Hi iluvry, my layout is just like yours with the great room and kitchen/dining, and I have the entire room vaulted. I only just finished framing, so the pictures would just show one big room. I do get your point about how vaulted ceiling in the dining room/kitchen makes it harder for the chandelier/pendant light placement. My taste is kind of opposite of yours. I don't care for kitchen pendant light or chandelier above the table, so I'm opting for two matching chandeliers (one in the great room and one between the kitchen/dining), and I'll also have a set of ten potlights surrounding the sides. Personal taste I guess. Vaulted is not always the best, because it is harder to insulate and can feel colder in the winters with air rising up. Especially if you don't like lofty ceilings then I think you should go for your preference. Often I find pictures with the entire area vaulted have the kitchen in the back wall, dinning table in the middle, and the great room in the other end. Everything looks very centered, so this is another option you could explore. It doesn't work for me because my windows are along the back wall and can't be blocked by the kitchen. https://www.houzz.com/photos/healdsburg-residence-farmhouse-living-room-san-francisco-phvw-vp~1942894-Residence-farmhouse-living-room-san-francisco https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-dining-room-contemporary-dining-room-seattle-phvw-vp~777907-from-kitchen-to-dining-and-living-room-contemporary-dining-room-seattle https://www.houzz.com/photos/1512-dolphin-terrace-beach-style-living-room-los-angeles-phvw-vp~235531-Dolphin-Terrace-beach-style-living-room-los-angeles This post was edited by Oldmaster on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 13:53

Just wanted to update. Ended up trying a few different designs and this is what we have now. Beams need to be stained. Could use some lighting suggestions. Morning Room: Great Room - the ridge beam did end up being really large but it doesn't obstruct the view from the second floor. There are some dark spots behind the beams that we'd like some ambient light in. Any ideas on placement locations and types? Either spots to paint the beams, or maybe spots in the eaves to paint the wall behind?

Mtgirlann I'm curious what your final decision was as I am now facing the same decision. My husband wants the vaulted ceiling and I can see the appeal given that we are right up against a mountain so the view will be up close and looking up. Our great room is 32' x 16' with the peak splitting the long side of the room. We could do a 14' peak or 17' peak on the vault. 17' sounds too high but it might look ok proportionally given that the room is quite wide? All the pics I can find online look too high but the rooms aren't as wide and I'm also not sure how tall those ceilings actually are. Any advice is appreciated.

Wow - yeah, that's a lot of windows and doors. Holy cow. Have you thought about doing different colors on these walls to divide the spaces? I have no advice on the color because my computer and I are having a dress moment - I can't tell if those cabinets are green or cream. That being said, if you want to appeal to the masses, white and greige are major crowd pleasers lately. I agree that the rugs are the wrong sizes and I would say the red rug especially isn't doing this room any favors. I also agree that the island really isn't helping you. Here's my solution: I would take out the island and put in a built-in dining table. That will likely leave you with a patch in your floor, so put in a cabinet that faces toward the living area and that is table height, not bar height. If you're really crafty, careful, clever and lucky, you may be able to use the cabinet from the current island with some modifications. Buy two table legs from a hardware store. Paint or stain the cabinet and the legs a darker color than the kitchen cabinets. Then, get a nice, big, solid wood table top. Maybe something like this? or this? I don't know anything about these companies - I just did a quick Google search to get examples, so do some research. I'd go with a dark wood; don't try to match the floors. Because this built-in dining table is lower and longer than the current island it will block less of the view to the patio doors and it will actually draw the eye to that view. You'll be able to place any dining chairs around it and it will be more family friendly than your current bar height island. I wouldn't make it too long because you don't want to block flow between your fridge, sink, and oven range, but I bet you'll be able to sit 5-8 people around it depending on the size you go with (hard to tell dimensions from photos). In the end, you'll have an eat in kitchen with a patio view and a separate large living area. I'd recommend adding a pair of comfy, smallish chairs to your living room set to make that space more useful, as well.