I think the attempt at a colonial look just does not mesh with the organic modern look it also had. I know it was done often as well as with the Spanish look (stucco, beams, etc...), but I just don't care for it. I think you could bring it forward into a more 70s natural look. Keep the ceiling and the slate floor, and try to work in clean elements and curves. Using raised panel doors and those hinges just did not look great when new, so to recreate would be period appropriate, but a mistake. I think a retro modern kitchen and vibe would make the most sense. Like noted above, you can use regular cabs under a curved counter. I could see it looking groovy with vertical grain veneer cabs, some retro color accessories and modern art. You can do an older style in a fresh way. There is no need to be a slave to someone else's vision for it, whether the original owner/architect, or some future buyer. If you added curves to your pix from 15:42 today, that would be quite nice. I am not sure you should whitewash your wood, but it is not a bad option. I would hate to see it get painted though. The workmanship and lines of it are really nice and that would sully it. I don't see too many painted surfaces as working in your house. I can picture grass cloth wallpaper and maybe some white walls. Certainly, you should skip crown molding.... Some funky table lamps in chrome would fit in as would some plants and macrame. I'd try to go for an ahead of its time look from years ago....

we are pretty set (99%) are getting the fans. however, getting them wired if we weren't to get them is a great idea! jennybc: the 2 rooms are going to be guest/computer style rooms. we have no kids and don't plan on having any. if we do, it will be just one. the upstairs calls for 8 foot ceilings with a vaulted ceiling in every bedroom. we are doing an angled tray in the master and still unsure about the other 2 bedrooms...either vault or leave at 8'. edit: also, we were thinking....in the great room with those 3 or 4 windows, what if you do those windows as a casement style? would that work? we're trying to get the same look of the fixed window in the rear of the house. i don't know much about casement windows and how much more they would be compared to double-hungs. the window is about 3x6/7 and then another square window above it (not sure how big that one is right now, maybe 3x2). i'm not sure if the casements are even made in that size. This post was edited by stblgt on Thu, Sep 12, 13 at 9:40

IMO pot lights in vaulted ceiling are close to useless. Those are integrated fixtures which mean they cannot have bulb changed if it burns out so you will need to make sure you buy extras. I like cable lighting for vaulted rooms you can get it with more traditional heads .That style of lighting gets the light to a level where irt actually provides lighting. I use Tech for my clients. IMO lighting is not the place to scrimp on budget .

The contractor is looking for the quickest, cheapest way to make this problem go away temporarily. Maybe he's hoping the next time you call him he'll be retired and can ignore you. It's not normal to have to fix this periodically. In addition to the annoyance factor, you don't know what this is doing to cause hidden damage to the structure, which could be very costly to fix in the long run. Whatever it takes, get it fixed properly.