Depending on how high the vault, I would vault it. Our house has vaulted living and dining and the adjacent kitchen was 8’. When we remodeled we opened it and vaulted the ceiling and it looks so much bigger and more open. I have also seen our model with the kitchen still closed off but vaulted and really liked it, again, it looked bigger than it really was due to the vault.

That said, our vault starts at 8’ and goes to 11’. If you have a 15’ vault or something like that I think it would be too much for a kitchen.

First what is with the 4 exterior materials? Please tell me you're going to stick to 1 or 2 only. :)

No I wouldn't make the kitchen vaulted.

cpartist, "First what is with the 4 exterior materials?" I am not sure what you mean by 4 exterior materials. This is a terrible picture, but this is the backside of our house. The addition is going over the slanted roof.

I would not vault the kitchen ceiling. First, it creates an awkward space between the top of the kitchen cabinets and the sloping ceiling. The point where the upper cabinets can be hung will be dependent on how steep is the slope. And then the amount of open space above each adjoining cabinet will vary depend on how steep the slope is. It will be a challenge to make it look attractive and balanced. Second, you need to think about lighting. Lighting a kitchen is very different from lighting a living room or dining room. A kitchen needs very good light or it will always be frustrating to work in. Lighting a vaulted ceiling is more of a challenge. I can see no advantage to vaulting the kitchen ceiling, only the creation of difficulties.

I am not sure what I will do. Flat ceiling adjoining to a vaulted ceiling in the living room. I need to go spend time on pinterest to comfort me. I am a bit afraid of losing the big room feeling that flows. I wish I were better at these kinds of things!

I have to say that it really just isn’t that hard to plan and light a vaulted kitchen. Most of our cabinets are on the wall where the vault starts, so they go to the ceiling at the back and they have a slight “float” at the crown at the front. It doesn’t look weird or awkward. The fridge and pantry are on the wall where the vault goes higher and they do have space above. The the only lighting considerations are to get cans that can be angled so you can point them where they need to be. Also, I wish we had put some lights above the fridge and pantry area where the ceiling is higher because it is dark. It doesn’t impact work function because it is 8’ up, but I will add some light just for looks. Any reputable comtractor should be able to deal with any issues, mine knew exactly how to make it work

Look at some pictures online. Have your architect show you some elevations both ways. There are several people on this forum who raised their ceiling when they remodeled. When I asked about vaulting the ceiling before our remodel I got very mixed answers, some saying absolutely not, others saying they did it and liked it. We are very happy we vaulted it, I know it raised our property value too. That said, it is also very dependent on your specific house and how it will fit the whole.

"I know it raised our property value too."

How do you know that? Or are you talking about vaulted ceilings overall in a home, but not specifically about vaulted kitchen ceilings? Not trying to be challenging, only that I have heard the opposite about kitchens with vaulted ceilings, because if buyers are thinking about re-doing the kitchen in a potential home, they see the vaulted kitchen ceiling as more of a difficulty. But I have no proof either way, and would have to ask a realtor what her actual experience has been with that.

It does not appear to me that the layout will sit symmetrically under the vault.

I make the statement based on what I see selling in our area and my architect and realtors opinions. And to be fair, the vaulting alone may not have raised the property value if I had left all the walls up as the houses I see with a closed up kitchen that is vaulted are selling for what an updated house in the area normally does. But the combination of opening the area and raising the ceiling certainly raised the property value, based on the realtor’s opinion as well as what I see on time on market and sales price for similar homes in the area. Also, I have had several people tell me (unsolicited) that what we spent to raise the ceiling was the best money we spent in the remodel, as it makes such a big impact.

Also I honestly don’t see why a vaulted ceiling makes remodeling more difficult. It just wasn’t a big deal to plan with it. It was no harder to remodel around the vault than with a flat ceiling.

The picture above is why I said it is dependent on the specific house, and how high your vault is. I agree that kitchen would have looked better with lower ceilings.

After giving this some thought, I realized that the pitch of the roof is going to be much lower than what it currently is. I will contact the GC on Monday with some questions. I am thinking that I could possibly make the entire space a flat ceiling. My next question is that if bedroom/hall part of the house has 8 foot ceilings, would it look ok to make the kitchen/living room with a 9 foot ceiling? Trying to think of all options.

Yes to this last question if the transition is executed well

Yes, a kitchen/living room with 9' ceiling will look great, with bedroom part at 8'. That is what I have, and I love it. One reason I have not been able to move is that whenever I see a house I'd be interested in with that same ceiling arrangement it is $1.5MM+.

I am thinking this should work. Amazed by everyone's helpfulness!