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?

I used the Ecosmart 4 in LED also. Best price I could find last month was $159/4 on HD online. The 6 in ones you can get for $27 in store, but 4 in hasn't seen that drop yet, unless it was very recent. I got my cans from a local lighting store where I bought a few lights. They gave me contractor pricing. I think because I was buying 10 and a bunch of other stuff. I stopped in a few times and they were super helpful. I ended up with a mixed lot of some Quarum and some Quoizel. They were under $15 each. The Quoizel were much easier to work with going in, the guys noticed a definite difference in ease of adjusting and the screw system was easier than the Quorum nail system. Haven't had any of the lights installed yet, but hopefully the end of next week. They just put up the new ceiling drywall today.

I would do something like those with the cans centered over the edge of the counter so you have less shadows. I added one directly over the sink which may be too much...

4" are small, we did them in our bathrooms and wishing we would have done the 6" in there too, consider 6" recessed for the kitchen. Our ceilings are 8' and we have a large kitchen, this is ours... six recessed 6" can lights, 2 pendants over the island and one light over each window (pendants aren't installed yet but you can see where they'd go).