, and this frame is not.

Because the wall is part of the effect, choose the spot as carefully as the size.

A few things about the wall matter more with Halo than with an ordinary frame:

• Leave clear space around it. The halo needs open wall on every side. A bookcase, a curtain or another frame pressed close will cut the glow off on that side.
• Texture shows. Light that skims across a surface from close range picks out every bump. On brick, stone or rough plaster that can look striking. On a patched wall, it can highlight old repairs.
• Think about what is below. A halo above a sofa or console reads as part of the furniture group. A halo floating in the middle of a large empty wall can look lost, so a bigger size or a grouping often suits a wide wall better.

Halo runs the same five light settings as every Lumi frame — Rainbow, Ocean, Sunset, Warm and a plain White — and its white tunes from 2700 K, the warm white of a traditional incandescent bulb, to 6500 K, a cool daylight white. A simple way to start:

• Warm white for evenings in the living room or bedroom, and for art with earthy or golden tones.
• Neutral white in rooms that mix daylight and lamps.
• Cool white in bright, daylit rooms, or around black-and-white photography.

A halo that matches the color of the room’s other lamps blends in. One that is noticeably warmer or cooler stands out. Both can look good; just choose on purpose. For more on matching white light to artwork, see our guide to the best color temperature for art.

The color scenes are fun for occasions, but a strong color right next to a print changes how its own colors read. For everyday display, the White setting or a tunable white usually flatters the art most.

1. Map the cable route first. Halo is powered by a USB-C adapter, so choose a spot where the cable can reach an outlet neatly before you mark any holes. A paintable cord cover makes the cable far less noticeable; see how to install a paintable cord cover.
2. Let a timer do the work. Set the glow to come on at dusk and switch off at bedtime, so the frame is lit when you are there to enjoy it.
3. Change the art with the seasons. With a magnetic back panel, a print swap is a small job, so the same frame can show a beach photo in summer and a snowy scene in winter.
4. Dust the front gently. Wipe the acrylic with a soft, dry microfiber cloth. Skip paper towels and alcohol-based sprays, which can scratch or cloud acrylic.

Prefer a frame where the border itself is the light? Lumi Frames Neon draws the frame in flowing multicolor light instead of washing the wall behind it, and it is made in 26 sizes, from 8 × 8 in to 24 × 36 in, if none of the three sizes here suits your print.