Can't show you my sconces and pendants in the FR as I don't have any...I have sconces in my library over the fireplace and I have wall mounted swing arms over the sofa in there. The family room has cans and lamps.

Library is all the rest cans, except for one table lamp. And I have lighting inside the bookcase fronts.

Swing arm lamps:

Sconces over fireplace:

If I saw a house that had no recessed lights in the main rooms I would account for that future renovation cost in my purchase offer. I agree, they aren't the most beautiful things, but neither are toilets and other things we need! Sometimes you just need lots of light in a room and this is when the can lights come in handy. Now that my ageing parents have been in their house 10 tears they are regretting not having done more can lights. Their bedrooms are so dark and it drives me crazy. Use dimmers on the can lights, add other sources of light and this mix will provide you with the most flexibility.

I have sconces on each side of the doorway from my great room to my kitchen/dining area. My sconces are more form than function. I think they look beautiful when lit but the they mostly provide ambiance. Since you asked for a show of sconces I am posting them even though they would not be what you would want.

I have 4 inch wall washer lights in the ceiling that shine on my fireplace and also have some that shine on another wall that has a large piece of art work on it. For the rest of my great room lighting I have 2 table lamps and a floor lamp. Just got a new floor lamp yesterday:

Our living room is about the same size as your FR and the only installed lighting in the room is over the fireplace -- two sconces. The house was built in the 1920s so there are no cans in the room. However, our living room is in the middle of the long wall, so the sconces are centrally located. Your sconces would be on one side of the room, so my concern would be that when you flip a switch to turn on your sconces, the other half of the room will be dark.

In addition to our sconces, we have two other lamps that we use as needed.

AnnieDeighnaugh, I always so enjoy seeing pictures of your home, thanks for posting. I love the swing arm lights over the sofa, those look like they would provide a very nice reading light.

chispa - Hmm. I am mulling over what you said. I think it's the type of cans I've used throughout the rest of the house which makes me hesitate. They're Cree LED 2700K and I find the lighting cold, so with a different recessed light I might be much happier. (All my lights are on dimmers and yes, we did experiment with dimmers until we could dim sufficiently).

Howdy badgergal, that looks like quite the great room! Are those the Playa from Tech Lighting? They look beautiful lit. (I love their products). Wall washers are another idea.

I just started looking at the recessed lights on the Tech Lighting site and see that there are many options available.

Sueb20 - it's helpful to get feedback on the room size and what you've used in a similar space, thanks. I think the fireplace sconces would be decorative/for ambiance vs. any sort of task lighting.

What are your thoughts on a monorail track, like this? (Tech Lighting)

AnnieDeighnaugh, what a lovely home. Your posting of swing arm lamps mounted on the side of cabinets is quite helpful. I was hesitant about drilling holes into the sides of my wood cabinets for sconces in case I want a change later. However, the placement is so attractive that my reservations have vanished thanks to your photo.

oldbat2be, you know lighting! Yes my sconces are Tech Lighting's Playa (flush mount). They serve my purpose and I have gotten lots of compliments on them from guests in my house. I have Tech's Otto pendants in my kitchen and I really like them too.
Can't wait to see what you come up with. Your kitchen in fabulous so I know your family room will be too.

I like the track. They have such pretty shade these days.

Not a family room, but a guest room with small sitting area. I had two sconces over the fireplace, a pendant over the sitting area and matching lamps. I am matchy though :)

I don't seem to have any finished pictures of the room and it was my old house....

You're welcome!

oldbat2be - we changed out the LED bulbs we had in the bathroom for "warm white" - they were Cree that we bought at Home Depot - can't remember the name of the "cold white" - might have been "blue white" or something. Anyway, the "warm white" has made quite a difference. I don't think I will ever buy any other shade.

Had the same experience as elphaba with the Cree lights. DH bought some of the "daylight" version and I hate them, but he put them in his office and loves them! It feels like going into a 7-11 in the middle of the night ... yuk!! Rest of the house has the "warm white" and I like those much better.

We are not fond of recessed lights although I can appreciate that sometimes that is the only functional choice. When we remodeled our kitchen 8 years ago, I found this low voltage cable system. Love the function, love the form. The bonus is you can reposition the lamps on the cable!

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen cable lighting

Here is a closer view.

Here is a link that might be useful: cable lighting

This post was edited by clairebuoyant on Sun, Aug 11, 13 at 23:15

badgergal - too cool! I googled tech lighting otto and your lovely curved kitchen came up in the first few pictures, which I recognized immediately. I had never noticed your pendants before; always too focused on your amazing cabinetry.

boopadaboo- I have very similar lights, thank you for posting. I too like to match things.

elphaba, chispa - thanks but we have the Cree 2700K (warmer) cans. In some spots, I like them a lot. In others (where there's lots of surrounding white/light colors), I don't as much. Still, these may have been in the days when they were new and we were paying ~$70/can. I have no doubt that the much cheaper ones available at the big box stores now have warmer lighting....

clairebuoyant - very nice to see other pictures of the cable lighting, thanks. I really like this idea.

Here's a picture from tonight of the proposed area. The ceiling would be approximately 6.5 - 7 feet wide at the highest area, which I think would be quite nice with the cable lighting.

I just purchased these sconces to add to our built-ins that will be under construction in the next month. We will also have the matching light fixture.