Help with cable routing & installing WLED in IKEA Kallax units

Hardware
1

I have a wide DJ Booth built upon IKEA Kallax shelving units with several records stored in them.
By using the awesome WLED I have created a cool LED strip running along the length of the back of the units to turn on when I’m spinning.

One thing bothering me though is not having any lights in the dark to look for records in the shelves. So with all the spare WS2812 I have laying around I thought I could surely add some LED strips at the front of each cubicle to illuminate the records. But when trying to start on building this I quickly realised I don’t really have a clue on how to route/wire this up in a good way so that I don’t have to take the shelving units apart and have stable illumination, something I think long data wires might impact?

I’d like to create a WLED setup per unit of which I have three. Desirably I’d like all power for the strips/ESPs to start from the center unit (where the power sockets are):

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Then comes routing the wires and wire length. I have these 2 options in my head, but I’m not sure which one is the easiest to work with to get a stable signal: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

I guess going around the back of the vertical walls will need longer wires and introduce noise/loss in signal? Do the cables come in from the top cubicles or from the bottom cubicles of the unit?

Not sure which PSU is recommended for a project like this. The currently installed strip running along the back of ALL units together is connected to a 5V 12A Meanwell one and that seems to do its job well.

I know there’s a lot of questions in here, I’m still really learning on hardware/power demands concerning electronics/WLED/lighting but I really want this to work out. Unfortunately I’m stuck with these questions so any help would be really appreciated :pray:.

Extra info:

  • I have WS21812 strip left, but if other strips yield better results I’m open to buying those.
  • ESP8266/ESP32 are plenty over here, I have no issue using 3, one per unit
  • This might not end up in the same construction in a later household. Hence why I want them per separate unit.
  • These don’t need to blast full white, a dim warm white light would already suffice. As long as I can read the back of the records it’s fine.

Just for reference: here is a picture of the amount of space between records and top of their cubicles: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

2

Pressed for time, so a (really) short version of my thoughts:

Definitely power from the center, but consider 2 data runs from the center as well.
Run data (and power if appropriate) directly to the back of the unit center and put the controller there.
A single ESP32 can run 10 strips so a single should be good.
Think seriously about attaching a U channel to the to outside edge so your strip can shine down.
LED light in your face is annoying at best…