jencox - I can't answer your question and most postings here are more technical in nature. Try reposting on the Home Decoration forum. Some talented poster there will assist, I'm sure. A photo might help too. BTW, I understand the DH not wanting to trim the doors again. Mine hates trim but I don't mind doing it so long as he does the rolling. Between us we make one competent painter! In our home I used colors from the same SW card in the Entry, LR, DR stairway and halls to avoid day/night color conflicts like you are experiencing. Good luck.

Thank you for the response! Didn't get a notification from Houzz so just saw it. If I did an arch top opening, how would I do the rest of the hallway? I don't want to make it a barrel vault for the entire length of the hallway. Would it look too broken up if the hallway ceiling started flat and then have the arched top opening at the end right before the vestibule? What would the flat ceiling height and top of the arched openings be to work well with the 11' vestibule? The backup design would have been 10' flat ceiling in hallway opening to 11' flat ceiling in the vestibule. It's just too ho hum for me but I'm having a hard time visualizing the superior design.

Completely understand, nice to have somebody else do it. I would personally feel slightly wary of making financial mistakes and so on without seeing the space at least drywalled to better visualize size. In my minds eye once you get your decor in and look at the selections you then might feel things aren't what they seemed as you envisioned and in reality how they look with your furniture/decor/paint selection(s) and the rest are in the room once you are done. I would keep a file of things you lean toward and wait :/ I know it's not easy and also is a pain to have your husband have to do the install. Then again, if you feel confident you know your furnishings well and all you could just go with your gut and take a small risk you aren't completely happy. It's an exciting time to have a new home built and I'm sure you want it near to perfect. Perhaps I'm WAY too particular and should relinquish some of the control over things as such (if it were me in this situation) and go with the hall and foyer light selections. That's as far as I'd go myself Caroline. You know your furnishings. I take it you own them already so know what style you are seeking and decor you will be using. The island pendants can be a bit easier as I'm sure you've done the math regarding spacing and how many you need over the island taking in to consideration the size light you've selected and the total size of your island. I hope I'm not sounding like Debbie Downer :/

Are you wedded to your console table? That's the main piece that gives off the gothic vibe since it looks like a kneeler in a church. Either that needs to be replaced with something lighter such as Beverley suggests--or even Lucite--or the medallions need to come down. Beautiful, light-in-feeling art--a pair of complementary watercolors with the palette below--would be so inviting. Add a runner rug in the same colors to create an inviting "path" into your home--something in blues and brown. In the meantime put a pair of lamps on your table--tall and thin or one with a rounded glass base.