I used only 1 can light in the build, and that was to be in the walk in shower. However it was wrapped with fiberglass batt in the attic and spray foamed over to form an airtight shell over the light fixture to prevent leaks. this is an option if you wish to use can lights. They do make "air tight" can lights, but trust me, they are far from air tight.

The kitchen, which is typically where people load with can lights, is an L shape with a large island. There is only upper cabinets over the long part of the L. The upper cabinets have a continuous strip of T5 lighting that points up and out to illuminate the space. the short side of the L is over the sink with a large window. we have pendant lighting hanging here. the same pendants hang over the island. we then have LED under cabinet lights for task lighting. Can lighting in kitchens create a lot of hot points and shadowing since they are basically a bunch of spot lights illuminating the top of your head. The above lighting scheme illuminates the space which eliminates shadowing, and the pendants and under cabinet lights puts un-shadowed task lighting at your hands...where the tasks are taking place. While our home is not complete, I have used this lighting concept on other projects with great success. So far, only are pendant lights are powered up, and we have found these alone creates almost enough light in the kitchen. Our vaulted great room has ceiling pendants that hang down, the hallway has low profile surface mount lights, and the bedrooms use ceiling fans with lights on them. Other spaces use sconce lighting as well. sorry, I do not have pics for you at the moment.

actually I do have some images:

Have you looked at LED options? Use much less power, some are much smaller fixtures (especially the ones that are 12v rather than 120v). If you want them flush you'll still need a hole in your sheetrock though the backing box for airtight can be much smaller.

You can do track lighting and they do make some interesting and modern tracks these days.

You can also think about if it makes sense to add a soffit and put the cans into the soffit. We did that for some of the cans in our kitchen.

We used spray foam insulation though which was sprayed on after the cans were installed so we do have a tight seal.

There's at least three general categories or purposes for interior lighting: 1) Ambient lighting; 2) Task lighting; 3) Accent lighting. Each has a distinct purpose and, thus, the light fixtures tend to differ for the distinct purpose.

Some lighting fixtures may successfully fill more than one purpose, although not every light fixture will do so.

Generally speaking, the most comfortable and effective spaces use all three types of lighting fixture.

Recessed fixtures tend to exist so that an area or task may be illuminated without the light source being visible itself.

All of this can be seen in the photo above.

Thus one should select fixtures for their specific role, which will best fit into the design of one's house. There's nothing wrong with recessed lighting fixtures if properly installed and used.

Good luck with your project.