I'm not a professional but I'm with you. We had a first plan done with a bunch of cans but I finally did away with all of them. We're pretty modern/minimalist and are doing a linear pendant over the island and three cylinder lights over the sink plus counter lighting under open shelving. I don't know if it's a perfect plan, but it'll be a lot better lighting than I've ever had in a kitchen. I do think recessed lighting can be done in a reasonable way (2-4" and preferably square for my taste - anything bigger looks super dated) but I just couldn't stomach all the holes in the ceiling for something that, if not done in a very intentional way just looks garish to me.

You are definitely not alone in hating cans. Following with interest.

Haha just reading your post kept bringing up Brooke Giannetti’s comments when they were designing Patina Farm. They really dislike a bunch of ‘holes in the ceiling’ (aka can lighting) and did their entire property without any....

May wanna take a look at her old blog velvetandlinen or instagram account since they do a lot of walk-throughs and explaining the process of their design....I’ll warn u tho, you’ll likely find it hard to stop, patina farm is GORGEOUS!

@HALLETT & Co. Sounds like you feel about exposed bulbs the way I feel about can lights. I feel like they literally hurt my eyes, not to mention I can’t unsee the ceiling pox.

But, I am not surprised that can lights are often edited out, hence my genuine question if they can be avoided with thoughtful design. One of the reasons we went with bare bulbs was to avoid focusing the light. We hoped that by going with clear (but textured) shades we would get light in the room in addition to task lighting.

Perhaps I should be on the hunt for some attached ceiling lights to supplement the pendants/sconces. I am open to (non-can) suggestions.

I’d get more a cohesive theme such as such as schoolhouse light shape or industrial urban modern or chandlier sparkle and place at the four corners with close to ceiling type fixture. You have a square shape space . Come in about two feet and work the corner positions . Provide a theme and cohesive feel w repetition , it can be interesting and not as tho you forgot the lighting element. Two sconces are too high to be of use and you have daylight there. If you want a couple directional sconces try mounting just above the wood beam at cooktop along w foursome closer to ceiling at the corners of your nice square room. ( schoolhouse vibe) Skip the island pendants you do need more fixtures up at the ceiling / can lights aren’t the only game in town but Don’t avoid lighting as a feature...Go look at a catalogue at that close to ceiling type / find style you like / and repeat them in a special way.

I have no cans just two ceiling fixtures, and stove lights and a sconce above the sink but it works great mostly because of under cabinet lights. You can skip the cans but do not forget the under cabinet lighting. I do not have cabinets reaching the ceiling so we put up lighting on our cabinet tops too which helps warm the rooms corners.

@herbflavor I think our thought was that if we mixed/matched lights within the same line (like the Potty Barn fixtures in my original post, that would be a cohesive theme. Anything sparkly or industrial is a hard no for us. I like schoolhouse lights because I like a vintage inspired, "new old house" look, and that would have been my go-to theme but my partner doesn't like them at all. In addition to my anti-can stance, my partner has some strong opinions of his own including (but definitely not limited to) a preference for simplicity but with textured glass and a dislike of milk glass. We went through easily hundred of pendants that he didn't like before we landed on these.

There are flush mounts in this collection also. Couldn't we simply supplement the pendants and sconces with these coordinated flush mounts along the perimeter as you suggested? Or as an alternative, these flush mounts (with coordinating bases of course). I'm predisposed to keep the island pendants both for their functionality and appearance, and I'd like to keep sconces above the window because North-facing windows aren't particularly bright and we often do dishes after dark. Also, I just like the look of sconces. If only I could light the whole house with sconces only.

@roarah Good to hear that the under cabinet lighting fulfills most of your needs. Is there any where you wish you had more light, or are you happy?

I am redoing my kitchen and I will not be adding cans but I will have more walls sconces for I love the feeling they create in a room. My overhead semi flush lighting have three bulbs each so I might spread semi flush mount or pendants around to spread the down light around more. I have a tin ceiling so I do prefer semi flush lights. This is the type of ceiling fixtures I have in my present kitchen. I might opt for multiple single globe lights spread around but I fear that will not be appropriate for my home’s era. The original kitchen had two centered ceiling fixtures and a sink light.

I hate bare bulbs too. I have eyed holophane lights but can't tell if they would cast a pleasant ight without glare.

This isn’t that much different than cans, but we went with this flushmount fixture for a bunch of practical reasons and Have come to really love its look and utility. It looks super sleek and modern - sort of blending in but sort of making its own statement. Much better in person than the photo. The 2x2 gives off a lot of light and we have it on a dimmer. Our wiring couldn’t support this, but you can control the up lighting separately from the downlighting which would also work well for layering.

https://trenzlighting.com/products/trenz-thinled-led-flushmount-edge-light

E.T. - What did you end up doing?? I've been searching for a solution for my new kitchen; we're renovating a 1933 Spanish Colonial -- and I love these lights

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1848388861/ceiling-spot-light-mid-century-aged?ref=user_profile&frs=1 

and these

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1728235215/ceiling-spot-light-mid-century-vintage?ref=listing_page_ad_row-1&frs=1&sts=1&plkey=a596706f2a3ba2fb2e523426647d456e61e522db%3A1728235215&listing_id=1728235215&listing_slug=ceiling-spot-light-mid-century-vintage

for the ceiling, supplemented with sconces above windows & open shelving, as well as under-cabinet lighting and possibly 2 pendants above the 36" x 63" peninsula.

Wondering how many I'd need and how much space between ... so curious to know what you ended up with and if you're happy. Would love to see a pic! Thx so much.

I dont like ceiling lights either. the lights over the sink would likely bug me, but lights are necessary.

We are putting dimmers on everything, cans, chandeliers, etc. because you may want different kinds of light at different times

Thanks, bjstem. Dimmers absolutely! Trying to avoid cans if possible. Not sure if those flushmounts in my link above would throw enough task light or cause a glare.

Or would these spots work better?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1860173609/spotlight-ceiling-spot-light-modern?ref=landingpage_similar_listing_bot-3&pro=1&frs=1&logging_key=c526ce1b51b3372667feedf09b16f94aa0834c49%3A1860173609&listing_id=1860173609&listing_slug=spotlight-ceiling-spot-light-modern

Love the look ...