Here's the situation:

My HT has 6 4-inch can lights (50w max) spaced very close to the walls. It's plenty of light for playing games or watching a movie (obviously the lights are OFF when I watch a movie), but sometimes I want a bit more light when I'm cleaning the room, or when I'm just listening to music...

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how to get more light into the room. Some questions for anyone who wants to chime in:

1) How expensive do you think it would be to have an electrician come out and replace my 4 inch cans with 6 inch cans? (That would probably solve the problem.)

2) Is there any way to fit a brighter lightbulb into a standard 4-inch can? The fixture is rated for 50W -- I thought about maybe trying to stick "dimmable" CFL lights in there, since they are MUCH brighter than incandescents for a given wattage. Unfortunately, all the CFLs designed to fit 4 inch cans aren't really any brighter. And all the brighter CFLs would look rediculous in a 4 inch can. Are there any alternatives out there?

3) Any other thoughts on getting more light into the space without hiring an electrician? I mean, I guess I could install battery operated LED puck lights over the seating positions, but I'm guessing those would look tacky...

Depending on how there are mounted it maybe extremely difficult to replace. You may want to see if there are other types of eyeballs fixtures that fit the bases. Something with more of a reflective inside would help. Also make sure to use at least halogen bulbs. Possibly could add more lighting if ceiling joist are oreiented the right directions. As a last resort use some lamps or uplighting behind furniture.

can i use halogen bulbs? i thought the fixture had to be rated for halogen?

The existing 4 inch fixtures are likely to be extremely difficult to replace, especially if they were placed during new construction, as they are literally attached to the framing and boxed into your ceiling.

Halogen and regular reflector tungsten lamps are rated interchangeably so you can go ahead and replace whatever is in there with 50W PAR20s. In absolute terms, there isn't much difference between them in raw lumen output, but a good halogen reflector tends to focus light more efficiently so you get a bit more bang for your watt. Similarly, if the current trim is a standard coilex baffle (concentric rings) you can squeeze out a bit more efficiency by replacing them with a specular reflector (Halo 999) trim.

With that said, I'm not sure any of this would have the drastic effect you're looking for given that you only have six 4" cans in there. In my small room of about 8' by 16', I have ten 4" fixtures which probably provide about as much illumination as you would like.

Rather than spending any more on the existing cans, could you perhaps consider some supplementary and decorative fixtures like wall sconces? Alternatively, you may be able to add additional 4" cans to the ceiling using retrofit fixtures which would also be more cost effective than messing about with the old ones.

The existing 4 inch fixtures are likely to be extremely difficult to replace, especially if they were placed during new construction, as they are literally attached to the framing and boxed into your ceiling.

Halogen and regular reflector tungsten lamps are rated interchangeably so you can go ahead and replace whatever is in there with 50W PAR20s. In absolute terms, there isn't much difference between them in raw lumen output, but a good halogen reflector tends to focus light more efficiently so you get a bit more bang for your watt. Similarly, if the current trim is a standard coilex baffle (concentric rings) you can squeeze out a bit more efficiency by replacing them with a specular reflector (Halo 999) trim.

With that said, I'm not sure any of this would have the drastic effect you're looking for given that you only have six 4" cans in there. In my small room of about 8' by 16', I have ten 4" fixtures which probably provide about as much illumination as you would like.

Rather than spending any more on the existing cans, could you perhaps consider some supplementary and decorative fixtures like wall sconces? Alternatively, you may be able to add additional 4" cans to the ceiling using retrofit fixtures which would also be more cost effective than messing about with the old ones.

I just got done replacing my incandescents with 40W halogens. I know, why 40W? Because these were "energy saving" 40W bulb that were actually rated with higher lumens that any of the other 50W halogens that Home Depot had in stock.

The room is noticeably brighter. Of course, all bulbs dim over time, so I'm not sure how much of this is due to the "new bulb" effect and how much is due to the lumens-rating increase. Time will tell.

I like your idea about installing extra can lights. If I could get two more 4 inch cans in there, that would probably do it. I might need to do 4 more to make things look even. I'll look into it.

For a big increase in brightness (I mean, you generally want it pretty bright for cleaning!) I also think your best bet is the additional retrofit fixtures in the ceiling.

With only six cans, you likely have a ton of underutilized ceiling area, so you'll want to plan carefully to make things look really even. With matched 4" trims you would never know that some of them were new construction and some were added later.

It's actually a fairly simple job. The only tricky part is breaking into the existing series line to add the additional units with a minimum of disruption to your ceiling drywall.

For a big increase in brightness (I mean, you generally want it pretty bright for cleaning!) I also think your best bet is the additional retrofit fixtures in the ceiling.

With only six cans, you likely have a ton of underutilized ceiling area, so you'll want to plan carefully to make things look really even. With matched 4" trims you would never know that some of them were new construction and some were added later.

It's actually a fairly simple job. The only tricky part is breaking into the existing series line to add the additional units with a minimum of disruption to your ceiling drywall.

I was looking at this last night...

To make it look even, I'd have to add 6 more cans to the room. The good news is that the joists are running the right way to make this happen. The bad news is that 10 cans in such a small area is probably overkill (There is an I-beam that blocks line-of-sight to the cans nearest the screen, so the part of the room on the other side of that I-beam really isn't the area where I'd be adding more cans -- essentially we're talking about 10 50w 4-inch cans in an 11.5ft. by 14ft. ceiling area.)

I feel like maybe I should add wall sconces instead of more cans, as they'd probably provide sufficient lighting and they'd add some aesthetic flavor to my rather plain looking room. Are sconces harder to add after-the-fact than cans? I figure, at the least, you've got to tear up the wall (instead of just the ceiling) and I'm not sure about whether there are any complications with running the wires...

Is LED Rope light an option for you? if not I think the sconces would be the way to go. what about a el cheapo halogen lamp that you can set outside the room and bring it in when your cleaning? I am sure this is not what your thinking but hey thought I would throw it out there and it's cheap.