Albert wrote:
We are doing a major remodel and improvement on our house. It started
snip
We are stuck on the living room/tv room/family room lighting however
and need help!!!!!!!!!

We spent $600 on recessed lighting. When we finally put bulbs in it,
it became painfully clear that it would not work. The lighting we
bought was recessed lighting cans for 2 by 6 construction. Since the
downstairs is all open, we can look from the living room to the dining
snip
spots. These compact florescent lights in the recessed lighting cans
are horrible because they are very high power with a relatively small
surface area, so any portion of the bulb that is directly viewable is
unbearably intense.

Random thoughts.
Recess the cans more than designed, make up little metal cylinders, and paint
dark.
I assume you've tried stuff like spiral tubes, which are lower
profile.