I don't know what the rule is on this, but we put our 4" cans with the edge closest to the cabinet over the edge of the counter. That way, they shine right in front of you when you are standing at the counter. A 6" would get pushed back farther if you use the edge. Stand at a counter where you would work comfortably and look up. My thought is that you want the center of the light just in front of you and hitting the counter in front of the upper cabinets. To close and they wash the cabinet more than light your work space and too far back, the center of the light will hit your head rather than toe work area. Make sense?

I think the photo links should be working now. Also, would 4-inch cans be acceptable for this project. I'm not finding much room in the ceiling near my desired locations.

I guess my main take-away, which I don't seem to be communicating very well, was that there was something about the 5" (or are they 4"?) that looked significantly better (and less cheese hole like) than the 6" cans in her home on similar ceilings. They just looked a LOT less obtrusive. I think part of it was the size in our small homes with short ceilings. But, I think part of it was also that the inner area was different. The bulbs were not receded into the cans. Instead, there was some kind of casing that was even with the ceiling and the bulb area was small (maybe 2"?) and even with that line, too. The lighting was not diffuse. It was more sparkley and bright. It was just really interesting, given there were cans on in the adjoining DR that were the 6" we've been considering - and could still use in our adjoining hallway. I'm explaining this HORRIBLY. I should have taken pics. Is anything I am saying making sense? Do you have any idea what lights were in that kitchen?

Denise Marchand - thank you for all of your suggestions! We took your suggestion to move the refrigerator to the wall with the other tall cabinets but are keeping the sink and dishwasher in the locations on my original plan - this allows us to have a corner cabinet. We are using ikea cabinets so we are limited to 15" and 24". We are planning on using a gloss, white subway tile for the open walls (full wall) and back splash on the cabinet wall. We also switch to solid oak counters throughout. Do the window's it is hard to add shelving on either side of the sink. Once the wall is bumped out to even it out with the other side to cover the plumbing stack, the wall to the left of the sink only has 5/6"s of depth before the window. We may add open shelving above the dishwasher on the same wall as the tall cabinets and a high open shelf along the wall with the stove as well. We're going to wait till cabinets and counters are up before we make any decisions about adding open shelving. Since we eliminated the wall cabinets we also switched around the light plan. (below). With a 2nd row, we dropped down to 4" lights from the 6". We are somewhat constrained by the water pipes/stack and AC vents that run through ceiling. The tall cabinets will also have counter task lights. The box outline matches which switch they are attached to. We'll will make sure both sets are dimmable. Debating if it make more sense to only have 2 lights in the hall...If we add another light above the dishwasher, it could only be 10" from the wall. Since we eliminated the wall cabinets we also switched around the light plan. See attached. Since we added another row, we are dropping down to 4" lights from the 6". We are somewhat constrained by the water pipes and AC vents that run through ceiling. The tall cabinets will also have counter task lights. The box outline matches which switch they are attached to. We'll will make sure both sets are dimmable.