Mommy2twocuties, we determined our main floor square footage by first deciding which rooms we had to have on that floor. As far as room sizes, one thing I did to visualize was to measure the sizes of rooms we had in our existing house and use that as a jumping off point. For example we had a dining room at the existing home that was 11x11. I knew from living in that space that it was much too tight for the table and china cabinet that we had and the buffet that I want someday. Based on that, I knew that 14x16 was the minimum size that I wanted. We also used the same formula for determining approximate sizes for the family room, bedrooms, walk in closets and kitchen. Because our existing rooms already had the furniture and stuff that would be moving with us, it made the numbers feel real to us and give some additional perspective. Once you know what you want/need for rooms on a floor, and the approximate size of each, you can better ball park the square footage that you are looking at. It will still bloat up with hallways, stairwells and closets, but you will know if you need to be looking at 1500, 2100, or 2800 square feet to accommodate your wants.

Thanks, davidtay, I tweaked my plan per advice from a rep at my local lighting place (she knows her stuff, should have worked with her from the beginning). Her suggested can placement for the area without upper cabs is pretty much what you suggest. (see link to see my kitchen forums thread and the updated plan). As for a regular pattern, I've got that going, sort of. My sink to DW cab to fridge cab cans are in a MOL straight line, just at a diagonal from everything else. Can't be helped. A regular pattern would not be functional and I nearly always choose function over form. btw, I have no idea what you mean by disc lights. Are these like puck lights mounted on the ceiling, not in it? We'll have ceiling repair elsewhere so floating new texture is in the budget. A little more repair won't be a big deal. Here is a link that might be useful: help w/ kitchen lighting plan - x-post in kitchens

I'm just under 5'4". I currently get shadows on the counter when I'm working elsewhere in my kitchen but my existing can lights are about 8" out from the edge of the counter so there's really no way to avoid shadows. My plan addresses that issue. Unless I'm really misunderstanding what you mean, my plan has 2 lights over the sink area. They are on different switches but there are 2 lights in that area. I know that when we use the one sink light, it's plenty bright for whatever quick activity we're doing. The existing can is set about 24" from the edge (it's a corner sink) but there's no way I can replicate that when we change the sink location - unless I want to spotlight the window. ;-) Are you suggesting I have those 2 lights - sink light and the one to its left - on the same switch? I'm quite confused about what you're suggesting as a solution. I'll have to think about that but first thought is that it's not the right solution for us. To clarify: quick activities include grabbing a glass from an upper cab and filling it at the sink (we are fortunate to have really good drinking water), peeling an apple or an orange (the peels go in a kitchen compost bin at the sink), doing a quick wash of one item (paring knife, for instance), grabbing a plate or a piece of silverware ... IOW, quick tasks that take only a few minutes and don't need more than task lighting. If we're doing anything more involved that that, we turn on the rest of the lights.

Thanks, bmore! I tried to find your kitchen reveal thread and couldn't. I'd love to see pics of your lights and their placement in your kitchen. TIA! Thanks, cindallas! The cab next to the oven column has a base and an upper cab that is 15" or 16" above the counter and pulled forward so that its face is even with the base cab face. It will be similar to this set-up, except that the toaster oven cubby will only be 19 1/2" deep (the toaster oven, inc handle, will pretty much fill the space front to back). [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Charlotte Appliances DCI Home Resource I hadn't planned on adding UCL lighting here since it wouldn't do much beyond light the top of the toaster oven. The toaster oven has a lighted control panel so we won't have a problem reading temp, settings, etc. I realized that I'm adding 2 additional can lights to the kitchen so yes, definitely on the dimmer switch! I can't wait to see my kitchen either, Carol! =) The lighting rep recommended the 10" back from the front. I forgot to ask her if that was OC (on center) or to the front edge of the can but since we're talking about 2", I decided not to worry about it and go with the front to back position of my can in the corner above the windows since not repositioning it will save us a bit of $$. There won't be any work counter in the area next to the ovens, only a shallower than standard counter for the toaster oven. Everything else is floor to ceiling cabs so lighting in front of it is preferred. The can above my fridge and fridge cab was placed way too close to the cab face creating glare on the cab and shadows where I don't want them. Also, it's how our current cans are placed and it's worked well for 20+ yrs. Good luck with your kitchen planning!