wobbly, I have a 10x10 kitchen. Pre-reno I had a huge oak-trimmed surface-mounted fluorescent box that dominated my ceiling. It was so ugly I couldn't bear to turn it on. I got by nicely with the 6" incandescent can over the sink and the light in my range hood. Fortunately, I get a lot of natural light.

I had the fluorescent box removed and it was like getting a giant wart removed from my nose. I replaced the 6" can with 4" and added four more. The four new ones provide adequate room light if I want everything bright, but I needed something brighter over the sink, so I swapped in an Ecosmart CR4 which is amazing, bright as 65w. I plan to swap out the other four in the near future. I have Juno fluorescent tubes under my cabinets and they provide great task lighting.

Obviously, I'm not anti-fluorescent. I'll consider any light that does the job of giving the right illumination with the color temp I prefer. Of course, energy-savings are a big bonus. I just can't tell you how nice it is to not have a big unit hugging my ceiling.

Linelle, do you find these "cloud" fluorescent ceiling fixtures to be as "warty" as your old oak fixture? They look rather unobtrusive to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cloud Fluorescent Ceiling Fixture

Wobbly, thank you for posting about this line of lighting. I really like the Belmont Spill Frame light--this find has solved a large part of my lighting problem. The price is reasonable, too!

Like you, I have a 2 x 4 fluorescent in the current kitchen. Love the oodles of light that it puts out but it is a tad tacky looking; the Belmont is a huge improvement in looks.

I'm not considering cans or LEDs. LEDs, too expensive for now. Cans--lots of holes for heating $$ & moisture to escape into the attic...not a good thing, esp. when you live in Wisconin. Spotty light and I don't like the Domino'ed ceiling look.

Me too - the micro square linear fluorescent is pretty much exactly what I've been looking for: small 2"x2", linear, lensed and ceiling mounted.

wobbly, no I wouldn't call the Cloud fixtures warty. I wouldn't have minded having that on my ceiling at all. As it turned out, there were a number of things that needed replacing, and it appealed to me to have a smooth ceiling (except for the cans).

The Wart (half of it):

I've just installed two of these

Lithonia Cirrus 11604RE Linear 4 Light 128 watt

Chose them because they were the most unobtrusive, minimalist surface-mount 4-tube fixture I could find. Smaller than the "clouds." Not exactly avant-garde, but when lights are on you don't look at them anyway. They fill the space with light.

For ambient, in-all-directions light, the newer fluorescents are still the most cost-effective. I've also put in downward-firing cans above counters for additional optional task lighting.

Cans are great for lighting corners and task areas. But now that most places require CFLs I find the lighting to be wanting. If I ave to have florescent lighting then at least the tube fixtures throw off decent light and are time tested to be reliable.

I am very uncomfortable in a room lit with cfls. I can tolerate the better wider color spectrum tubes much better.

The Lithonia Cirrus 11604RE at 3.5" deep and 9" wide is quite unobtrusive. Seems like a hefty price, but it can put out the light of seven 100 watt incandescent bulbs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lithonia Ceiling Mount Fixture