Just my 2 cents....I love the Casa Vieja Outlook in Brushed Nickel ceiling fan. I am putting it on my list too. My only concern is total kitchen lighting. In order not to hi-jack Bellajourney's thread I am starting another one. Would appreciate any thoughts on lighting. Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen lighting along with a ceiling fan

Melle, I thought I was the only one with this issue:-) First of all, I have fans in every room of the house except the kitchen, and I have to be careful about any light that is above them because it casts shadows and makes me nauseous after a while. Also, and this is why this isn't a small issue, strobe light effects have been proven to cause epileptic seizures and migraines in those prone to them (not all of the time, but they set off some electrical impulse...). I get migraines, so this is a huge deal to me. I think the cans can work, the recessed eyeballs are a great idea, too and in fact if I had my druthers, that is what I would use (because you can angle them and they seem more like gallery lights to me). But I do want to make sure you test some light up there with the fan on. It may not be an issue because your cans will be up much higher than the fan, but in some rooms when I've had this combo, the fan blades whirling past the cans cast shadows. Maybe your eyeball lights wouldn't be anywhere near the blades, in which case, this could work out well. In my experience, looking at can lights and where they will go, it's often hard to see them not looking weird. But when they're up and functioning, they tend to blend in. Good luck, I feel your pain (I have -- no, DH has -- CFLs in every room- esp painful in the bathrooms and the exterior front lights, which are gorgeous carriage lamps that are supposed to burn with the flickering gas look....you can SEE the CFLs in there...UGH. He has even stuck them in crystal antique lamps! He's so sweet; I love that he cares about the environment, but...geez).

I'm sorry for the confusion. The problem started when the KD didn't allow for the actual size of our table/chairs (he hasn't admitted that, - only my opinion). Where it is "designed" to fit, I think, encroaches into our family room. If we move it toward the kitchen a few inches, it encroaches into a doorway. This wasn't discovered by DH and me until too late to change - cabinets had been ordered. KD keeps insisting it is a good design and all will be well. I wasn't convinced. However, I know that if we were to buy a different table/chairs, we could buy one that would break down to a lot smaller size and then we could put it in a completely different location if we wanted to. Buying a new table and chairs would be cheaper than changing the design at this point, but still more money than we can spend on top of what we're already spending, at this point - we must live with what we have for at least awhile. So, there must be a light fixture somewhere. I'm sorry the design plans I have are on really large paper and I have no idea how to get them posted here. KD met us this a.m. as we were leaving for work and I brought up this dilemma to him, again. His solution is to rough for a ceiling fan. That way, we can decide to put up a fan or a fixture. We are going to put it in the center of the room, however, versus center of where we think the table might go. The focal point, when you walk in, will not be the ceiling fixture, but the hutch that's going to be built along the back wall. If I put in a ceiling-hugger, non-descript but tasteful fan, I think it will be fine. Sorry to carry on. My stomach is in knots -- you all probably know the feeling -- and I was just about in tears when he arrived this a.m. He has put me at ease and I think now that life will go on. Thanks.

Hi wantoretire_did! Thank you so much for the suggestions! I've been meaning to get to HD and my local ACE for a walk-about. I'm going to go when I have a couple of hours and don't have to rush around. Just walk around with my trusty legal pad and take notes. Lighting is a big part of what I want to look at. I really appreciate your suggestion because that didn't even cross my mind! I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of the fixtures in my house are original, and at 37, they need to retire, lol! I just can't see paying some guy from CL for the rest of my life to come replace bulbs and wash the fixtures! I have electric burners, but I can see how that could easily happen with gas. I'm pretty much leaning against the ceiling fans now; cathyyg made very good points, and these seven ft. ceilings feel so low already, even at my height, that I fear the fans would just draw attention to them. We've got a good system with the fans now, and I don't think ceiling fans are as necessary as I thought they were when I first posted this. Yes! Taking lots of pictures! :-) I hope all is well with you and yours!