Put the lights on a dimmer. My new kitchen lights are exceedingly bright when on all the way I usually keep them on the lowest setting.

Depending upon how your kitchen sink is arranged with the cabinets around it you may need a separate down light right over that sink so that everything is not in a strange shadow. I have a separate switch for the light over the kitchen sink and it is also on a dimmer.

I would avoid a ceiling fan anywhere close to the range as it would just be something that would ultimately get greasy unless your hood is absolutely amazing... Or, if too close, it may interfere with the functioning of the hood.

I think the lights just go in sort of an L-shaped grid on the inside of the L of the cabinets similar to the way your cabinets appear to be arranged.

You need to take into account how the ceilings connect into the surrounding rooms and the plan posted doesn't indicate any of the room boundaries-or bumps or beams in the ceiling.

On the practical side you need to make sure that you come put a light over all areas in the room that you're intending to put lights. In my case one section of my roof is just too low to get a can light up inside and that had to be taken into account when the lights were spaced.

One can over each work area/countertop area, one over sink (that can be angled toward the sink). Add undercabinet lights as well. No ceiling fan - they get filthy in kitchens and will interfere with your hood.

Electricians tend to place them in a grid. I prefer something like what Anlophilia suggests. Placed centered just beyond the edge of the counter, in relation to work areas BUT in relation to the cabinet doors. Note that joists often get in the way of an ideal arrangement so compromises need to be made in the field.

And yes always use dimmers and be cautious of too many switching locations-it's not that hard to walk a few feet.

When possible I like to locate light directly over the sink and have a seperate switch. Always use undercabinet lights.

If you have a stainless hood do not place one in front of that-glare is annoying and hood produces it's own light. If light is needed there then to the sides.

Spread from a typical can at the counter from an 8 foot ceiling is 4 ft. At floor is much greater.

Attached two pages from a current project to help you figure your's out. They're based on a combination of clients wants and our suggestions (I'd do it differently but don't live there. Don't usually include a light spread diagram but was needed in this case.

Thank you guys! We do have a seperate light above the sink. We installed a steel beam so all ceilings are even and the same height so we don't have to worry about differing ceiling heights. I was against the ceiling fan from the start but my husband was toying with the idea. I'm glad he will be able to see this and change his mind since I wasn't getting through to him! Lol

he purchased dimmers so all lights can be on a dimmer as well as under cabinet lighting. I believe we purchased 12 or 15 can lights just to be sure we had enough.

Thanks for the tip of no light in front of the hood vent. Great tip! I am not sure how many lumens each since my husband purchased them. I will find out though.

our lights are actually 1200 lumens and we only have 6 of them, plus a normal 3 pendant hanging light for above the sink, undecided on middle of the room light fixtures at the moment but planning in doing 2 since the room is so long.

Our kitchen is really close to yours in situation and size. Also, we have a buffet of a different style than our other cabinets which worked out well. We have under-cabinet lights, eight disk lights, two ceiling lights over the sinks and a ceiling fan/light at the opposite end of the kitchen from the stove. We live in CA, and, for us, the fan works well. I have found that rarely is the range hood being used when the fan is on, and with them at opposite ends of the kitchen, it has not been a problem. But then, I don't have a commercial range or hood. Best wishes on your project!

As someone said, lights over work areas, sinks, stove tops, refrigerator door. Other cans should be placed about 18" in front of the tops of the wall cabinets. The effect should be light washing down the cabinet faces onto the counter tops. The ceiling joists will drive the final installation. You will need to be able to anchor the recessed can onto the joists. You really need under cabinet lighting, too. If your electrician is any good, he will help you with the final placement. This is all done before drywall, so anything can be modified, necessary.

I reused my old can units in my recent renovation. I bought convertible led can light plug ins. They simply plug into the Edison style plug in the can and snap in snug to the ceiling. They seal nicely to the drywall ceiling. Supposed to last forever. Creates a nice seal for better insulation, too. Available at Lowe's and HD.

thank you! my husband is our electrician so we are on our own with all of the design and placement. All of our lights for this project are also LED. if the joist doesn't hit the correct area we plan on sistering the joists in the attic so we can essentially have something to nail into wherever we need it to be... thankfully my husband is very handy!

FYI, They do make a joist hanger that will suspend between joints.

Also, I think ceiling fans in kitchens are dangerous.

we only purchased a total of 6 can lights for some reason,....i assumed we bought 8 so we could do 2 on each wall of the kitchen basically...but equally far apart.

we were planning on doing at least one regular flush mount kitchen light somewhere in between but would 2 be more pleasing to the eye?