You need bright light in a kitchen, especially around work surfaces, sinks, overn and hobs. It's a good idea to build in as many integral lights as possible, for example into cooker hoods and under wall cupboard units. Mini-fluorescent strips don't get hot and send a diffuse, warm light onto surfaces beolw. Make sure it's below eye level to avoid glare. Recessed downlights are practical i f you have a low ceiling height but have been around a while now and no longer look cutting edge.
Directional light on on tracks or wire is more flexible, or think about hanging two or t hree small pendant lights to give a diffuse but reasonably bright glow over the whole area.
If you have open shelving or glass-fronted display cupboards, make a feature by backlighting them. You can also get a bright but diffuse glow by putting fluorescent strips above wall-mounted units so that light bounces down off the ceiling.
