"I like to read and knit so the right light is really important. "

You need task lighting from a lamp, not overhead broad lighting. I have lamps at the ends of my sofa and next to every chair. I have overhead recessed lighting and track lighting in my "common" rooms. I only use these lights when I am cleaning and really want to see everything all over. No shadows. Otherwise, I keep the lamps lit and watch TV with one or two lamps on behind me.

I'm not a fan of pot lights in the ceiling except in kitchens and bathrooms. I much prefer a lamp. It feels far more "home-like" - pot lights feel like a showroom.

You need multiple types of lighting, all on dimmers. Your local lighting store that partners with your builder should have a lighting designer on hand to help you, and order all the parts you need.

NO!

The fan light is a terrible idea also.

Living room light should be from lamps.

I have had living room recessed lights - because that is what everyone does. Never used them. Resale - sure - for the people who don't understand lighting. I wouldn't plan on that.

People use way too many cans - it is a horrible design trend. Kitchen and above showers - sure. Everything else should be lamps or sconces or the over mirror bathroom vanity as a budget choice instead of sconces.

Not sure I would do a fan in a living room with 8 foot ceilings. Partly because only in the north do 8 foot ceilings make sense in a new build and then the fan is really silly. Fans are less attractive than a good chandelier. If you are hot in the living room, you will probably turn on the a/c. I am a fan in bedrooms only kind of person. This is after building several time with fans in living room and then not.

Keep the fan if you live in an location that warrants one.

For lights we love our cans on dimmers. We have 12 in our living room. We have them on a dimmer and use at varying levels as needed. I hate a room with no overhead lighting.

I agree with RL Relocation. It looks like your Dining Room will function more as an every-day kitchen table. Put another 4 cans in there

Your Living Room will be the place you spend 90% of your time in, so you don't want to hate it if it's too dim etc. I'd hands down add 4 (dimmable) cans in there as well. Also consider switched outlets so you can turn on 2-3 lamps with ease - or can go the "smart home" route and program to a timer without that extra wall switch

With an 8' ceiling I wouldn't do a ceiling fan. If you really need a fan in there they make nice/quiet/pretty pedestal fans to use during summer. If you do a fan - make sure to space the cans so the moving fan blades don't "strobe" the light. I've never seen a fan/light combo that I was happy with the light output...

IMO I'd do a flush/wide fixture in the Living Room with 4 cans, then switched outlets or smart hub for table lamps.

As far as recessed lights being a fad and so horrible - I agree they look horribly sterile when the room only has recessed lights on the ceiling. However in conjunction, it greatly evens out the light and gives you exponentially more light when you want it. But they always belong on a dimmer

If they weren't functional, we would have come up with something better by now....

Thank you everyone! The ceiling fan has to stay, it wasn't my first choice either but my husband doesn't ask for much in life and he wants that fan and his recliner. I am leaning toward the recessed lighting now but a couple of you brought up interesting thoughts about adding them into our dining room also. I'm concerned that our living space will be lighted enough to land an aircraft! We are huge fan of dimmers and will be installing them after the house is done on almost every light so that will help. The chandelier in the dining room will have 5 lights in it, do you think the additional 4 cans right next to the kitchen and living room is needed? Wouldn't that look like the swiss cheese effect that I keep reading about?

The dining and living room is our only living space in the house so we will spend all of our time apart from sleeping in these rooms.

I attached a picture of the chandelier in the dining room.

My thoughts are that lighting involves both aesthetic and functional considerations and for that layers of lighting work best. My mother had macular degeneration and the bright lights from cans in the living and dining areas was very, very, helpful. Likewise, even with good vision, there are times when I want a very bright light — cleaning, assembling items, etc. — so I will sacrifice a bit of aesthetics for that. A fan in the living area and bedroom because DH and the dog insist! Aesthetically, the other layers are hidden up lighting on the beams washing the ceiling, dining area chandelier that casts wonderful shadows on the wall and, of course, lamplight. In the kitchen, cans plus pendants over the island and under cabinet lighting is perfect.

Function, you dont have to turn them on. But when you do you can actually do work at the dining table.

The fixture you have selected is NOT going to give you any functional light, clear shades are too hard to look at if you have regular bulbs in them, glary. If you use Edison bulbs (antique style), they will be too dull and give a very yellow light.

about the fan, you will need to get a hugger style fan, or the shortest down rod possible most fans hang down 8-12 before a rod is installed, on an 8 ft ceiling that can be very looming, especially with a light, so get an integrated light kit. and remember 99% of fans .....come with an optional wall switch that controls both the light and the fan, so no need for duel switch there, plus a lot of them come with remotes.

Thank you RL Relocation! Our lighting person missed this completely and I was able to change the fan to a flush mount so it didn't hang low. He knew our ceilings were 8ft so I don't know why he picked the fan he did for our room. Oh well. Due to costs we are going to add the recessed lighting to our living room but not the dining room. What you said about working at the table makes sense but it would be another $500 and we have to stop somewhere.

Thank you everyone for your input! I really appreciate it!

Use 4" recessed 2700K COB LED or LV Halogen lights; put 2 downlights over the sink; align adjustable lights with the edge of kitchen counters; use adjustable lights or wall washers to light LR walls; avoid light fixtures on the bottom of ceiling fans.

In general, light the thing you will be looking at instead of the top of your head.

Is the island really 4 ft tall?

Why no under cabinet lighting?

No, the island is cabinet/counter top height

Wow you sure got a lot of different advice. I would have told you to only install a fan with no light kit and def. add cans on a dimmer. Of course you will still have your lamps. I love the ambience of cans on low in evenings and the brightness if necessary set by the dimmer. Find an actual room the same size/feel and see if you can visualize. I just finished a rebuild due to fire and I’m happy with my cans strategically placed .

Recessed lighting is not a fad. It was being used by architects in the early 60's. What's different now is homeowners can buy the fixtures online and at Home Depot and are understandably unfamiliar with how they can be used to supplement other types of lighting and make rooms feel larger or smaller, light art and bounce light. And electricians haven't been much help in this regard either.

I know this because I have designed a lot of home renovations and see this awful stuff torn out and junked. What is available today is truly wonderful but its not cheap but when has anything wonderful been cheap?

2 cents, 5oo$ is not a lot of money all things considered, and I think you are giving up function for a very low cost....i imagine the fan was 200$. And yes you have to really be a good lighting designer to catch the little things. This is also why I would not have picked the dining fixture you did, you will end up unhappy with that in a short amount of time and probably spent 200$ on that too lol.