johnruskin Put a row of recessed light centered about 18 inches to 24 inches out from the top of the cabinets on each side. Space each fixture about 36 to 48 inches from each other center to center. You should have a row of lights above the counter on the window wall, these should be centered about 18 inches off the wall. I don't know how wide the room is, or how high the ceiling is, but you should lay the fixtures out so that none are farther than 48 inches apart. This may require an additional row in the middle of the room. The idea with the lighting is that the light comes out in a cone shape, and that you want each to overlap enough to avoid a spotty appearance, unless that is the goal. Look at the information for the fixtures you are planning to use, there is photo metric data that will help fine tune the spacing. Good luck.

Jamieson Wow John, remind me to call on you if I have any lighting questions! Sounds like good advice!

Staged Up Homes Depending on the size of the room, you should also determine how many recessed or additional light sources you'll need to have sufficient general lighting. There's a formula for this. Multiply the length times the width of the room. Then, multiply that number by 1.5. This will give you the amount of wattage you need for general illumination.

lefty47 I'm just adding to the other comments . Plan for under cabinet counter TASK Lighting and also have the sockets wired seperate eg. top and bottom plugiins on each . And try to go with LED -- it is the future and will pay you back over time .

Kitchen Tune-Up Official Great advice on the LED under cabinet lighting, this is a big trend this year and it adds so much dimension/feature to a kitchen. And it's low cost!

RJL Designs-LLC I plan lighting for all of my Kitchen designs because it is the most important detail to show off the finished Kitchen. I like to "layer" lighting using recessed can lights, under cabinet lights and lights above the cabinets for ambient light - all with dimmers to set the mood or bump-up for the real work! I like to locate the can lights around the perimeter of the counters at 25-26" out from the wall (straight above the front edge of the countertop) so they are casting light right over your hands as you work there. I would not place them more than 36" apart for the best coverage.This also casts some of the cone of light on the front of you new cabinets for a beautiful accent. I like using led lights as under cabinet light since they are much cooler also. the leds can work for the above cabinet lights also. These are not dimmable but work well with the spot lights if they are the same bright white color.

nicanderson Would you use all LED lights in the room to keep the same color of light? That is my current dilemma.

RJL Designs-LLC nicanderson, The LED lights come in light color values from cool to warm. If you are mixing halogen and LED you need to go to the warm side so they look the same and the light color will be consistent. Ask your lighting store or electrical contractor for help.

nicanderson Thank you!