Most display lighting comes down to a few main approaches, and the best results often combine them. Hover over each one to switch its light on.

The two you will weigh up most are strip lights and spotlights. Here is where each one wins.

Colour temperature, measured in kelvin, sets the mood before anything else. Drag the slider to see how the colour of the light shifts from warm to cool.

Not all LED is equal. When you compare cabinets, look at the quality of the light itself, not just whether it has any.

Different collections ask for slightly different light. Here is how to get the best from the most popular, with the right cabinet for each.

Properly chosen lighting will not. Museums, archives and serious collectors favour LED for exactly this reason, because it runs cool and gives off almost no ultraviolet light, so it is safe even for delicate pieces. The real threat is daylight.

Fading is driven by UV, and daylight is full of it. Keep a display out of direct sun, light it with low-UV LED, and you have removed the main threat. For the most valuable pieces, add UV-filtering glass on top, the same principle museums and galleries rely on to protect light-sensitive items.

If your collection sits in a bright, well-lit room and you are happy relying on that, an unlit cabinet will do a job. But room light is uneven, it shifts through the day, and it rarely falls where you want it. A cabinet with its own lighting gives you control, with every shelf lit evenly, at the brightness you choose, whatever the room is doing. For anything you genuinely want to show off, lit wins.

For most collectors, yes. Integrated lighting is the single biggest upgrade to how a collection looks, and because it is built in there are no batteries to change, no wires to hide and no adhesive strips peeling away within a year. Set against the cost and faff of retrofitting lights into a cabinet that was never designed for them, a purpose-built lit cabinet looks better and lasts longer.

The cabinet matters as much as the light. For collectibles, here is what matters most.

A few mistakes turn up again and again. Steer clear of these and you are most of the way to a great display.

Professionals tend to follow the same handful of principles, whether it is a museum, a gallery or a serious private collector. Valuable items go in an enclosed cabinet rather than on open shelves, under controlled, low-UV lighting, behind glass that filters daylight, on shelving that adjusts to fit each piece. The goal is always the same, maximum visibility with minimum risk to the collection.

For a home collection the same logic scales down neatly. An enclosed glass cabinet keeps dust and handling away from your pieces, integrated LED gives even, low-heat light on every shelf, and adjustable glass shelving lets you fit tall and short items without wasted space. It is the museum approach in a piece of furniture, and it is why most collectors end up choosing a lit, glass-fronted cabinet over an open display.

The cabinets that show a collection best share a simple recipe, integrated LED that lights every shelf evenly, toughened glass on all sides, a secure lock and adjustable shelves, in a finish that frames your pieces rather than competing with them. A black frame all but disappears, and lets the collection take the light.