Hi Andy, If you have a local Beacon Lighting, ask for advice. It's free and I have found the people most helpful in my area. Being a newbie and building for the first time, I sort of knew what I wanted but the advice I got helped me make the right decision. As for pendant lights, I have just one as a feature over the dining table, a trio and the rest of the house will still have downlights and of course fans in each room, so if you haven't already thought of fans, this will change exactly where you put your lights. I only have 2.4mtr ceilings. Good luck. Cheers, Barbara

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.

Couple of things to consider..... 1. With any lights above a stainless steel sink, the reflection appears on the ceiling, I don’t like it so I installed a black sink. I added very minimal pendant lights, basically they are spotlights on a stick but they can be dimmed. Also I placed mine off centre. Saying that, spotlights can also be dimmed and sometimes, less is more. 2.Pendants in the bedroom can be quite tricky.. Example...they have to be the perfect height, width and as far as a reading light, they’re not adjustable. They cost more as they need to be installed. If you don’t like them, you need to get an electrician to change them. I originally wanted pendants but opted for lamps, happy I did as my bed couldn’t quite be centred so it would have been a mistake. Good luck, hope this helps.

For those interested - as expected, the pendants were t going to work on the left side of the vanity due to proximity to the shower... our electrician actually suggested three pinhole/mini recessed down lights spaced over the vanity for task lighting. I think they should look nice and minimal and not clash with our larger surface mounted down lights. Anyway, will post an update pic when it’s all done! Thanks again everyone for your comments. :-)