I think a different material would be even better. Polished concrete?? If you have your heart set on laminate, I'd suggest an oak color floor to contrast and complement the ceiling colors and work with the brick. Here is a wood ceiling with polished concrete floors... Here is a sample of a light oak color floor with a darker ceiling. I think you need contrast.

Probably the best solution visually, as well as economically, is to frame a wide opening with head at 8'-0" between kitchen ceiling and living room ceiling. This will accomodate your cabinet needs and provide a logical spatial transition between the two rooms. A "sloping ceiling" is ridiculous, unless you have other such things elsewhere in your house. Don't ask your builder for any further recommendations which are visual. Good luck on your project.

Thanks again everyone for the feedback. Below are a few pics of the room from the listing, show the room better than I could. Sounds like: 1. Leave wood paneling intact and "as is" 2. Continue flooring down into sunken area 3. Replace track lighting w/ modern design but retain existing location 4. Paint wood ceiling beam to match ceiling color Would staining beam to match the wall be too much of one thing? I was originally thinking of making the flooring in the sunken area different, like a lighter white as a contrast to everything else? Pic below is sort of what I was thinking of, it's sort of an off-white, can't tell definitively but the main level flooring kind of sort of like what I have now. What sort of ceiling fan would work? I don't think it will need a light, not sure on the blade size though, don't want to overwhelm the room with fan but conversely don't want to put something in just for the sake of putting something in. As for the style I like, I'm not trying to necessarily "re-create" a particular genre but like aspects of several styles.

noise depends on what you mean by open concept. our kitchen and living room are all one room, so I think of that as open concept, but our bedrooms are down a hall. therefore, we don't have noise issues with sound from the living room. when it comes to heating/cooling, it depends on the engineering. how high are the ceilings? how much insulation? how big are the windows and what way are they facing? all of our ceilings in the whole house are vaulted but not super tall (about 11'). we don't have much of an issue with heating in the winter, but the living room is really hot in the summer, mainly due to the fact that it's not in the shade and has big south facing windows (this is Seattle, where it rarely gets over 90 deg). we had 6" of rigid insulation installed under the roof, but it's not nearly as good as having an attic with blown in insulation. I love vaulted ceilings and would absolutely have them again, but just be sure your architect is considering the best when it comes to wall, ceiling and window insulation. finally, other noise factors to consider: we have a metal roof. so that plus no attic means we can hear everything that hits it. rain? very pleasant. pinecones hitting it in a windstorm? SO LOUD. the last time it happened, we barely got any sleep. of course if you have a shingled roof, it won't be as much of an issue.