We removed the soffits in two bathrooms, and we tiled the ceilings over the tubs in both, too. In one we used matching bullnose tile as our border, or trim, in the other, our tile guy cut down marble tile/pieces to use as border/trim. The rest of the bathrooms/ceilings are painted (except over the vanities). It looks great, but I don't have any pics showing the ceilings in either bathroom. If I get a chance, I'll try to take some pics for you.

Rebecca...we do not own that house anymore but it was similar to what we are doing in new house we are building but without columns. just a thick wide cased opening between the rooms. The height of the cased opening is the same height as the doors and windows of the house (8 ft header ht.). Started out with 9 ft header ht on it but didn’t like how it looked with surrounding doors and windows at 8 ft. Kitchen has 10 ft ceiling and the gathering room on this side of picture has higher ceiling. Hope this helps.

Fixing that problem is much greater than just making that area look seamless. The problem is that the same base molding is being used for two different floor heights. That means the only way to solve the problem is to trim the difference(1/4") off the bottom of the base on the right to get the top of the base molding even. That means redoing all the molding in the room on the right. Another option would be to add the 1/4" to the bottom of the base molding on the left and adding to all the base molding on the room on the left. To make a seamless joint using painted trim, a scarf joint is used. That is a 45° angle joint cut in the end of a piece of trim, the opposing 45° cut on the joining end and the two joined with glue(and finish nails). To make that transition, a piece of the molding needs to be cut about 6" long. Using a multitool or Dremel, the notch is formed and the right side trimmed to the height of the trim on the right on the bottom of that side or the trim on the left is added to to equal the height of the trim on the right. That matches the top and middle trim profiles and the gap matches the transition strip. Then, cut the scarf joints on each end of the new transition section and remove the base molding on each side. Install the new piece and cut the corresponding scarf joints on the old base and reinstall. When done properly, primer will cover and hide the joints. Situations like this are what separates trim carpenters from molding installers.

I have vinyl plank with huge dogs in my walk out basement where they have free access to a large dog run it has been in for 11 yrs and still looks awesome. We have a laminate on our main floor that looks like slate and has also stood up to the brats for 11 yrs there is no way wood could have handled all that abuse. IMO laminate or vinyl plank in good condition is better than scratched up wood floor that would have to be refinished before sale. We now have a great pyrenees as our 2 old dogs have passed away and he really is rough on floors , no wood could possibly stand up to him.The pic is the laminate floor and the old dogs