there is glass film..in various styles./patterns ....your white cabinets and solid blue splash could probably handle a patterned film w no problem. kind of surprised you didnt use seeded glass to begin with. If you have objects to place, as the feature , then put them in and see what happens while you are evaluating this.

Not a pro, either, but I believe the tape light is supposed to go at the top of the cabinet towards the front. That position lights the interior without being overly visible from below.

Yes the tape needs to be hidden , I use puck lights when clients have specific things to display . Where was you KD in this ?

The tape goes behind the frame, at the front, with glass shelves inside. Any lighting still gets the glow in the dark vegas strip look, punctuated by the the bright door outline where it shines directly through the gaps. Because that's what lighting an inset cabinet IS.

Like Minardi, we put tape light behind the front frame. Sometimes need to shave down shelves to do this.

Ours are also hidden in front (with dimmers) and we have glass shelves.

We always recess our tape light into the front sides or bottom so they are not seen using an extrusion strip. Almost every brand makes this. Kichler, Maxim, American lighting etc.

If we are displaying an object that needs specific focus we will do a very small round recessed light in the top of the cabinet that is movable to focus the light on the object specifically.

read the questions section of this and the comments for this model there are kits you can buy to make it do different things.

https://www.fergusonhome.com/maxim-53835/s1293343?uid=3070098 

Are the wood shelves in the china cabinet fixed or are they removable to swap for glass shelves so a light on the top can shine through?

^I was wondering the same as Design Fan. Nice to have light on the glass shelves.

The LED strip light goes right behind the door frame, mounted to the cabinet sides vertically. You can put a strip horizontally on the top and bottom, but those 2 would be off balance for the top and bottom shelves only for the tall cabinet, and as you can see too much light for the small cabinets. The door frame hides the source unless you put your face against the glass and look to the side.

Mount the LED tape to a 45d aluminum strip with diffuser.

For inset doors, to eliminate the light leak around the door gap, tape-backed black strip felt can be placed on the alum fixtures. At the very top and bottom you will need a wood strip or something to stick the felt to.

This would need glass shelves for the tall cabinet (only the lower 3, keep the wood shelf to align with the adjacent cabinets), as the wood shelves will cause unnecessary shadows. Also, using a puck light at the top is best for a 1-shelf scenario, not a 5-shelf tall cabinet.

Do not be upset at your contractor, this is not something they (should) know. Even myself as a professional, I have had to experiment with placement, fixtures, and channels to get it right.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting and @chloebud This was the kitchen designer's idea. He taped the little dot tape lights up first and it fried our eyeballs. He then told the contractor to cover them with strips and that is where we are....

If you are recommending them to go inside of the inset cabinet door, then how do I hide the initial piece of the cord?

And, yes, I have no idea why he didn't install glass shelves - it was in the cabinet maker's plan. I guess I can swap them all out myself but these cabinets were already quite an investment.

and, yes, they messed up the flush-mount microwave drawer too, as you can see in the picture. It is particularly noticeable with the inset doors - a real knee-bruiser as you walk by. Has anyone had a GOOD experience retrofitting the cabinet faceplate (cutting the hole larger) so that the microwave drawer can be installed flush?

The entire cabinet run has be be custom built deeper to do flush inset.

When I built I showed photos of microwaves installed just like yours and told my cabinet maker that I did NOT want it sticking out like that. I also showed photos of flush microwaves with the look I wanted. Same for my Miele steam oven and built-in coffee machine.

But I had been doing remodel in my previous house, so I had already learnt my lesson to spell everything out, with a trail of emails, and never assume that the vision in their head was anything like the one in mine!

Your issues with the upper stacked cabinets is why I put solid doors on mine this time around!

Wow - that should have been a simple install. The LED tape goes on the backside of the cabinet face frame! Not the back of the cabinet - where's the logic in that? It wouldn't light up the front of a beautiful jar or display plate! The microwave could be your designere's fault - they should have specified a flush nstallation option and sized the cabinet and its opening as such. Not sure if that can be done now without knowing the size of the cabinet and model number of the microwave.

I would demand that the lighting be re done.

I don't have any advice for you but agree it needs to be fixed. I would be quite disappointed, too.

@3onthetree Could you describe the felt suggestion a little more? Do i place a felt strip on the back of the caninet frame? All 4 sides of the door opening? if it is stickon felt, i then neet little wood blocks to hold it on?

Your kitchen designer should be fixing these issues for you. You should not have to purchase glass shelves in order to replace the wood ones that were installed by mistake. Also, a true kitchen designer should know how to add lighting to your cabinets correctly.

Question - in the layouts/3 D plans provided by your kitchen designer, was the microwave flush with the cabinets - or did it stick out like that? It seems like your designer forgot that you were doing inset cabinets. If you had full overlay doors, the microwave issue wouldn't be as obvious as it is next to inset doors.

You've commented that you've already invested quite a bit of $$ in these cabinets - you shouldn't have to settle for these issues. Your designer should be the one who is fixing all of this for you. Show her/him the answers provided re: the lighting - if pros and non-pros on here know how it should have been done, why in the world doesn't your "pro" know?

My lights are small, recessed into the top of the cabinet and on a dimmer. There is no light outline around the edges of the cabinets, either. The kitchen designer, for whom does she work? What kind of conversations did she/he have with your builder?

Did designer mess up or did your builder install incorrectly? The buck has to stop with one or the other.

OP, do you have a kitchen designer?

Be careful if your contractor tries to remove the tape lights and trim molding that they do not damage the cabinet interiors.

I added LED tape lights to my curio cabinet. Originally there was a bulb at the top (at the front, of course).

I attached the lights to the back of the door. Problem: the back of the cabinet was mirrored, reflecting the lights right back to our faces. So I put brown felt over the mirrored back (I was going to cut wood to fit, but never got around to it - and didn't find it necessary). The lights are on a timer, on at 5 pm, off at 10:30.

I did a similar thing with my china cabinet (that had no lights originally, but did come with glass shelves), except the lights are inside the face frame instead of on the doors.

There's multiple ways to light a cabinet, as you can see from the comments. You'll have the light leak in any case, and to prevent it you'll need an "astragal." I think earlier I mistakenly described mounting LEDs for a frameless cabinet and using the LED channel as an "astragal."

The quality and style of your hinges may determine if you need felt, you may not need it. My experience using felt was with mid-grade and lesser cabinets where it was a lifesaver. The felt would be placed on the "astragal" and the thickness has to be considered.

To keep the display cabinet lumens from overpowering the counter or any UCL lighting, they should be on a dimmer and LED diode spacing considered from the get-go. If you use only tape and no diffuser, make sure you cannot see dot reflections on any glass, melamine, or displayed objects.