I was thinking that because the Trubridge lights are so beautiful, a simple LED pendant light would be best as they do the job without taking away from the beautiful light!

Need help on lighting design Dear Friends. I am building a new house and attach my house plan. I wonder if anyone could give me some ideas on the lighting plan. Basically I am keen on LED lights and was thinking of 6 of these (7W), with dimmers in the dining, living and lounge areas and also the kitchen. For the hallway, LED perhpas 5 W. For the bedrooms, I am wondering if a button type light would suffice. Besides the master bedroom, all the other rooms will be used by my children who are in uni - meaning bright lights for study etc. I am also thinking of placing lampshades in the room. Any advice or suggested plans would be highly appreciated. I am also confused as to the sort of lighting I need outside the house. I am a novice at this - so please ignore if these are basic questions.

Beautiful clean modern kitchen! You have a great opportunity to put your personal stamp on the space with a unique backsplash. As you've heard already there are some different approaches. I'd probably place the backsplash up to the wall cabinets and up to the base of the hood. Then continue the backsplash at the same height (18"?) behind the sink. Then place an inspiring colorful picture above the sink to break up the wall. Here's a picture with pendants that aren't too obtrusive. Having multiple levels of lighting at different lumens makes a more inviting feel to the space. I couldn't decipher your flooring, but you may also want to consider adding some nature elements like a type of wood flooring, wood stools, etc. Good luck! If you need software to plan out materials check out our Home Designer software: http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/

Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!