How about putting a ceiling in the closet? Would solve your lighting problem and reduce dust in the closet. If you stick with recessed cans, maybe try to find one with a deep black baffle. Depending on where the bed is situated, it may eliminate the glare from seeing the actual lamp (bulb). The con is that depending on ceiling color, a black baffle may stick out in your ceiling. The other option to reduce glare is an alzak reflector. Also use a lamp with a narrow beam pattern; even narrow flood might be okay. I agree. I wouldn't want pendant rods blocking my view out the window. Are wall mounted lights an option? You may lose some closet space, but it would definitely solve your problem. Be mindful of placement and bulb type to reduce the chances of burning something. Hmm..wonder if it's against code. If you go this route, I would still have ceiling cans so you don't end up with a dark ceiling over the closet.

We actually lived for years with a ceiling light that not only reminded us unpleasantly whenever we forgot to turn it off before hopping in bed, but which also failed to put adequate light where we did need it. No. We fixed that problem in this house. No unnecessary ceiling clutter. No wincing eye abuse. Now, as a vehicle for crystals or other mobile art, that would be different. OTOH, since we like to read and sometimes just relax and chat in bed, bedside lamps, pretty ones of course, are absolutely necessary to us. BTW, although there are lamps in a couple other places, we did connect the wall switch to my husband's side so it could be turned off from bed. Simple, works great, definitely recommend it.

I know you didn't ask... do you need recessed lighting in the bedroom? I have reading lamps on my bedside tables, but don't ever need overhead lighting when I'm going to bed or getting up...

If you want it as evenly lit as a modern office, you can add LED flat panel lights with conduit on a dimmer switch. If you'd prefer slightly less even lighting, one to three round flat LED lights and a full perimeter of LED strip lights may work well. You can try that idea out with a few battery operated stick-on LED lights for under $20 each.