So 5' between counter & ceiling. A fixture only 15" from the ceiling (if I'm reading that right) will just glare you away. (Sorry, Jerry!) Agree with marthavila this type of fixture does focus light & will probably need additional recessed ceiling lights. I'd guess 4 of those small ones spaced something like this: oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooXoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooXooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXoooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooXoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooXooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Sorry this is funky - best I can manage in this format. The 4" recessed lights (called high hats around here) throw about a 36" light cone at counter height, so a 3" might throw at least a 24" cone. The 4-inchers are typically set in the ceiling 4-6' on center so the light circles overlap on the counter, if memory serves. Six high hats may serve better, three in a line instead of the two. I'm assuming your island is one continuous height with nothing else installed (cooktop or sink). Perhaps you could describe the island layout if different? Your electrician could install the recessed lights now & the center fixture wiring and then cap the center till you select the just right fixture. Capping is just screwing in a round cap that covers the wiring. If you don't have your fixture before the soapstone goes on, the electrician will just need to use a bridge ladder when he installs it. That's the kind that forms a scaffold above the countertop. Would imagine any electrician would have one if your general contractor doesn't. I mean, I have one! They can be juryrigged with two ladders & a strong plank, which is what I used to have to do. With the countertop deadline you're facing & if I were in your shoes, I'd rent a lighting designer by the hour. Check by phone at kitchen designer & lighting showroom places. Ask about the overlap of recessed lighting on your island & listen for a quick authoritative response (meaning they know this by heart). I'd have my selected expert out Saturday for an hour & by the time they left have a sketch in hand for the specs & electrician's layout, know if they should all be on one switch or the pull down on another & a ballpark cost estimate. I'd ask lots of questions of the designer & know how the lighting would function. The confidence & peace of mind gained would be worth it to me. The dome inside the recessed lights can be black, white or metallic. I've got the black ones in a hallway & they look like holes in the ceiling - what some refer to as the "swiss cheese" effect. Prefer the white or metallics that are unobtrustive. When I called the design places to locate someone to help. I'd start off with - "I've got a rush job for lighting design above a kitchen island. Who do you have on staff qualified to advise me?" When speaking to the person who came to the phone, I'd introduce myself & my problem, get their name & go to it, asking their fee towards the end. If they quoted $200 an hour, I'd counter with $125 & say I may buy my fixtures through them. Would ask if I do buy fixtures through them will the consulting fee be waived. I'd tell them I'd get back to them shortly & call the next on my list. Within half an hour I'd have chosen one & lined them up. But that's just my way of doing business... Take a deep breath. Your kitchen will be wonderful!

It is aesthetically pleasing to have light evenly cover the entire counter. In order to cover your entire island and make the most efficient use of your pendant lights you should place one pendant directly in the middle of the island at 53". The other two pendants should be placed approximately 17.667" in from each end of the island or approximately 35.333" to the left and right of the center pendant. Ideally you want to keep the light from the pendants on the counter while eliminating spaces between the light shining on the counter that will create shadows. Certain items in the ceiling, such as pipes, may play a role as to where the pendants can be placed. As for height, pendants are generally hung with a space of 30"-36" between the countertop and the bottom of the pendant. This is simply a guideline and there are other factors that may dictate the need to hang a pendant higher or lower. Last but not least as a few GW'ers can attest to make sure your pendants do not interfere with any cabinet doors! This post was edited by SaltLife631 on Tue, Oct 29, 13 at 23:35

Compared to the orderly layout of the rest of the house, the run in front of the cabinets looks a bit random. What is the beamspread (which goes outside the walls theoretically with the lights at the counter edge location), if you pull them back in alignment with the one over the refrigerator? I would also line up the far left family rroom light with the far left kitchen light and probably ad one in between in a vertical line.

way back when.. i used just plain old shop lights .... and kept the light 3 to 4 inches from the plants .. and do note.. duration of lighting is as important as closeness ... i ran mine 16 hours a day .... you are probably just going to have to experiment ... to get an answer ... just dont experiment on all of them at once ... ken