Hi Cathy - Yes, I do believe I have a serious case of PLO. ;) I just had an online chat with the speacialist from Bellacor lighting and she helped me find this - to achieve the same look as that inspiration photo I posted: http://www.bellacor.com/productdetail/trans-globe-lighting-69906-bk-one-light-black-large-onion-outdoor-pendant-home-improvement-398693.htm I really like the nautical flair and the fact it's a bit more unusual than what most people are doing. I do worry that my kitchen will be cookie cutter - white shaker cabinets, stainless, marble subway backslash... I've seen hundreds of kitchens like that already so I think it's in the style details that help make it your own. What is your ceiling height? That is my other obstacle.

Thanks Cheerpeople. :) I went out to the new house and they were painting, so it was looking like a "real" house now, which gave me a much better perspective. Armed with tape measure and my circle of cardboard, I determined the diameter is fine. But as justgotabeme was saying, what surrounds it makes a difference. The lights would be next to a short wall from the ceiling because the room behind it has pony walls and open walls. But the "pony" wall continues at the ceiling and comes down 17" ish. That means the semi-mount fixture would hang almost as low as the end of that wall, and I'm afraid it will look too crowded. So I think the flush-mount is the way to go. I really do like the semi-flush one, but this area is adjacent to the foyer, which is going to have two very large chandeliers, and I don't want it to be so completely busy with multiple conflicting hanging fixtures that compete with each other! Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the help.

On a flushmount fixture, the whole "rim" is touching the ceiling. There is no way for heat to escape, and you don't get any light shining straight up from the light bulb and then reflecting off of the ceiling and into the room. On a semi-flushmount, there is a stem of sorts and the "rim" is dropped down a few inches from the ceiling. Sometimes you can put a higher wattage bulb in this style because the heat can escape, and you get the bonus of bouncing light off of the ceiling. Flushmounts have the advantage of being less obtrusive; might be better in a hallway. Semi-flush might be better in a foyer or over an island.

Is this the same kind of can that was in the kitchen? If so, you should have an idea what is up there. We were considering changing two cans in a hall to flush mounts and I found aconversion kit at Home Depot. The Westinghouse one in the link is the one we were l ooking at. We decided not to do them, so I can't tell you about putting them in, but it looked pretty simple. I think there was a video online that showed the installation.