tratliff

I can only share my personal experience.  My dealer was 100% supportive of hiding switches in the wiring closet, and that is what we did.
I have 16 Adaptive Phase Dimmer switches in the wiring closet.  We did the same upstairs in another closet. This eliminated having 3, 4, or 6 switches ("piano keyboards") in a room.  My goal was a single dimmer or keypad, or at most 2 in logical locations in each room.
The result is that each room looks clean as it pertains to light switches.  Where needed we have installed Keypads/Dimmer Keypads with 6-buttons to control various house functions or lighting (still trying to work out what works best before ordering the engraved buttons).
Overall, I am happy with the results.  Yes, panelized lighting (which I explored in depth) could have made for an even cleaner layout, but I feel that I have a great deal of flexibility with the current setup.  Based on my personal experience, doing panelized would have also resulted in greater cost in both wiring (because most electricians don't get it - even getting them to hide the switches in the closets was an effort) and the overall cost of the equipment.  Also keep in mind that with a setup as I am describing you can "grow" your system and add C4 dimmers, switches, and keypads as you go at your own pace instead of having to go all-in at once expense-wise.  Granted there are those here on the forum living in 20,000 sq/ft second vacation homes (invite me over please), but to a large subset of users, this can matter.  Also, though I do no plan to ever sell the house, if I ever have to, the new owner could go back to "un-smart" lighting easily.
Performance-wise I have had absolutely zero problems.  I've literally never had to reset a lighting load or had any type of "Zigbee storm" as reported by others.  We planned on doing it this way and it works to the way we designed it.  Your mileage and experience may vary.

Above Cabinet - a few inches from the wall if it is C channel, V channel you will want 12-18" between the wall and the strip.
In Cabinet - V Channel mounted vertical on the inside of the left and right side
Under cabinet - C Channel as close to the front of the cabinet as you can. - Purpose being lighting the countertop not accenting the back splash
 
This is just my general rule of thumb. I think anyone who does a lot of strip will have their own opinion. I will suggest not using 12v strip as the chip density is generally very poor and a lot easier to see hot spots. 
Take a look at some projects done with our strip light. It runs at 36vdc and has a higher chip density than any 12/24v strip out there.
https://mirusinc.net/accent

I would be interested so long as there is a bunch of content for learning home composer.  I had joined your site in the past however, it was not
updated that much with videos.

From personal experience, I would stick with switches/dimmers that allow engravings if you can swing the cost. That is especially helpful for multi gang setups. We put in some essentials and I regret that since you can’t easily figure out which switches operate which lights - convenience for you and easier for company to ID.
If cost is a factor, you might want to consider doing the work in phases by installing C4 in your most used areas and then adding over time.
For 3/4-way setups, you have to use an auxiliary dimmer or configurable keypad on any ‘switches’ connected to the main 3/4 way. I strongly suggest using a configurable  keypad since you can do much more with it and engrave the buttons. This can be confusing but basically, the configurable keypad is the same thing as a keypad dimmer (all of the button, LED and programming options but it doesn’t control the load like a keypad dimmer).
You also lose the LED lights with the essential line - on/off display or LEDs giving other ‘notifications’ like garage doors open/closed, audio or video sources, etc.
If cost is an absolute issue, going with essentials and adding in a few keypads would be much better than non-C4 light switches so it’s always an upgrade. 
 
I don’t have any experience with third party lighting (i.e. any Lurton setups) but my understanding is that the programming can be more expensive as you have to have someone program the Lutron system and then the C4 system so take that into account.  Also, my understanding is that the keypads can’t access many of the C4 functions that the C4 keypads can - audio/video control, door locks, etc.
Any C4 integration is better than mechanical switches for sure so if budget is really, really the primary goal then you can go with cheaper options.  But based on our install, anywhere I went with essential, mechanical C4, or auxiliary C4 switches I regretted it.  We are moving and I am upgrading all of those to configurable keypads or dimmers/switches that can be engraved.
Just the opinion of a user. Some may disagree.  Also there are dealers and more technical folks that I hope will correct anything I posted that may be incorrect or that can share their counter experience/opinion.
I spent a lot of time planning out how to get what I wanted where I felt I needed it and cutting corners where I didn’t think I did and anywhere I cut corners, I will be upgrading when we move our system to our new home shortly.
I can tell you that we are replacing all of our C4 switches back to mechanical in preparation for our move and even my wife, who saw no need for C4 switches to begin with, is missing all of the functionality having lighting Integrated into the system. The motion sensors, keypads, ability to control multiple lights and a/v from one button press, etc. is certainly a luxury but not having it for a few days - we miss it a LOT. So whatever you end up integrating, it will be an upgrade you will appreciate!
 

Another recommendation for Neil.  He helped me fix a problem with my system.
He knows his stuff and is very helpful.

I had two HC300 units fail in the field in different locations and Control4 wanted $220 each plus shipping to repair them. Nothing against the repair department, but that is way out of line pricing.
For the DIY crew, the part number for the power supply board is PSA15LN3-050-R and can be had from Mouser for $19. There is a total of 4 screws inside and 8 outside to get to the board. The repair takes less than 10 minutes. At any electronic store, this is under $125 even with a markup and a minimum charge. I'm looking at $45 / unit with time and shipping accounted for.

If your Dongah isn't working it sounds like it's time for Phihong