The spacing of the pendants sounds pretty good. I'm skeptical that the little 4" models will look proportionate to the island, or cast enough light to work by, but that's probably not critical at this stage; it sounds like your builder just wants to install the rough wiring and ceiling boxes. As for can placement, many builders prefer to put cans out over the aisle spaces. While this does make exact fixture placement more forgiving, it also makes it inevitable that your own body will cast a shadow over the area of counter where you're working. I'm of the 'directly over the counter edge' school of thought. This prevents such shadows, but also places noticable splashes of light across the upper cabinets, which makes it necessary to place these cans especially carefully. With 9' ceilings I'd probably use 5" or 6" cans, shoot for about 4' spacing over the counter edges, and plan to use 75 watt, 40-degree floods.

Hi khallock. Real lighting novice here, just thought I'd share our recessed lights were installed today at 30" wall on-center, not 24". We will have upper cabinets. My GC feels 30" is better for light diffusion, including of the uppers and path through the kitchen. We will have good quality task lighting in the form of under-cabinet lighting as yourself.

Mike, We have 8" high ceilings. I want lights that are for task lighting. I cook, and so does my son, but it's not every night, because he's busy w/homework, and I'm tired after a hard days' work. We'll eat on the other side of the island that used to be dining room, but will be a quasi-extension of the kitchen. In the family room, our ceiling are between 8-10 feet. We'll have lamps in their for ambient and mood lighting, but also want recessed lights, but unlike the kitchen, for ambient lighting. In both rooms, we'll be putting 5" baffled recessed lights, and I cannot see using any kind of floods.

Joanie, If the cans are illuminating the countertop where there is no upper cabinet, they should be centered (front to back) above the counter. In most cases this will be about 12 or 13" from the wall. If there are uppers, then the cans should be centered over the edge of the counter or about 25" from the wall. You'll also want to install under cabinet lights wherever you have upper cabs. For better information than I can give you, post your question in the lighting forum. The folks over there are very knowledgeable and helpful.