If you are in New Zealand, I have often found great lights (and a big range) at Lighting Plus. When I was putting my house on the market I put three of these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/jaga-bcopal-1light-pendant.html over my kitchen benchtop, and they looked just gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact, that I have already bought three new ones in advance for when I upgrade the kitchen lighting in my new house. They also have these : http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/hudson25-whitegold-1lt-pendant.html or these: http://www.lightingplus.co.nz/lighting/pendants/contemporary/trumpet35-pendant-blackgold.html  if you like the look of the internal gold under the shade. There are also others similar. I have also found some great lights at : http://www.edenlighting.co.nz/collections/pendant-lights . All of these are very affordable. However if you want to go really high end, and you like NZ timber lights, you can't go past : https://www.davidtrubridge.com/collection/lighting/  Just my 2c. Enjoy.

They look great in that photo, Northstar! Works beautifully. Will be fine over your bench. Didn't realise how large your p really space will be. Wow! No, if you replace pendants that have staggered drops, the fittings are completely removed and new pendant fittings are installed in their place. The electrician just shortens the drops without cutting them & the extra lenth is hidden away in ceiling.

They all look good, but it all comes down to clearance. How low is your ceiling? How tall is your tallest visitor? How long is the light fitting? Will the light fitting look good if it is close to the ceiling, or will it look cramped and foreshortened? When I moved into my current home (with a taller ceiling than yours), I got an electrician to hang a row of pendants down the length of the hallway so they would be 5 cm taller than my family's Uncle Colin (who was by far the tallest regular visitor). Now twelve years later, Uncle Colin has passed, and my little boy (who was six years old when the pendants were hung) has grown to be 192 centimetres (6'6") and needs to duck everytime he goes to his bedroom. I need to get my electrician back to make all of the pendants shorter, but the proportion of cable length to shade won't be as nice. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

No down lights in bedrooms. A central pendant fitting with LED bulb, or a central fan with light. Then bedside table lamps. lounge and living spaces- depends on the size of the rooms. In my opinion there is nothing worse than a runway of lights in the ceiling. A central pendant, or two matching pendants, if a long room, always looks the best, in an older home. You could then bring in floor light stands, that will also add to the character of the space. Or a trio of lights in the corner of the room, if space is available. An abundance of down lights, in my opinion, would not look the best. Remember for energy efficiency use LED bulbs.