We've got the farm thing going, too. Dust is an ever-present "friend" here. I decided to post a picture of our beam when I had the pots hanging from it (please excuse my clutter, LOL) We're working on getting more storage built in to the kitchen, but it's not done yet. Our beam is 8' to the underside, and I simply hammered some nice strong long-shanked nails into it to hold the pots. Function all the way. : ) The pots were just high enough for us to walk under. Before you invest in a rack, you might want to measure and see just how far the pots would hang down after the rack was installed. I have a hard time feeling comfortable with objects in my head space-and I'm only 5' 4"! At 5' 10", your view may be through the pots rather than under them if the ceiling is 8 feet high.

I love mine, unequivocally. That said, it's probably because mine is stationed over the end of my peninsula, not in the center of the room over an island, and doesn't interfere with lighting or sight-lines at all. While at the stove, I can just reach over and grab one with my left hand. I think proximity to the stove is pretty key for keeping it functional rather than decorative. Unlike Marcolo's pic, ours can be hung with their backs to the wall, so if the sight of a naked used pan bottom offends you, that's one solution for the more prudish among us. I'm also not sure why some people report layers of heavy grease/dust on theirs -- we don't have layers of grease anywhere on our kitchen surfaces (??). We just hang the pots/pans we use regularly, and none of them stays unused long enough to gather dust. I do give the potrack bar itself a swipe whenever I'm wiping down the cabinets. LOVE ours, and REALLY love not having to stoop to pull a drawer out to lift up a pan -- we use a lot of cast iron, and these suckers can be heavy. Much easier just to swing it down to the stovetop when needed. YMMV.

We also have an open great room to kitchen with gorgeous views at back of house. Our great room alone is about the size you mentioned. No chandelier to distract, but did floor outlets for two lamps behind sofa. Two other lamps on furniture at walls. Four sconces, two on each side of room. I also did not want pendants over island, so went with cans (as much as I hate them, you don't want to cut off a finger). DR is at front of house w chandelier. Breakfast room next to kitchen at back if house w chandelier. Keep overhead lighting finishes consistent for a cohesive look. Don't have to be exact, just in the same family.

Thank you to all for your input and ideas. I have much to think over now as I had always thought that I wanted a pot rack, but my husband agrees with the idea of dust being a problem along with the fact the he fears it will block the light and be a head knocker for some of the taller family members. A lot of excellent points have been made that I had not thought of, such as what the bottom of my pans will look like after some use. I have been collecting some stainless all-clad and a few copper pieces that I wanted to try and display in some manner. I have not used these pieces yet because I'm saving them for when we get moved into the new house, so they look nice and shiny now but down the road I'm sure they'll start looking quite weathered. Gonna have to study on this one for a bit, but I will post back when I figure it out. And thanks again for your well thought out responses. I'm so thankful that I found GW at just the right time as I'm sure I'm going to have plenty more questions for you guys as this build moves forward.