"Since I'm the electrician, I know where they are going. I'm using ICAT's of course, although they don't look very AT to me. I'm going to make sure they are well sealed to the ceiling plane, AND they are going to have boxes over them in the attic before the insulation goes in. " give me a minute to get my foot out of my mouth...LOL! if there are no holes in the housing..they are air tight. but what I find is that the cuts in the sheetrock are often oversized, so that the leakage is now at this penetration. I use a mastic tape to seal between sheetrock & housing of recessed light, then once trim kit is installed, the mastic tape seal doesn't show. by doing this additional sealing, the box over the recessed light in attic isn't necessary. after a decade & a half of testing homes for air leakage...doing the air sealing work..trying everything from ice chests to sheetrock boxes to ul rated 'hats' that go over recessed lights, I've found that the above method is the best. its a real pita to cut box to fit & seal air tight around 'legs' of recessed cans, and in a lot of cases the can is next to joist & box can't fit in between. expanding foam (aka great stuff) covers but doesn't seal leakage sites. but it expands so much...that you can't see the leakage sites anymore. over time, the foam shrinks allowing more leakage. thus the mastic tape method of sealing. I use only Hardcast brand #1402 mastic tape from hvac supply. I also use the hardcast to seal supply boxes to ceilings from inside the house. (I say ceilings..because that is the average location of ductwork in my area) hardcast will seal the same in wall, or floor applications. see attached pic to view how it looks. easier than explaining! best of luck.

Also the new GE Reveal LEDs - they have good color rendering (90 CRI) and though the 2850K color temperature doesn't sound all that different than 2700, they definitely throw off a cooler cast than 2700K bulbs. Available in a BR30 flood or standard (A19) 40- or 60-watt replacement. Home Depot stocks them in their stores and I just bought a BR30 to try it out. I can't get your link to work btw

You guys rock. Thanks for the feedback and photos. You really think I should get a dimmer for the hall lights? Hmm... I'll mention that to DH. We're putting a dimmer in his man room. We were going to turn them on and off as we used it. I definitely think it will bug me to have the only hall source not coming from overhead with that long of a stretch. Kmcg - Do you know the wattage or your sconce? For the recessed lights, 6" would be the way to go, right? I saw they had "kits" but they looked different than the stuff being sold separate. I'll have to make a trip to Lowes over the weekend and see what they have. Roseabbey - I was thinking of using 3 recessed lights. I'm glad to hear that will be enough light. These are the photos I had in the other thread. This is looking down the one side of the basement. There's stuff beside and behind me. The wall on the right is 20'. (Count to the 4th column.) There will be a door at the end and two doors on the left. left side

One or two wall washers to highlight the mantel area will be good if you're putting great art there that needs to be seen. Without floor and table lamps, you'll never achieve the warm coziness that family spaces require.