that70shouse- I'm interested in seeing your photos so let me tell you how I (eventually) figured out how to post photos using Tinypic. There is no prompt on forum site, FYI. 1. Go to www.tinypic.com 2. Select the photo from your computer using the browse button. 3. On the drop down for resize select "Website/Email" 4. Check the box for "send it via email" so you can keep track of the links later and enter your email or don't if you'd rather not have them have your email (though I've yet to get spam from them) 5. Hit upload and it will take you to a page with a bunch of links for you to copy, IMPORTANT: choose HTML for websites! NOT message board or email. Copy the link from the box and paste it into your post. 6. We then marvel at your mad decorating skillz!

ogoopogo - thanks for the tip on getting the gunk out of the carpet. I'll give it a try since if I can't get it out, I won't use it in there. Sigh. Red - the fireplace makeover made such a big difference! I sort of designed it on the fly, brought home a bunch of moldings and medallions and then had the poor carpenter guy try a bunch of different things. I'll post some pics of the fireplace for you. As for the dark boards on the floor, I just don't know. This bamboo is so hard that it breaks nails if you don't use the right ones with the right tools and I know they are already nailed together. I think to remove them would mean we would ruin a bunch of boards and then we might not have enough to do the rest of the house. But I'm going to ask. And I just looked at my list of what all we have done and I forgot we also had a stairway makeover (had no railing before) and 6 weeks of electrical work which also included moving/combing a bunch of switches which lead, of course, to a bunch of sheetrock work before the painting. Here's the versions of the fireplace. Before. The textured sheetrock surround gave this a contemporary look that just didn't work for me, especially since this room is going to be the new dining room with a bunch of our antique furniture. I tried painting it a couple of colors, including this green a couple down on the same paint strip, but still the design was contemporary. So this is what we came up with and I'm very happy.

I think your room is wonderful - I love the drama of the height of the wall and the beams. I think you did the right thing whitewashing and painting the built-ins. They would have looked like two black holes had you left them dark. It seems the new finish on the brick could be a bit more even. Not sure how to accomplish that, but maybe another coat of whatever you did. I found these two pics, one with the beams dark, the other with them lightened. Just for you to consider. Of course, the first one isn't painted brick, but could be about the tone of yours if they were lightened and evened out. I like how they added the cross beams just across the fireplace and not in the rest of the room, but don't think that could work in your configuration. I might just paint the beams light and leave the soaring ceiling as is. It's nice with the light mantel piece as well.

All good suggestions. Thank you everyone. So we have had many discussions and have made some progress and now we are leaning towards the following. We are going to "cap" the ceiling at the triangle, just above the second beams. So we eliminate the high triangle, thus regulating the room temp better and allowing for lighting install. We will drop the fan lower, keep it centered, and add recessed lights on either side of the fan (front and back) on the flat/new ceiling. Add sconces above the mantle (wiring behind the new drywall). Rather than paint the brick and while we have scaffolding here anyway, we think we will box in the brick from new flat ceiling to the mantle (not with shiplap) and run trim down either side. We will then frame out a new mantle down each side and across the brick. We will keep the brick as is around the fireplace and on the hearth (I don't like the idea of floor to ceiling painted white brick and felt that since we use the fireplace we are better keeping natural brick so it won't show soot and dirt), but put a new piece of stone in for the hearth. Smooth the outdated plaster walls (since plasterer has to come for the new ceiling). Paint the ceiling, the trim and fireplace walls/mantle white, and the walls a soft gray (Edgecomb BM). Cap the track lighting unless we decide down the road we need it. I'd also love to consider refacing the brick with stone veneer but maybe not this time around. So yes, our budget is blown but it seems to be a situation of go all in or don't half spend. Trying to resemble something like this but not with shiplap and with our brick not whitewashed: Thoughts/feedback? Good news is that my contractor knows us and works slowly so I can modify as we go if something doesn't look right. I toyed with keeping beams but they really aren't nice beams. We've also done away with the wood beam mantle but I think if we keep the look more robust and less delicate that we might be okay -- more thick/shaker than formal crown. Also adding trim to the supporting beams that connect wall to ceiling to make them look more "finished" - they look like planks or 2x4s now and I never realized they were actually beams until we just put the window in and broke into the wall. They are just above the windows and you probably can't tell from the previous photos. Any thoughts - would love to hear them. You've really turned me around on the shiplap - thank you!