Layer one: the ambient perimeter
Ambient goes in first because it is built into the structure: measured, set back and mounted before anything below it, and impossible to revise once the ceiling closes.
The section detail, setback and trough depth are covered in the cove lighting build. What matters here is that this layer alone should light the room well enough to walk through, at the temperature fixed in planning.
Layer two: task light on the work surfaces
Task light goes in second, once the perimeter is done and you can see what it leaves in shadow. It covers the counters under the wall cabinets and any prep surface on the island.
One option where a counter needs high output is the LEDClub 24V COB 500 Series, with watts per foot, cut interval and color temperatures confirmed on the product page. The counters are covered in the under-cabinet lighting build and the island in the island and toe-kick build. Many strips can be cut at designated points and reconnected with compatible connectors or by soldering, depending on the product. Establish the interval before cutting to a counter length.
Layer three: accent inside and below the cabinets
Accent goes in last, since it answers to the other two. Cabinet interiors, glass fronts, open shelves and the toe-kick line belong here, all low output by design: an accent competing with the task layer stops reading as one.
The interiors follow the pantry and cabinet interior build. One point belongs here: an enclosed interior traps the heat the strip generates whenever it runs, so a channel helps dissipate it, is never mandatory, and reduces but does not guarantee that no dots show, with LED density, profile depth and diffuser type all bearing on the result.
One power and control plan for three layers
Size the supply layer by layer, then total it: published watts per foot times each layer's installed length, plus at least 20 percent current headroom, set against what your driver is rated to deliver. Verify each figure. Three layers, one voltage: a 24V tape draws from a 24V supply and answers to a 24V control, with no layer departing from that. Every layer goes back to the supply on its own pair, in parallel, never off the tail of the one before.
Give each layer its own control channel, then confirm dimming compatibility for the exact strip, driver and control together, from what the makers publish rather than three labels reading dimmable. Keep the methods apart too: a phase-cut wall dimmer should not share a circuit with a low voltage controller unless both makers' documentation permits it.
Power comes last and starts at the panel: the breaker for this room goes off and stays off until every connection is made. In a kitchen the line voltage list is long and none of it is yours. A licensed electrician handles the supply to each driver, any junction box above a cabinet or under a floor, in-wall cable, and every switch or dimmer box including keypads, working under the manufacturer instructions for each device, under whatever the local electrical code demands, and under the NEC where adopted. A live line voltage connection is never probed or tested. Line voltage work needs a license, and nothing here substitutes for one.
