Can you take a picture of the whole space (floor to ceiling?) Hard to tell if it is open below the recess or not.

From what I can see, I would drywall over the recess and add can lights throughout the kitchen.

Do you have any photos of the rectangular farmhouse light fixture?

Thanks Sammie J. From floor to top of recess it is 8 1/2 feet. And it is in the center of the galley kitchen. There is nothing below it. I have considered can lights, but was looking for more simple solution if possible.

apple_pie_order I don't have a picture yet. I've looked at HD and Lowes. Definitely don't want anything heavy looking because the kitchen is small. I found a couple metal ones that are about 34-36 inches long and I think 11 inches wide. But if the minimum length of the hanging rods are 20 inches dowm from ceiling the fixture may hang too low.

Look online for a semi-flush fixture, not a chandelier style.

Honestly this wont work the way you want it to. You will end up with glaring light bulbs that do not light the space well. The plastic panel helped to disperse the light and keep it hidden. Pendants will look like " i just removed the panel and hung these" and will also not give you the light you need. You will be loosing light. You had 360 watts of light in there. going down to single bulb fixtures

1. adjustable light fixture

2. put in a dropped ceiling so you can put in 6 wafer led lights

3. put in three flush mount lights with frosted glass.