I voted for the smaller number of coffers. 22 seems like lot and might start to get too busy. Does the coffering have to continue into the family room or can it be limited to the kitchen/dining area?

You have 27 too many things going on. Skip the coffer. Skip the beadboard. Use large cased openings if you want to differentiate spaces. Just trying to do it at the ceiling level is always weird and never works. Doing it off kilter in an L shape is weird and just not good.

While I love coffered ceilings, I love them if and only if they look like they're structural. An L-shape does not look that way - it looks like an aesthetic choice (which it is) and contrived. And I agree that if you do decide to include a coffered ceiling, fewer boxes is better - with no beadboard.

You mentioned that one of the beams is a real one. Is it the one shown left-to-right, crossing over the lower part of the island? If so, and the coffered ceiling is your way to disguise it, I would stop all the boxes at the same point over the kitchen and not extend the long leg of the L into the living space. That said, I can't tell what is in the lower left of your plans - is it another wall? If so that changes things! It would be easier to comment on this if you showed a bigger 2-d plan view of the surrounding spaces.

IMO the coffered ceilings in DR and kitchens are a huge issue for lighting and I agree coffered is formal and forget the beadboard and few boxes makes more snese to me . I think before really commenting I would like to know a bit more about the style of house and your style, these work best in formal spaces

Here is the rectangle look with bead board. I think it looks awesome.

I would put all the money you would spend on the coffers into raising that beam flush with the ceiling.

I am sorry, and I am not trying to be rude, but there is no other way to say it - I think the photos you posted with coffers and beadboard look silly. Not only because coffered ceiling and beadboard are a mismatch in tone and aesthetic, and not only because it looks like such an affectation, but also because if I walked into those kitchens, I would think they weren't done, and a contractor will be along to finish plastering the ceiling shortly.

To me, this just screams pretentious subdivision house trying to be something it's not. Coffered ceilings do NOT belong in kitchens! Historically, they were in "great halls". Beadboard covers ceilings in cottages, often summer cottages. It's not in anything "grand".

You may have your heart set on these, but they are going to be an expensive disaster and the devil to keep clean and expensive to re-paint when grease eventually stains the ceiling.

Sorry this is brutal, but you did ask our opinion...

when i say beadboard, i dont mean the 2" wide stuff i mean the look of shiplap, 4" wide with a deep v groove.

like this.

everyone still against this in between the coffers? is it just a style choice?

we have beadboard on our vaulted ceilings in current kitchen and we love them, but the kitchen is def more of a cottage / french country feel to it.

we usually have more of a traditional taste, although in the new kitchen we are going more towards transitional with white cabinets, a navy island, white counters, polished nickel hardware.

do you think that means we should lose the beadboard/shiplap.

Lose all of that. It’s just a horrible not at all well thought out over Waco’d detail that does not fit anything. It’s obviously Disneyesque theme park fake. Fake is always bad. This is worse. It’s fake plastic flowers with unneeded tacky Jojo glitter.

what do you mean its fake, arent all coffered ceilings are fake and just for looks. I love the look.

no way im not doing coffered ceilings in some way. just trying to see if the v-groove beadboard was too "cottage feel" for style of the new kitchen or not.

Do you know the historical precedence for coffered ceilings? If not, you might want to research it well. Willy nilly tacked up tacky bits aren’t it.

Oh ffs - you don't need to know the historical precedence for every decorative item in your house. What a pretentious attitude to have toward home design. Oh, you don't know the precedence for crown molding? Well, don't even bother...

You said you like the way it looks in your current house. Works for me - go for it :)

That being said, I'll answer the question you *actually* asked our opinion of: Go with the eleven.

If you like them then go for them. I would prefer just smooth drywall inside the coffers though. With the bead board its REALLY busy. Keep it simple... if that's possible with coffers.

I like it .. and if you want it go for it... but then what do I know ! go for the 11

I do not like the small ones on the bottom left.

I would get the coffered ceiling that you love - with the fewer boxes - but I’d skip the shiplap. Just like if I were your friend, and let you know that your outfit of plaid and stripes don’t work together. Shiplap is not meant for a statement kitchen with high ceilings and coffers.

If anyone else is curious, here's a link with some brief information about the history of coffered ceilings. It's fascinating - I just got sucked down an architectural history worm hole :-).

https://buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/c/cof.html

Now, OP, on to your design. You have WAY too many things going on. You're talking about a coffered ceiling with shiplap in the coffers and then a tray ceiling in room next door, which is completely open? You need to cut WAY back on ceiling details.

its not open, theres a 20 foot wall with a 10 foot wide opening in the center. the opening will be at 8'8" or so b/c the other room has a 9 foot soffit for the tray and crown molding under it.

and another opening of 4 feet at the same height

OP opened this can of worms but never showed us any photos of the actual spaces in question. Is this a new build or a reno? When the ceilings in my grandmother's cottage got water stains, I repaired the roof and put up beadboard to hide them. 8' ceilings and a tiny 2 bdrm cottage tho'.

okay thanks everyone for help.

11 boxes it is and no beadboard.

ceiling is 10 feet.

next conundrum. I have butlers pantry area, under counter bev frige, under counter wine frige, base cabinet on the bottom, and then 2 wine racks along with a 21" glass cabinet in the middle of the upper section. upper section are 12" deep 36"H cabinets. top of them will be at 90"

to the right of the these cabinets is going to be a walk in pantry closet. i can build the closet out just past the base cabinets so that the counter from it hits the wall. (about 26" off the wall),

OPTION 1 I was thinking it would look cool to have the closet ceiling built at 96 or 102" or so with an 80" door, then have crown on top of it then have the coffer perimeter at 114" run behind it by 2 feet.

OPTION 2

put walk in pantry door at the wall at 8', run perimeter of coffers at the wall.

OPTION 3

I could also get a 96" pantry door, build the closet to the ceiling and stop the coffer at the closet, built a bulkhead (soffit) above cabinets out to the front of the closet, (26" off the wall).

OPTION 4

I could also get a 96" pantry door, build the closet to the ceiling and stop the coffer at the closet, built a bulkhead (soffit) above cabinets out to the front of the upper cabinets, (12" off the wall). run the perimter of coffers around the closet and soffit. (see image below)

The inspirations photos you posted have the coffers "contained" to the space by walls.

It's not apparent from your drawings whether yours would also have walls to delineate the coffered space or not. If not, it will not look right at all. I have seen this in a couple of builder's spec homes and it looked extremely odd in person. It did not create separation of the spaces but rather made it look like someone tried an experiment with the ceiling and never finished it.

We did have a home with a coffered kitchen/family great room. I second the comment that cost of repaint is significant and getting the lighting right would be tricky, especially in the kitchen.