For the uplight, you could go a few routes, especially with respect to dimming functionality. And some fixtures don't support dimming, so you need to figure that out. To that end, I suggest you think through the use cases. For example, the use case that I think I'd appreciate most is late evening, after you've retired to another room of the house, at which time a mellow indirect glow from the skylight cutout would be particularly pleasant. You might also want the more light from this source on occasion, in which case you'd want brighter lights on a dimmer. That being said, here's some options. I'm thinking two, centered on the skylights, mounted near the bottom rim of the cutout (just above the beam probably). Regarding the pendant, I know that selecting pendants is hard enough without more to think about, but one downside of a single pendant vs multiple pendants is thhat single sources create worse shadows. And the clear glass pendants above exacerbate this harsh shadow problem by being point sources, whereas the Fillsta, for example, mitigates this problem because it's effectively a uniform 31" sphere of light. This large diffuser also makes it possible to use a brighter source. For example, you could put a 300W equivalent CFL in the Fillsta, but such a bright light would be unacceptably harsh in a point source like the clear glass pendants above.

Thanks all--great ideas. I did find some nice shades at my local bigbox but they only had incandescent fixtures to go with them. I'll have to check the other one. I didn't even consider changing out the guts of a normal fixture. If I find something I really like that is an excellent option! Schoolhouse Electric, if anyone else has this problem, will stick a GU24 socket on just about anything that fits one too, like Rejuvenation. CA can install incandescent fixtures, just a certain percentage of fixtures in a remodel have to be high efficiency. So there's no problem shipping stuff here. What do they need to look like? Uh...I don't know. (I had actually decided to just use cans at one point so I could avoid this, but they would have been too obvious with the sloped ceiling.) I want them to be smaller than a basketball and really bright. Something appropriate for a fifties house but not something so retro it looks like I'm trying to make it look like a fifties house. Glass shade, chrome or brass (or white if it's that kind of fixture that just hangs by its cord). Dangly. My ceiling is still open so I can switch to a large single fixture over the island (although spouse does not like old fashioned billiard lights, alas!). See? I'm not picky! Thanks! :)

Arialvetica I contacted the designer as you suggested I'll wait to see what she says daisychain01 I love the visual comfort designs I'll have to check them out. my_four_sons thank you for the suggestion. I like Lily. i found a light by Hudson Valley the Altamont. Are Hudson Valley lights good quality? http://m.lumens.com/altamont-pendant-by-hudson-valley-lighting-R289610.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=PLA&utm_term=&scid=scplp9678535

I am attaching the photos of these pendant lights I've been trying to find unsuccessfully. Should anyone know what brand these are and where I can purchase it I would be eternally thankful.