In my opinion, I would use the recessed lighting and other layered lighting that is in your plan. I would not add a centered light. I think you will have a cleaner, more contemporary look without the additional light. I put recessed lighting in two kitchens and was extremely happy with the result. If you feel more light is needed, you could always add additional recessed lighting in center of the wider room.

If you are one who washes kitchen walls and ceilings once or twice a year (I'm not. I'm lucky to get them washed every two years otherwise I just paint! LOL) then you are going to want to have a paint that is more washable. I've always used a satin finish in the kitchen and bathroom because of the washability factor. Then again, with the new paints on the market now, even flat finishes are wipeable. We have a family friend whos kitchen and family room are all one room. They painted their ceiling in the kitchen with a satin finish but the family room area was painted same color but in a flat finish. Can't really tell until night when she has the lights on in her kitchen and at that, the ceiling reflects a very soft glow. Personally, I think it looks good but then again, I thought dressing up my statuary ducks in seasonal clothing looked good.......What do I know. :)

Agree with oasisowner. You can have all the range venting in the world and that doesn't help if it's hot and humid in the kitchen. And that's even with A/C. You'd be surprised how many kitchens don't have vents where you'd want them, Jan. But I would want to know what "extremely low" means. If it's, say, 7 feet, I think you're out of luck for a ceiling fan.

I also had a leak originating from failed sealant around the plumbing stack. The water ran down the outside of the pipe, and actually showed up on the wall 2 floors below (the pipe ran through the exterior wall, below the attic). I have also experienced that water from a roof leak can track along the rafter or floor joist for some distance before it finds its final path downward - either by finally dripping, or by hitting a stud or wiring or something else, and tracking down that. It depends on the shape and construction of your roof, and also if there is a slope to your ceiling/floor joist. So it was that a leak that originated along the gutter showed up in the center of the room, dripping through the light fixture. My most recent leak occurred after a new roof, gutters and siding went on the house after a tree fell on it. I started seeing water dripping from the bottom of the circuit breaker box onto the basement floor - when I followed the track, it wasn't coming from where the electric entered the house (as I expected), but was entering somewhere above and tracking down the external wall until it hit the top of the foundation block. Fortunately I had a very good roofer to call (after the contractor responsible for the roof & siding ignored me); he actually found several suspect areas that should have been caulked but weren't, and a defect in the installation of one gutter in the same area. He didn't know exactly which was allowing the water in; he just fixed all of them and the leak has stopped. The bill? $230.