I realize this is 1.5 years later, but thought's I would comment anyway :) .If you did end up going with one beam and thought, gee I wish I had taken the beams across the breakfast and/or living room, they have these products called faux beams now. You mentioned budget constraints kept you from doing more beams initially, but the faux beams I've seen are but a FRACTION of the cost of traditional wood weight bearing beams. I'm sure there are many suppliers such as Home Depot, etc, any many online, but here is one particular website worth viewing. http://www.fauxwoodbeams.com/beams-custom-rough-hewn.php If you posted after pics and you did multiple beams, sorry for the redundancy, but hey, maybe there is another room you'd like beams in and this is a legit consideration. :) Cheers!

What about putting a shallow hutch down on the rust colored wall where you have your "Sorry about the Mess but we Live here" sign (Love it! LOL) The bottom half of the hutch could be used for toy storage if it's not needed for kitchen stuff, and the top half could be for "pretties." Sometimes these hutches can be had inexpensively from thrift stores and Craigslist, and you'll be well prepared for painting it and making it your own. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/designer-cottage-shabby-chic-style-entry-burlington-phvw-vp~186307) [Farmhouse Entry[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2114) by Burlington Architects & Building Designers TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design Another option could be a very small cozy couch down there where people could come hang out and sit in the kitchen while you're working, or you could sit and read the paper and half a cup of coffee, look up recipes, etc. A rocking chair and little side table or a couple of petite chairs with a little side table between them might work, too. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~1021897) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Locust Valley Interior Designers & Decorators Deepdale House LLC A painting or mirror could go behind the chairs in place of the window: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-wingate-2012-eclectic-family-room-louisville-phvw-vp~1346790) [Eclectic Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2104) by Louisville Home Stagers Home Staging Specialists A small desk could go there if you need a "command center" for the mail, phone, keys, calendar, charging station,cookbook storage, etc. Here's one example. You could check Houzz, pinterest, or google images for many more. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/laundry-mudroom-traditional-laundry-room-detroit-phvw-vp~1192450) [Traditional Laundry Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-laundry-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_753~s_2107) by Milford General Contractors M.J. Whelan Construction Or a shallow armoire could go there to hold brooms, mops, cleansers and so forth if you don't have a dedicated place for them. If you really wanted to get fancy, you could do a little electric or gas fireplace down there to cozy up to (Craigslist?) Good for you tackling this project. I bet you'll love it when it's all done (and I hope you'll come back and show us pictures!) : )

Is this a new-build home? When you say "the plan", it sounds like it is. Why has the architect spec'd 12' ceilings in the kitchen? Since you didn't know about it, it seems like you didn't request it. Setting aside the cabinets, have you thought about how you are going to light the kitchen from that height? Lighting a kitchen is not like lighting a living room. My personal feeling is that a 12' ceiling will take away from the "coziness" a kitchen should have. So I also suggest you lower the ceiling, to 9' or 10'. Then your 42" cabinets will be fine. You could do a stack to bring the cabinets to a 9' or 10' ceiling, and if you think that has a heavy feeling as you said, you don't have to do every cabinet wall to the ceiling. My kitchen has one wall stacked to the 9' ceiling, and the opposite wall just has the 42" cabinets with space to the ceiling. I like that mix, but that is personal taste. (Note: I am not suggesting that cabinets on the same wall be different heights, a look I do not like.)

ok: You have a kitchen that sucks light because of the backsplash, counters and cupboards are darker LED's are probably not going to work with your current dimmer Par bulbs are generally will have a bit more cut off in the light, the BR, bulge reflector has a greater angle, I would be using a wide flood if you want to eliminate the scallops. Or a much much narrower beam to really drive the light down, say like a 20 degree. All that being said you will be hard-pressed to find an array of beams in LED I believe. Lastly, 2700 is a very warm color, and you should probably opt for a 3500k to get a lighter more "white" in the bulb itself.