I have a chandelier and can lights currently. In my next house, I will have three pendants over the island, a chandelier over the table and canned lights as well as undercounter lighting. I am a big fan of cans! We have them throughout our house.

I guess I am worried about can lights looking like they have been randomly placed around my fixtures - which I guess they will...!

My dilemma is that I have basically reached the limit with my budget. I would love UC lighting but it's so expensive! Is there a cheaper way of doing it? Is the cost my GC asking reasonable - $450 per 'bank'? (I have two areas I would want to do) Aren't the lights themselves fairly cheap?

I have 3 pendants over the island, a shorter/double version of that ove the sink, 11 (or so) 5" cans around the perimeter, 2 sconces on the framed entrance to the greatroom, and under cabinet fluorescent lights. My kitchen is about 15 1/2' x 25'. I'm not a big fan of can lights, but unless I wanted around 9 ceiling fixtures in my kitchen I needed the cans for adequate lighting. We often don't have all the fixtures on at once. Some is dimmable.

A cheaper way of doing undercabinet lights is not to hardwire them, just plug them in. I did that when I moved into my house. I made sure all the wires sat flush to the cabinets underneath, using those little clips they make for tv/internet cable wire. (I don't know if there's a product that would have worked better, but I knew about these clips and knew they were cheap.) I carried the cable clips to right above where the fixtures were to plug in, working along the back of the cabinets, making sure there was just enough wire left to plug in, as I didn't want the backsplash are to look messy.

It's not as nice as hardwired lighting, but it looks fine to me, and cost next to nothing. (I used very slim fluorescent fixtures, and they cost less than $30 each. You can also get xenon fixtures that plug in, if you like.)

I have traditionally styled schoolhouse fixtures, but at the insistence of DH, also have recessed cans for certain task areas. The cans are so low profile, I don't think they look strange at all with the other lights. Here are some photos...A lot still to do, but I think you can get an idea of the lights.

joann-I actually went to Home Depot today and got a couple of thin profile 14" fluorescent strips and mounted them - I figured what the heck - everything's going anyway...!! I might as well check out how it looks. They were quite cheap! I put a couple of cup hooks behind to hold the extra cord and it seemed to work. Definitely like the light! I'll live with it for the few weeks it takes my cabinets to arrive and see! Maybe the GC could install a couple of hidden outlets..??

rhome - thanks for the pictures. you're right, the recessed lights don't look as funny as I thought they might mixed with your other fixtures. Another option to think about! Thanks for posting those!