Newbie rehab of primary residence

[Mark Spivey]

I just purchased a primary residence with the intention to rehab it & live in it for a few years before reselling. I thought it might also serve as a nice learning experience for me, since I intend to eventually do some rehabs in the future.

I'm facing a dilemma with my kitchen lights. Here is a photo...

Obviously the lights need to go.  I would love to put in recessed lights, but I don't want to go overboard.  Would it make more sense to just replace those with some pendant lights or something instead?  The closer row is directly over an island.

Thanks for any advice!