Drywall arched openings do not belong anywhere near a house of that style. Cased arched openings would be less appropriate than square transomed openings.

I agree with live wire oak. Arched openings would look completely out of place. I would do the square openings with transoms. I would likely put a transom over the doors to the study, as well.

I suggest you hunt through houzz.com. there are so much great woodwork, nooks and ideas to view.

here are some related to doorways from my ideas books over there.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/new-american-home-hall-contemporary-hall-boston-phvw-vp~43727-American-Home-Hall-contemporary-hall-boston

https://www.houzz.com/photos/klopf-architecture-dining-room-traditional-dining-room-san-francisco-phvw-vp~30918-Architecture---Dining-Room-traditional-dining-room-san-francisco

https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~22153-Conard-Architects-traditional-kitchen-seattle

livewireoak and phillipeh, thank you for the input. I do see arches in this style of house around here, but I was concerned about the drywall arches as well so thanks for your thoughts.

home4shore, thanks so much for those links. I hadn't heard of that site - it's great - looks like I'll be spending some time searching around!

I'd also agree with square openings with or without transoms. Which openings do you mean, though? Some of those openings are pretty large, and a transom may not work well. If you have a 9' ceiling and need a large header across the opening, you'll be below 7' for your opening. Make sure where you want it and what matches the other doors/windows in the house. If they're not load bearing walls, you should have more flexibility.
We did one opening with a transom, which the trim carpenter made with 5/4 poplar, a piece of 1/4" glass, and glass bead moulding. Material cost was $27 and he charged $100 for making it. It only took him about 2 hours.
We did some recessed panels on a few other openings in the house, but they have a very formal look. I've been meaning to get some pics posted, but still quite busy (we moved in 3 weeks ago).

fish, thanks for the comments. I agree...for the larger openings I would not want to do the transoms. They aren't load bearing walls, but still I don't think I'd like that.

I'd love to see pictures of yours. Thanks.

We had a similar dilemna. Drywall arches didn't really go with the style of the home. The openings are quite large- so casing would look odd too. We have 10' ceilings with 18" headers. The openings are 12-16'wide. We ended up choosing drywall square opening. I hope it's not too contemporary. We're going for contemporary meets country cottage look so we'll see how it looks once it's decorated. If I don't like it, I might add some vintage wood brackets or corbels. Or you can always add casing.

I can't get pics right now as the flooring is going in but I can post a pics in a few weeks.

I am not sure I agree about the drywall arch not fitting in with this sort of house - see the below photo from what is described as a beautifully renovated historic cedar shake house. You can see a simple drywall arch (really a segmented arch not a full arch) between the den and kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Archway between kitchen and den

pps7, thanks for your thoughts. It's tough to make these decisions, isn't it?? Can't wait to see pictures of the inside of your house. I love how your exterior is coming along!

athensmom, thanks so much for that picture - it is very close to what my setup would be. That arch looks nice and is what my designer suggested. My questions is, what would I do for the other smaller openings?? Like the one between the kitchen and butlers pantry and then into dining room. Also, the opening to the master bedroom area and mudroom area. What would you do? Thanks!!

I've seen the arches on a number of different houses. and to each his own. as for opinions.... I'm full of them....

I peronally like a nice cased squared off opening, its what I have in my cape cod style house and it was in my parent's dutch colonial. Granted these openings are max about 8-10 ft and some of them had doors at one point.

as for arches I feel people use them a lot in places that they don't quite fit b/c they are "cool".

For instance in the linked photo, I'm definately not an expert, but that room is full of square lines.... in the ceiling, in the transoms, the arch is the only form there with a curve, and its a weak narrow one without definition. maybe there are other elements that tie into it, not in the picture.

chris - I am a squared off person also and grew up in a cape cod so I know what you mean. Arches are also often done wrong. In the linked room the segmented arch (i.e., the slight curve(which I actually much prefer over a true arched opening)) is repeated in the bookshelves that flank the fireplace on the opposite wall. I expect that opening is quite large given the scale of the furniture in the room so perhaps that is why they decided not to draw attention to it with casing? Just wanted to provide subtle definition between rooms?

Are you doing transoms on your exterior doors like in athensmomof3's picture? If so, I would do square cased with transom for the smaller openings. Love that look.

I like your floor plan. And I also vote for transoms. Here's mine....

Thanks pps7 and homeagain. Your house looks great, homeagain. I am not currently planning transoms on my exterior windows...can I still do interior transoms or does that not work? Seems like people usually do them together, but do I have to? Thanks for the help!!

Also, homeagain, how often do you have to clean those interior transoms? Thanks!