In article .com,
"jkn" writes:
Hi all
One of those questions where 'not enough' information is gonna be
supplied, I'm afraid ...

We're having the kitchen ceiling re-boarded & skimmed shortly. I will
be taking down the current light and pull-switch in preparation. I
would like to replace the existing 5 foot standard contract fluorescent
fitting with something a little better, either aesthetically and/or
functionally; yet just at the moment I really don't want to spend long
on making any changes.

You have wall mounted cupboards with a gap between the tops
and the ceiling, so the best thing to do is to install fittings
out of sight on top of the cupboards, and use indirect light
bouncing off the ceiling to light the room. This scheme works
extremely well. If you are having the ceiling reboarded, it is
very easy to take a cable run from the existing point across to
each group of wall cupboards and drop down the wall to just above
the cupboard top. These could also supply undercupbard lighting,
which also works well for local worktop illumination. You can choose
if you want to retain the central lighting point for something rather
low power and more decorative than functional (centre of the kitchen
ceiling is just about the worse place to have functional lighting
unless it's over an island), or get rid of the central lighting point
all together. If you have a worktop or sink on the other side from
the cupboard, you could look at one or two recessed downlighters
over that, or a wall mounted uplighter to again provide indirect
light from the ceiling at that point. All are available in fluorescent
form to give good lighting levels without burning a hole in your
pocket or the planet.

- a 'deluxe' fluorescent fitting, just for appearances sake. Are there
such things?

In my mind, the 'deluxe' one is the one which isn't visible, hence
the suggestion of putting them out of sight on cupboard tops.

--
Andrew Gabriel