When I started using Houzz I was amazed at how accurate the results of my searches were (in addition to the size of the photos database). It was a great resource. More recently when I've prepared to undertake projects, I've noticed that I just don't get the same, accurate results. My searches are riddled with results that just aren't pertinent. I think this is due to the incorporation of advertisers from my city and surrounding areas (contractors, builders, and others). There are enough ads (or results that are somehow influenced by someone who has something to sell) now to really hinder the flow of design ideas. I guess many internet sites end up using advertisers but it morphs the user experience. It's really made using Houzz less fruitful.

Lsst, thank you for your response and the link. Most helpful!! I thought it was on this site that I had read about this type of a solution so started here with my question, it wouldn't be the first time my memory failed me. I will definitely consult with a lighting store and use an electrician. I appreciate your advice. Thanks again.

Glad you figured it out. I think your hand drawings are really good, btw. Above are the minimum recommended clearances for seating. If this is a high traffic corridor, I'd make it even wider than the minimum. Is the X the dishwasher? Do you plan a prep sink in your island? If you are, I think your plan looks pretty good but in order to have room for more than one person prepping/cooking, you'd want 48" aisles between the island and cooking wall. This means you'd need a narrower island. Since people really don't chat well together if they are all lined up in a row like a lunch counter, you might consider moving the seating down the island a bit with two on the side with the current seating and one at the end. This allows for better chatting there and people sitting are still close enough to chat with the cook. And it moves them down from a prep sink placed at the other end of the island so they're not likely to get sprayed. I think I would get tired of prepping at the clean-up sink as you would need to carry things too far to the cooktop and it's just adding a lot of extra steps. So, really, consider that prep sink. From the drawings, I think you are creating a very pleasing visual space but just a few tweaks would make it more functional.

Thanks, 4boys2! Yes, anitamo, it was your post I was looking for. I took a quick look and the course is a little different, but it covers a lot of the same thing. I think it might be a good introduction or MBSR-lite if you will, as it is not at all the same thing as being in a group with a teacher. Very often, much of the class is in response to a question someone raised about the practice. So there is a lot of individual attention. We also benefit by the questions and experiences each other has. It is amazing to see how we can each go through the same experience and yet have a different take on it. Also, I think the discipline of a weekly class, like an appointment, encourages you to keep the practice going and to do the homework knowing you are going to be discussing it at the next class. There is also power to be gained from being alone together as we are when meditating in class...there is a different sense in the activity which some find helpful. I have to say though that I found the full day class to be the most scary yet useful of all as it really helped concretize where I was going, face into my fears and really experience the deep benefits of meditation. Unless you are able to get away on your own for a day, that is unlikely to happen in your usual surroundings. (If you have any buddhist monasteries in your area, some of them do open to the public for full day meditations.) I got a notice that Oprah and Deepak Chopra are starting another 21 day meditation challenge. While a different style of meditation than used in MBSR, it is a great introduction to meditation as some of it is guided and then some of it is mantra which many find easier to do as beginners. I have one more mbsr class to go to, but I just started reading "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and it is really a great supplement to mbsr...I'm going to recommend that she recommend it to all of her classes.