I have a similar type ceiling layout. A fan smack in middle of kitchen ceiling. I initially paid a KD extra for lighting plan, but before demo thought there were way too many recessed lights and it would really look like Swiss cheese. I wound up stopping by a local lighting store to look for some lights and they re-did lighting plan with less lights; believe my pot lights are 5". Every space is lit.

If I hadn't had that stroke of luck with the local lighting store, I would have posted my room layout and got some help here for lighting. Lighting is so important and there is so much helpful info here. I followed one of the tips from here about putting pots about 26-30" from wall. I did 28" from wall for 24"D cabs and it came out perfect for my small kitchen. Sketch out your room plan with sizes noted and post it.

Hi Mag438, thanks so much, I'll do a sketch and post a photo, got detoured on another home project., I kind of liked the smaller can lights as they are less obtrusive.

did you keep the fan in your kitchen?

Yes I had to keep ceiling fan. I thought for the longest time I would be replacing the old one but the reno caught up to me before I had time to look. My kitchen style seems to be evolving so I figured I could change it out later. I'll be stuck getting a ceiling light fan that must have a remote control to operate functions separately (currently uses pull chains for separate functionality) since I forgot to consider the electrical requirements. Oops. Just what I wanted...a remote control thingy in the kitchen! I'll try to post a pic but you can prolly get some help from the experts here (which I am not) if u post a drawing. Drawing doesn't have to be fancy; just something hand drawn out on grid paper with noted sizes. Lighting makes a huge difference in kitchen. It impacts nearly everything else.

thanks so much, so far we are keeping the ceiling fan, although I see that it does look obtrusive with it hanging down and we got five can lights installed. those five lights vastly improve the lighting of the kitchen, will post photos after completion.

One way to calculate the number of fixtures you need is to do a quick lumen calculation. There is a thread in the lighting forum that discusses this (search for davidtay). There is also a very good UCL thread that goes over the different options.

Regarding the rope lights, I do not think they are strong enough for under cabinet lighting. Our cabinets don't go to the ceiling and have rope lights on top of them for mood/night lighting and they stay on all the time. They are very dim (like clear diffused xmas tree lights) and would not be enough for lighting the counter.

We have LED strips for UCL that I love and are nice and bright. I forget where they came from, but I sent them a copy of the kitchen cabinet floor plan and they sent back a list of what I would need to order. Everything worked out perfectly and I love them.

thanks all,

my installer says the new rope lights are led and brighter ?

I'll have to check when i go back to purchase them or others

springvillegardens - are you looking at UC lights for ambient lighting or for task lighting?

Many contractors seem to think that people want it just for aesthetics, not for function...and thus the suggestion of using rope lights.

Rope lights, IMO, are NOT going to give you enough working light - I would strongly suggest going with LED strips. We went with lighting from EnviromentalLights.com - they were extremely helpful...I sent them a drawing of the kitchen and they laid out exactly what I needed and put it in a cart for me. We talked a bit more about some of the things I was looking for and so on and they helped revise my cart then as well. All in all, a very smooth process. Yes, it was more money than rope lighting, but I have wonderfully bright lighting to work with and I opted to have a dimmer also for them and it dims beautifully in the evenings as an ambient light source.