I think the type and style of fixtures you choose can make as much difference to the number you want as the other way around.

Are you considering "schoolhouse" lighting?

https://oldebricklighting.com/collections/schoolhouse?srsltid=AfmBOoqwvumxMuO8JOWeN1ZkVs1uoSPtcC4rr4UN22csTk3YFOBgyf2o

https://www.barnlight.com/schoolhouse-collection/

Will you be adding task lighting over the sink? Under the cabinets?

I would do recessed over the doors and windows and over workspace like you would any recessed kitchen lighting plan. Add the statement fixtures that you'll see upon entry or from another room. and something complimentary (not the same) over the sink.

I would choose a semi flush mount period fixture rather than hanging pendants.

Your ceiling isn't THAT high. The tin will make it feel a bit lower.

At 18 ft long, I think you would need 4 lights ( maybe 3 if the 18 ft goes past the peninsula or if the fixture is slightly larger and with 2 bulbs or more in each ). I'm not a fan of recessed lights. Sometimes they are a necessary evil but not always! Make sure you have really good under cabinet lighting and a fixture over the sink. There may be a code requirement about the amount of light needed in the space. I am not familiar with the formula to figure this out but am seeing it on a lot of our blueprints lately.

I like a schoolhouse light or a drum light for this space

Good luck!!

search thru some catalogues. Schoolhouse style is nice..and there are variations. Schoolhouse is a prominent style so there will be various sizes which means you can be very precise to the inch and drop etc....thats where I'd start the search. the ceiling will draw the eyes up so you want some detail......but then, Not too much either.

schoolhouse.....some closer to ceiling/ vs. some "drop' [numerous types]

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Thank you, that gives me an idea of various ceiling drops but also combining with wall fixtures. I do love the schoolhouse lights but I just think that 4 in a row (contractor's recommendation) might look like a bowling alley! @amystoller - I do have under-cabinet lights and every glass cabinet will have have display lights. For over the sink, there is a small-ish window and only 1 upper cabinet to the right, so it will be very visible from the dining room (other side of peninsula). Do most people do a small pendant light or wall sconce pointing downward?

I don't know what most people do. I only know that being able to light the sink when there is no daylight is important to me. Otherwise I can't see whether I'm getting my dishes truly clean. Currently I have an LED wafer light, which you can just about see in this photo: https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/kitchen-phvw-vp~215463233

Get some balloons and blow them up to the approx size of the fixtures you are looking at and hang them from the ceiling. Your room is long and narrow - there is nothing you can do to disguise that. Plus you are doing a tin ceiling which will draw your eye up there even more. You need light! You can do 3 fixtures with more bulbs and space them further apart but they are still in a row. So it's still the same kind of visual.

Just recessed lights in the ceiling, on a dimmer; add under counter lighting on dimmer(s); size wise, a pendant over the sink; great hardware. Keep in mind, a contractor is not a designer, nor an electrician. All those pendants would be over kill.

BTW, 1910, would you share the exterior? There are several architectural styles from that period: Craftsman, American Foursquare, Colonial Revival. You might consider keeping hardware and paint colors to complement your historic house. Foursquare, for instance, would be cup pulls.

Do your best to get in several lights that aren't attached to the ceiling. I would keep to 3 on the ceiling at most, and no recessed. If you can do a wall mounted sconce over the sink, then do so! For the ceiling fixtures, schoolhouse semi-flush or pendants with white glass spread light around pretty well - your contractor is calling for the typical builder overkill.

We have a large lamp and a teeny lamp in our old-ish kitchen, as well as a double wall sconce, and it's lovely - pleasant as well as functional, compared to having only overheads beaming down and feeling a bit harsh.

Four schoolhouse lights on dimmer switch. The metal ceiling tiles will not look good with holes poked in them for recessed lights, even if you pick only the central motifs to punch out.

You have a beautiful historic house. But you are installing a modern kitchen, right? A dishwasher? A range that runs on gas or electricty instead of wood? Give yourself the best possible modern lighting for your work. Recessed lights properly spaced over every countertop, plus a recessed light/pendant/sconce centered over your sink drain. If you have that plus under-cabinet lighting, you can use 2-3 ceiling fixtures down the middle for decor and ambient light. But please don't handicap your workspace by choosing "history" over adequate task lighting.

Everyone has their individual ideas of what ”adequate task lighting” is. Not everyone needs spotlights shining down all over a kitchen in order to see what they are doing. If someone does need that, or wants that, by all means.

Aesthetically, recessed lighting in a 1910 “historical” house, is out of place.

By the way, I grew up in an historic house in NYC; built in 1910- exactly. No recessed lighting, No undercabinet lighting. No gazillion ceiling lights. Nobody was stumbling around and/or cutting their fingers off in the kitchen. The lighting in the kitchen and throughout the house was more than sufficient. 8 bedroom house and no one needed flashlights and/or escorts to get around.

Sometimes less is more + good lighting is essential, therefore suggest pot lights strategically placed, based on the locations of impactful pendants - two are enough to set the tone/create the look you are after vs overkill. Also consider under counter lighting.

Style wise, try to find a happy medium (overall), as your kitchen does not really have a farmhouse feel other than the tin on ceiling (which I’d complement).

I’m not up on historic farmhouses. I’ve always associated pressed tin ceilings with NYC tenements and bars. I’ve only seen them painted. Weren’t they used as a cheap substitute for decorative plaster moldings sech as ceiling roses?

I love the look. I just didn’t associate it with farmhouses. Probably just my ignorance.

I like pendants over windows and semi-flush type fixture in center ceiling area.

Here's a job I did for a 1925 home about 12 years ago. Wow time flies. Kitchen is still very timeless.

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No shiny tin ceiling they refelct light really badly and honestly look much better painted. As for the lighting check out Devol kitchens on line they have great ideas . Id however like a kitchen that is well lit and so under cabinet for sure and whatever you choose better light the space not just look pretty.