Depending on how much natural light you have in there... I'd probably go with the 0's adding the x over the island. But if it's a really bright kitchen, maybe that's overkill. What color are your cabs and flooring, etc. Will it tend to be a bright kitchen or darker? I'd think that would dictate the amount of lighting overall.

Thanks, deedles. We'll have white cabinets, soapstone, and a hardwood floor.

And, in the time since I posted my question, the GC and electrician made the same recommendation that you did. :)

BOOM! Point for me!

See. It all works out. Wait, who is the x and who is the 0?

:)

I agree with deedles - and your gc. I think you'd really miss having a light over the island if you skip it.

Yes - who is X and who is 0?

Agree with Xs + Os, with the island X on a separate switch.

Personally I'd go with the O's, but then I'd add two pendants
centered along the length of the island, spaced at 0.2 L and 0.8 L as show in my wonderful drawing below:

ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ +----------------------+
island->ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ :ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ :
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ :ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ xÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ xÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ :
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ :ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ :
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ +----------------------+

The preview, showed the ASCII image fine, but submitting it made in all wonky.

Garden Web Admin People, What's the point of having a preview pane if what a user sees in the preview pane isn't what everyone will actually see when the posting is submitted?

Aargh

Husband is X. I am O. :)

I would recommend X with some pendant or Chandy above the island. Especially if you have a task lighting pendant over the sink, I think 6 cans making googly eyes may be too much light.

Peridot: so now he should give you a kiss and you should give him a hug since you were both somewhat correct separately and absolutely correct together! Two heads are better than one! What are your thoughts on not having a pendant? (btw, I'm voting no pendant over my peninsula so as to keep the thing wide open, visually speaking. Well as of NOW I'm voting that way, lol)

You're right, deedles. We'll celebrate the "tie" with a hug and a kiss. ;-)

As for pendants, I just think they're eye-level clutter that disrupt the openness of a space. I tested my opinion by hanging some plastic cups at varying heights in the spot above the island. Yup. Hated them.

No fan of chandeliers in our kitchen, either. We only have 8 foot ceilings. So, I don't want anything to make it feel shorter.

Maybe I'm missing some light sources here, but cans, in order to light countertop work areas, need to be centered over the edge of the countertop. They don't work to light your counters if they are placed in the aisle behind the counters and, hence, your body.

How large is the island? It looks to me like you're going to need two cans above it.

Thought it was just me and I was missing something
I would move the cans closer to the countertop and put a separate light/chandy over the island
It is easier to wire now than later...
In any case, I go with the Os but moved closer to the cabs
Better to have too much than too little light in the kitchen!

breezygirl, the X's and O's are not drawn in the exact spot where they'll end up. They'll be closer to the edges of/above the counters.

The island is 2' x 6'. Now you've got me thinking about 2 instead of 1.

The first thing I noticed was there was no light over the sink. (There's a window, but that's no help when it's dark outside.) I would move the cans. One directly over sink. One in front of stove, one in front of fridge, one in front of the desk area (or is that a prep sink? if so, 2 over that area), then 2 over the island. I would probably put one over the counter to the left of the main sink too, as one centered over that sink will leave that counterspace kind of dark.

I agree with deb52899 about two lights for the island. Our ceilings are only 89" and we put in two flush mounted "pendants" over our island. They only come down 12" or so, definitely not at eye level even for my tall husband! Our island is not as big as some, at 36" x 60" + countertop overhang, but we still felt we needed two lights, and are always grateful that we did it.

But then, you can see from the picture that we have a LOT of lights.

A six foot island would probably need more than one can. I agree with that observation.

Now you've got me looking at lighting, lol....

drbeanie, where did you get those pendants?

Sorry, don't mean to hijack, peridot44!

Nancy

My kitchen is a little bit wider, but I have 3 rows of 3 recessed lights, plus a pendant over the sink. You can't have too much light and then just use a dimmer for adjusting.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

The electrician finished yesterday. We ended up with...
- 6 recessed cans around the perimiter (on dimmer)
- 2 recessed cans above the island (on dimmer)
- 1 pendant above the sink (this was always part of the plan, as I described in my OP.)
- under cabinet lights
- one inside cab light for the one with glass doors, above the wet bar

Sounds perfect. Good decisions!

How about a picture?