The spacing between cans depends, to an extent, on the bulbs chosen and on ceiling height, though there is flexibility to adjust for your particular floorplan. I'd guess you'll want two pendants for the island. A chandelier may be enough for a small dining room table, but you might want to supplement it with some additional fixtures.

So, dimensons of the rooms? Ceiling height? General color scheme (light or dark?)

The kitchen part of the room is 13' x 10' with a 42" window on the shorter wall. The ceilings are 8'. The cabinetry will be cherry with a very light finish and I think the countertops will be marble. The floors will be red oak. The adjacent dining room is another 10' (the house is a 20' wide rowhouse) with french doors to the back yard. If I can figure it out, I'll post a layout.

Assuming you plan to use incandescents, I'd probably choose 50 watt PAR30 floods, which require at least a 5" fixture. To keep the light levels even, I wouldn't space them any further apart than about 44" along the counters. I'd try to find places for about 8 of them in a room that size -- you might be able to light the counters with fewer, but I'm trying to make sure there's enough ambient light bouncing around the room to complement the direct task lighting. Try and flank any given work area with lights on both sides rather than one directly overhead. Be especially careful of this if you have a range hood projecting from a wall; a can directly overhead would light the hood rather than the cooktop.

My usual disclaimer: I'm not a lighting professional. This is just fun for me.

Do you mean 8 in the total space, including the dining room? Because I was wondering if it was necessary to do recessed cans in the dining room at all. Maybe a chandelier and a table or floor lamp or two? I'm linking to a floor plan for the kitchen and adjacent dining space. I don't know how to put the picture directly into the message. Thanks for your help! Why are my contractor and electrician so opposed to having the recessed cans over the counters as opposed to in the aisles?

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen-Dining Room Layout

Thank you so much Jon1270! I gave your proposal to my contractor and electrician and they are giving me heck about it! They say: aisles will be dark, undercab lighting is sufficient, there will be "hot spots" on the cabinets. I'm trying to make up my mind about the layout today so my renovation can progress. I'm posting to the kitchen forum too so I can get as much advice as possible -- so I can tell them, 4 out of 5 kitchen remodelers agree . . . : )

I had the conversation with my contractor, too, about where to place the cans. He told me that the isle will not be lit if I place the cans on the edge. I have a very similar layout to yours. Because we have skylights, the lights were placed approximately 38" from the wall.....cans only. I have not gone as far as purchasing the trims that go into the cans. Hence my other problem.....In the process of remodeling kitchen/great room, family room, and we are also installing recessed lighting. The cans my husband bought were 10-6" HALO H7ICT (New Construction)and 4-4". These were installed when I returned from work in only the kitchen working area and the staircase going to the basement. Also purchased were 18-6" HALO H7RICT (Remodeler cans) to be installed in the "great room" area which is a continuation of the kitchen. These have not yet been installed. I know I do not want white, black or chrome trim kits. After reading on this forum and of Chiefneil's postings (a bit too late), off I went to our local electrical supply store which had a display of JUNOS. There I also find out that you can't purchase JUNO trims for HALO cans. I can return the remodeler cans which have been purchased but I was also told that since the HALO cans are already installed, to install JUNO cans next to them would not work because I would see the difference in the trims. Meaning----HALO trims would not be the same color as JUNO trims. They said that the "HAZE" trims on both JUNO and HALO are a little different. I wanted the white trim with the haze or wheat reflector. Can someone P-L-E-A-S-E give me some suggestions as to what to do. I want the same look as Trubee had done in her kitchen or at least close to it. I'm also confused as to ALZAK non-ALZAK, incandescent, CFL bulbs, etc. Thank you all!!!

bklyn71, thanks for posting your contractor's thoughts. The "hotspots" he's talking about are the scallops I was referring to. Done haphazardly they could be a problem, but that doesn't have to be the case. As far as the aisles being dark, I just don't know what they're talking about unless your counters, cabs and floor will all be matte black. Light bounces around. Oh well, I don't envy you the decisions you must make. I think of such situations as being like having two different watches, never sure which is right. Good luck, and please post some feedback about whatever you do and how you like the result. Some pics would be great.

Georiga, I don't quite understand your problem. Can you not buy appropriate haze trims from Halo?

Thanks! You know, it is so hard to tell people that you see every day, who have expertise and take pride in their work, that you have chosen to disregard their opinions in favor of the advice of a stranger on the internet! And yet, I am still insisting on your layout, but with a few tweaks to appease their egos. Tell me what you think (if I knew how to post the layout & modify it I would, sorry): I will add one can in front of the range, parallel with the one in front of the refrigerator (contractor's concern). I will do one directly over the sink instead of the two flanking it (electrician & contractor). I will add two on the other side of the island to help light the dining room. And I think I'll let the electrician recommend placement of the dining room wall-washers, etc.

I have some pictures from magazines and one in my clippings that show the scalloping effect. It is so pretty, but it makes me think I should change my matte-finished cabinets to a slightly glossier finish!

My lighting and cabinets probably won't be in for another month or more, but I will definitely leave feedback then.

Any word from Brownli?

What is the can in front of the range intended to light? I'm skeptical, because if it's too close to the range then it will tend to illuminate the protruding hood instead of the cooktop, which only creates glare near eye-level and deepens the shadows under it. Putting it further out to illuminate the aisle would probably cause some shadows on the cooktop when you're standing there, but these might be mediated by the hood lights. How good are the lights in the hood?

For the sink lighting I was thinking 4" cans, which take smaller, lower-wattage bulbs than you'd be using elsewhere. Also, if you've got a shiny stainless sink then two cans off to the sides a bit will cause less glare than one centered. Anyhow, I stand by my two-small-can preference, but if you must grease the wheels, I'll understand... :)

The two on the far side of the island sound good. I wasn't sure of the layout over there, so I left it alone.

I think you'll be fine with the matte finish.

I look forward to your feedback. No word from Brownli yet, but I'm patient.

The can in front of the range is intended to light . . . the aisle, I guess. It was to appease the contractor, but maybe I'll re-reconsider and put one somewhere else, like in the corner aisle by the sink. I agree with you on the sink flanking, and will again raise it with the two nay-sayers. The hood has two halogen lamps in it -- pictures of it look like they should be pretty bright. Any suggestions for an alternate appeasement location would be welcome!

Now that I look back, Brownli responded to my post in the kitchens forum. I just saved it to my clippings, if you want to look there. He (?) said that he couldn't place the lights where you suggested and was indeed getting shadows on the counter.