Kitchen light options

I met with the cabinet maker last Friday and we discussed everything I want him to make. One of the things is the wooden kitchen fixture. Originally I planned to have something similiar to the fixture in the fist photo except that it would have recessed light fixtures on the surface of it that shine down on the island and then lights on the top that shine towards the ceiling. The best way to describe it is that it would be shaped like the lid of a shoe box with the edges up. This Sunday I saw the kitchen in the second photo. This is an ad in an insert in the Sunday New York Times. The fisture that is hanging down is actually a hood over the cooktop on the counter but it could be a fixture instead. If I change and go with something like this it would be more rectangular - using the same sort of analogy - it would be more like a shoe box with lights inside it that shine down on the island plus lights could still be mounted on top to shine up.

The more I think about it as I type this I think I will probably will go with the original plan. While the hanging shoe box idea sounds really good, I don't have a high ceilings as this kitchen. I think the box would just be to much dark space...

Anyway, email me and tell me what you think. If nothing else I will find out how many people actually read this blog...