Lighting design is both science and art. Choosing a designer means finding one that creates a look you like. If this stuff is important to you then you need to interview designers to discuss your project and hopefully see their portfolio. You can get a pretty good idea of what you are going to get by looking at and discussing past projects which are similar to yours. If you are the interior designer then it is your responsibility to create the furniture plan and overall look of the home and find a lighting designer to carry it through with the end result of having enough light where you need it and for your art and furnishings to be well presented without the lighting becoming the star performer, good or bad.

When you walk into a retail store for a design you typically have just reduced your options to whatever it is they sell by whoever was available. The person helping you may be a very talented expert with extensive product knowledge and design skills, or not.

Lighting plans rarely make it into the home unchanged. Something will be in the way such as plumbing, ducts, beams. Unless you fully understand how these changes will affect the end result your designer should be consulted on any changes.

All fixture types have properties that make them good for some things and not so good for others. Recessed lighting is only one tool. The designer that wanted floor or table lamps in the living rooms knows that point source light from directly above casts shadows which is dramatic and great to show textures but terrible for lighting human faces. You and your guests would have lots of dark shadows. Recessed fixture(s) over the coffee table in front of the group of guests can work with another ring out further over the couches and chairs. Table lamps fill in with light from the side reducing the shadows from above. Lighting designers tend to blend different types and sources of light to achieve the goal. Halogen low voltage accent lighting is good at putting a punch of light on an object to pull your attention to it. It is not as good at general room lighting. But some very creative and talented people successfully use it for general room lighting because they like the size of the fixture and adjust-ability. Rules can be bent if one knows how.

We put cans in our family room a few years ago and they are hardly on...just if I am cleaning at night. If we stretch out on the couch to watch TV..then they are too much light, even with dimmers...they just seem to "get in the way". Can't remember what we spent on them but surely it was expensive and waste. Maybe you could use one or two for a dark corner. There is one over my reading chair that could be useful but then that switch controls a whole row of lights and I don't want to get up to shut them off and it glares on the TV.

When you are laying out your lighting plans, the lighting should be layered. When we did this we would have recessed lighting around the perimeter of the family and/or dining rooms which highlighted art, furniture or other items. When this is done, you usually get "back lighting" into the room. At times, we have used this and candles on the dining room table.

After you have placed them around the perimeter, you can then put in a chandelier over the dining table and lamps in the family room. You should also "zone" your lighting. In our family room, the recessed lights over the fireplace are on a separate dimmer than the other lights. Also, the lights along the wall where the couch is located are switched separately.

This allows you to utilize the lighting according to what you want. When we are watching television in the family room, we have the lights on over the fireplace and it gives just the right amount of light.

Our advice has always been to consider the room and how it will be used. Think about the different zones that would be in use at any given time and then decide what you need.

The recessed lighting that you decide to use is generally based on budget. There are so many manufacturers of recessed lighting that you can pretty much decide what you want. If you have a question about the bulbs you are to use you can always buy one of the bulbs and put it in a lamp holder. Turn it on and then see what it actually does in the room or a room that is similar. It is difficult for someone to actually know what the lighting is going to do until you see it. At least this gives you a visual of what is going to be on in the room. Most people have found this helpful because they know what it is going to look like ahead of time. Just stand on a ladder and hold the bulb up there so that you can see what it is going to do.

kichkat

we also have an open floorplan with kitchen, morning room, family room, and dining room that all flow together. There are some room definitions like fur downs, a bar and half wall into the dining room - but all rooms are connected and open to each other.

We used a combination of ceiling fixtures, 6 inch cans, 4 inch cans, and 4 inch low voltage cans throughout our space. We had a wonderful lihgting designer help us out. I drew the initial plan - then he provide critque and suggested mods. I had too many cans at first, and he cut back the number. The lighting designer works for the company where we will purchase the lights, and is the one recommended by my builder.

I can tell you that we wound up with 9 six inch cans, 12 four inch cans (6 of them low volatge), and 4 celing fixtures for all of the rooms I mentioned above. We also have above cabinet and below cabinet low voltage lights on the kitchen cabinets.

One thing you need to be aware of - even though the cost of the recessed housings are relatively cheap, you need to find out how much the electricain will charge to install them. Our guy (who I checked and is reasonably priced) charges $100 per housing and that includes the the hardware.

I had a lot of cans in our house - almost fainted when I got the upcharge estimate from the electrician. I wound up installing all of the cans myself. I saved a bunch of money but discovered that it is a lot more time consuming than you think (I spent an entire day just spotting the location of the cans).

I suggest you find a designer who will look at your space, your usage of that space, your overall house design, and the amount of natural light you get to come up with an electrcial plan (not just recessed - but the entire layout). I believe that the electrical design is as important as the structure of the house and needs to be done right - when the walls are open. If you try and retrofit later - it is a big job and a mess.

Also - I suggest that you pay very careful attention to where the switches will be to control all of those lights. We love the open floor plan - but with that comes the fact that there are multiple ways in and out of rooms. Think about day and night usage - can I get to the switches easily or will I be walking back and forth like a duck in an amusement park shooting gallery.

Best of luck.

sniffdog, it would be helpful to know the dimensions of the areas you covered with the number of lights you mentioned. (My work's done, but it'll be helpful to other people!)

dm

It is hard to define the exact dimesions of our rooms because many of them have angled walls. But here are rough dimensions and the lights we used

Family room is roughly 20' x 25' and adjoins the kitchen, morning room and dining room as well as three hallways (one that leads to the foyer, one to a study, and one to a utility room and exit into the garage.) A bar in the kitchen separates it from the family room and in the back of the family room has a curved wall for the steps going to the second floor. The FR has a fireplace and in the corner (on a diagonal wall) will have a built in cabinet for a TV. Here we used a large semi flush decorative light in the center, 3 cans that illuminate the path around the wall for the stairs, 3 low voltage 4 inch cans that illuminate the fireplace mantel, and 3 low voltage cans that illuminate the built in cabinet.

The kitchen dimensions are roughly 20' x 12' and it includes an island and a bar. In this room we have a chadelier fixture over the island, 2 four inch cans over the main sink, 6 six inch cans that illiminate walking areas and counters, 4 four inch cans over the bar, and above/below cabinet low voltage lighting.

The morning room is roughly 11' x 12' and connects to the kitchen and the family room. Here we have 1 chandelier fixture, no cans.

The dining room (this room is actually a rectangle) connects to the family room as well - is roughly 16' x 14'. In this room we have 2 four inch cans that illuminate 2 niches that are on one end of the room and a chandelier in the center of the room.

The hallway into the foyer also has 2 cans to illuminate the pathway.

The basic concept we used is: each room has one decorative fixture as the main light, then the cans focus light on to work areas or create path ways for walking around when it is dark. The low voltage lighting is used in areas where there would be shaddows or where we needed some accent lights.

Each entry/exit for each room has a controller that can turn on the lights for that space as well as near by spaces that connect to it. This is a real challenge with an open foor plan - there are so many ways in and out of rooms.

The family room was the biggest challenge since there are 3 adjoining rooms and three hall/path entrances. We are using Insteon remote control switches and controllers to provide the capability to turn lights on and off from multiple locations throughout the space.

I hope this helps.