This is a vaulted ceiling the way a vaulted ceiling should be done:)

I think you are right to go all one color in this room. The main focal wall is the window wall and I think the previous owners have chopped up the space a bit by the various accent walls.

It kind of looks rustic contemporary to me, so that is the type of light fixtures I would focus on, and I think that contemporary furniture will work too, but nothing too sleek.

I would hold off on the kitchen for a bit...the cabinets seem to fit the house, and since the appliances are older I would try to figure out if they are going to last.

Here are your pics:

Are you planning on replacing the carpet?

Do you have pictures of Your furniture?

What kind of budget do you have?

I appreciate your thoughts palimpset on the style of this. I'd never heard of contemporary rustic and had to do some googling.

Terricks- THX!. I tried to get the images to come up like that without success so I had to do it the other way. Think it's my mac.

Ok on your questions. I haven't really thought about budget. I'd like it done nicely and not too pricey. This is our last home so might as well have it the way I want it now rather than later.

I think the carpet and vinyl kitchen floor are ok in color, and would go with light gray, and wear so I plan on keeping them for a few years. I'm going to have that gold carpet tack down strip replaced with a silver one. I wish they'd done turn and tuck but I'm guessing you can't go back and do that after it's cut, right? Anyone know?

I wanted a vinyl kitchen floor anyway, tile is too cold and breaks dishes.

I was wondering about 3 pendant lights hanging over the island between it and the couches., maybe the ones from menards that the glass shades can be changed to different colors for different seasons, moods.

I was thinking about some rope lights, perhaps in a color, for uplighting on top of those kitchen cabs too.

Not sure about they countertop. I like laminate, most folks here don't. If I change it it might be to wilsonart high def aeon in a steel color. Any thoughts? Too dark? I was thinking about modern looking swivel stools at the bar area. The kind with the center post instead of 4 legs. White might be best. I don't see a cheap gray.

I don't have any furniture yet. So direction would be nice. There are 5 of us- all adult sized, no toddlers. and 2 cats, no dogs. After looking at the contemp rustic furniture on google images I thought this furniturerow "madagascar table" with the giant sturdy legs and some parsons chairs would be nice. What do you think? It even stores it's leaves inside. I would put that where the current dining table is. I was thinking about gettting a giant ficus tree - 1- or MAYBE 3 AND putting it / them around the dining table, maybe with uplights or twinkle lights, +/or maybe a light that looks like outside lighting ( a lamp post maybe) to give the dining area a mood. If you google it, what do you think of this table? The right look? It might be too dark. The closest store is an hour away. - But I'm not really keen on med. oak anyway, and would hate to buy more of it to go with this house.

I think those ceiling fans running down the vault line look stupid. Don't you agree? My Dad thinks they are to keep the heat down and keep people warmer in the winter, yes, WINTER, and I told him, I am too cold to have a breeze in the winter. We never turn our fans on in the winter here. ... but then we've never had a high ceiling. What do you think we should do about those fans?

If they were gone I could get a light fixture off center in the middle of the seating area. Perhaps in line with the fireplace.

I found out yesterday the ugly brass inset in the fireplace can be painted with a high temp BLACK paint, and the ugly gray vents above it ( they look like black boxes in the pic) I plan to paint these vents the color of the stonework.

I'm not sure about that knee wall. It's probably a good thing. Maybe if I painted it gray also. I see they have planters for live plants that fit over a rail ( intended for patios) and was thinking some on the rail upstairs ( the loft) and some on the knee wall might warm the spaces. What do you think?

I think that "foyer" pendant light looks like it should be centered in front of the closet door rather than the start of the stairs What do you think? It could be a different light too.

The coffee table we get should be turned to go parallel to fireplace. So should an area rug beneath it.

..and finally, I hate to be so long winded. * Puff, puff!* I wonder if there should be something up high between those triangle windows, to pull the eye up and give it a place to rest, or if that would just be overkill. It is so cool to have a vertical decoration option. I'd like to take advantage of that! Maybe a sconce light...

ok, fill me in on my ideas and yours....I'm so grateful for any help. :) here's a hug in advance.
karen

I'd recommend not making too many changes until after you move in. Shouldn't be too difficult since you are keeping the flooring as is. You might find the fans are very helpful in keeping heating costs lower as that is a huge vaulted space and all the heat will rise to the ceiling. Better to have the heat circulated than to have extremely high heating costs or be uncomfortable. I don't think you'll notice a breeze with the fans.

Rooms such as this are more difficult to create a cosy feel but it can be done through careful selection of color, scale, lighting, and style of furniture. Not to discourage you but contemporary style and grey color are not usually on the cosy list. Eclectic would certainly work in this house.

My suggestions are to choose one mid-range color for the entire space and also do the ceiling in the same color. I would not do an accent wall as there is already a lot going on with many windows, posts, railings, etc. Open plans IMO do not benefit from multi-colors on the walls. To choose a wall color I'd have a close look at the fireplace bricks and find a warm color there for inspiration. Might be a grey leaning to brown but not a cold grey.

The dining room chandelier is way too high right now and needs to come down 2-3 feet.

I have a 20' ceiling in our great room and what I think works is to not decorate the taller walls above about 10'. I keep all my wall decor at a lower level as if the ceilings were not extra tall. Keeps the eye from going up to the highest point which is IMO a more comfortable way to live. Extremely tall ceilings are not in human scale and do not promote comfort - again IMO. I'd not deliberately have them again. We also have cathedral ceilings in 2 other rooms in our house and I've had them painted the same colors as the walls which makes the rooms more comfortable to live in. I didn't do that in the great room and will if I have it repainted. I also use mood lighting at lower levels at night which causes the tall ceilings to almost disappear.

I would paint the knee-wall the same color as the walls but leave the wood cap as is to match the posts and railings.

Measure the room before shopping for furniture as this is a large space and will require furniture of large scale. I think the style of the Madagascar table is fine if that is what you want but a larger table would be better. At it's full extension this table is 54"x54" which is not large. Mark the measurements of the table on the floor and you will see. You could probably have a table that is 8' long in that space. You might find a wood worker in the area who makes furniture from reclaimed wood and have a table built to your specifications.

Again, don't feel you need to change a lot before moving in. When you see how the house lives and feels you will make better decisions. Enjoy and keep asking questions as you will get many opinions, some of which will help you!

You will need the fans. I an not a huge ceiling fan devotee but I had a 14' ceiling and it was necessary in the winter to push the heat down. The people after me took it out and put in a chandelier and I noticed after one winter they put a ceiling fan back (a much cheaper one than they threw out I might add)

In the winter you run them in the opposite direction and and slower speed to push the hot air back down.

Congratulations--it's beautiful. I agree about keeping the fans. You might be able to replace them with monochromatic ones if you want them to be less obvious.

I thought there was some reason for the knee wall like more stairs or something. Would you consider removing it?

Ok, I will keep the fans! While we are painting the ceiling maybe we can spray paint them white. Could this be done in place without sanding anything?

The kneewall is something that can go. I am open for ideas on what to do.
Share your ideas.

I don't think I can do the ceiling gray. Maybe you can share pics of how yours looks with the ceiling and walls the same color?

Do people combine lushious fabrics or drapes with those kind of vertical blinds? If so how? Any pics?

I see the house has several rooms with levilor or similar honeycomb shades that don't go up the last 5-10 inches. Is that normal? Is there a way to tighten them to go up higher?

Karen

I haven't read the replies yet, but if you want a cozy area then I think gray walls would be frigid in that beautiful home.

I'm not sure why gray is popular now, the way olive was popular a few years ago, but your home is way too lovely and cozy to add gray in there.

I can see gray in a bedroom or bathroom though!