It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... recessed lighting!

Getting creative with lighting.  A good way to pre-plan is to have mock lights to ensure the placement and style is what you want.  In this case, I stapled up cardboard cutouts for a live visual.  This is also a useful guide to your electrician, should you choose to hire it out.  Highly recommended if you don't want to electrocute yourself or have electrical issues in the future.

Look into getting the necessary permits as well - some cities can and will make you re-open your new walls to inspect electrical.

Plan ahead!  As long as the walls and ceiling are open, now is the time to wire all for future needs.  Thing exterior lighting, oven venting, lights for the above rooms, etc.  In this case, I had 2 separate switches that shared wall space.

I wanted this to be uniform so the after knocking out the ceiling, the electrician was able to wire the kitchen, basement, and new exterior light all in the same box.  It's was a bit more work, but it's going to create a finished look rather than 3 separate switches.  

Cutout for future exterior light - safety first!  Always a good idea to have your entry door lit when you come home and it's dark out.

Ready for the next step: reinforcing the ceiling and (gasp!) drywall!