Another vote for the tray and some sort of drop down lights or lights. Something that will clear the bottom of the recess, but not interefere with the fridge door or cabinet doors, or a tall person's head. Trim out the box with molding so that it looks intentional and not an afterthought. Maybe even use beadboard in the recessed area to mimic the beadboard cabinets. Now I'm not saying get these, but this style of semi-flush or pendant that looks good on a shortish chain: I've sold 3 houses in the past 7 years and none of my houses lingered on the market. Some free advice is to PAINT. People on this board are fixated on kitchen details, so they notice the awesome cabinets, fixtures, countertops and backsplash, but your average Joe Homebuyer will just see a stark white kitchen and oldish appliances. As Palimpsest said, go dead flat on the ceiling. Benjamin Moore makes one of the best dead flat ceiling paints. Go with a color about 50% lighter than your walls. The walls should be a neutral. I have found that golden-toned neutrals are great, stick with natural earth toned colors, especially in the main areas (hallways, family room, living room). You can google "paint colors that sell" for ones realtors and stagers use. Be sure it works with your lighting. If you're planning a statement color like blue or green, that's fine, just make sure it relates to the other rooms. Red is not recommended as a wall color. People have strong opinions about red, love it or hate it. A red hater will just think the trouble to paint over it is not worth the time or money and pass your house by. Stage your house. I've done this for all my houses and it works. People have a hard time visualizing their stuff in an empty space, but if your "stuff" overpowers the house, they'll remember that too and look elsewhere. It doesn't have to be expensive. EDIT your stuff, pack away everything especially personalized items like pictures, everything except the necessities. Use your own furniture, artwork and accessories or borrow from family/friends. It's only temporary! Buy only if you have to and consider craigslist before buying new. Use plants, they give the place "life". In the 1st and 2nd houses we sold, we had to use fake as it was on the market while we were living out of town for one, out of state for the other. For the 3rd, we were living 40 minutes away. I used live plants with those as seen on TV aquaglobes. I've drive over once a week to refill. A great book I recommend you read is Ready, Set, Sold! by Michael Corbett. It's a few years old, but the local library or 1/2 Price Books might have it. He has great simple tips for staging and where to spend your money & where to save. Here's some images from my 2 most recent houses. For some reason I can't find the 1st houses images on my computer. Brentwood, CA on market 5/2006 sold 11/2006 (beginning of downturn in CA market, had a buyer fall through) Flower Mound, TX on market 7/2009 sold 8/2009 Good luck with your house! Kathe

Tall ceilings are particularly useless in kitchens, And pretty much anywhere else not regularly occupied by NBA forwards and centers. But nevertheless they are regular features in high design kitchens . For instance, see the current edition of Architectural Digest, p.204, the previous edition at 131 etc, etc. Practically, treying the ceiling the way the OP is suggesting could create a deep horizontal canyon that might look better filled, not necessarily by expensive cabinets, but simple panels in the same style as the cabinetry. But, then, I'm not a designer. Here's how a kitchen designer handled a nine-foot ceiling in a house I built a few years ago.

The Aug 2016 issue of This Old House has an article titled: All About Ceiling Fans. 1'6" min distance from wall or sloped ceiling. 7'-10' minimum distance from floor. Steer clear of (existing) lights, rotating blades below a light may create a flickering effect. Occupied space (in sq ft) / 4 = blade span in inches, wider if ceilings are high. DC motors save up to 70% on electricity. Higher cfm fans provide a better breeze, usually have more robust motors that will last longer and run quieter.

Correct. I’m just wanting opinions/options for painting. Paint the ceiling oyster bay where the light fixture will hang plus the soffit then leave the lower part white or just the soffits oyster bay and look like stripes? Not sure how to paint it. I have looked for pictures but really haven’t found anything. I hope what I am saying makes sense :-)