UCL is best for task lighting. In addition, it can effectively replace the main lighting under certain circumstances - early morning, late at night. If you want a soft light, the light output color should be 2700k. UCL Installation would be greatly helped if your kitchen cabinets have flat undersides without any interrupting fences. The rough rule of thumb I used for my kitchen was ~35 lumens per sq ft. Total area * 35 gives you the total illumination required. Divide the total by the output of each can (assume 600 or 500+ lumens per can) if all the lighting is envisaged to come from the recessed cans. A normal 60W incandescent bulb outputs ~ 800 lumens, but when put inside a can, the effective output is significantly reduced. If you use a LED recessed can light such as the LR6 or CR6, the lighting will be superior to a standard recessed can light (incandescent or CFL). Recessed cans are typically spaced ~ 4' apart. However, if necessary, the spacing could be reduced to 3' for areas such as the kitchen. The recessed can in the keeping room could be replaced with some surface mount / chandelier/ pendant.

4” cans are plenty for LEDs and get replacement LED bulbs for your halogens too.The rest sounds good to me just remember you need other lighting in the space , ceiling light is just one level.

Take a look at this line: Juno Adjustable LED and Juno 4" Downlight. The adjustable ones are...adjustable and have 3 choices of user-replaceable beam spreads. Both have a wide selection of trims. With ceilings that high I would go for the higher-lumen version. Were it my new house, I would want something nicer than the basic builder-grade recessed light. I don't know how flexible your GC is and if this is a spec house or a custom-build. If it's a custom-build, I would be looking for a far more customized lighting plan, which is somewhat hard to do without a furniture plan.

Chispa and 3onthetree, I think you were closest to understanding what I was trying to ask. :) The spacing by the hood is 12" at the narrowest point so there is room for sconces there. Is it too much to have both those and pendants over the island? Or which would you choose? I am undecided on lighting inside the glass cabinets because they are more for useful dishes rather than display. (The rendering is for layout only and does not show any tile, trim, or countertop choices.)