I faced a similar problem but with a 8 ft ceiling. I wanted to get away from the standard fluorescent fixture in my 30 year old house? You know the 4-bulb - 4ft by 2ft box. I started looking at all kinds on lights, including flush mount, hanging, etc. I ruled them out because of the way they looked and the amount of light I could get out of them, plus CFLs could not be used in confined fixtures. So I ordered a 2- t5 -3ft long fluorescent fixtures. It seems that everything in lights is measured in eights of an inch. So t5 is 5/8 of an inch (small tubes). But I had to build a heat shield between the ceiling and fixture because the manufacture did not (actually took it from a $10 fixture at HD, cut it to size and added it). The fixture grew in depth. Next I quickly learned how to do leaded glass so I made a separate leaded glass cover for each of the two fixtures. The T5 output gives light equal to a 4ft although it is 3ft and tiny. I mounted my leaded glass cover and it looks pretty cool, except it is still fluorescent and about the same depth as the old fixture. So I took the wood panels off the fur downs above the cabinets. I cut holes in the sheetrock, got a mirror and checked down each wire filled, pipe filled joist. I finally concluded that I can add recessed lights. So I called an electrician. He came out and said I could cut the holes and run the wires and he would send an electrician to check everything and make the final connections. So to get away from the 8ft ceiling problem I am doing recessed lights. Incidentally during the process I went to a neighbor with the same issue, 8ft room height. She added a simple flush mount. It looks great. Often wish I did that. Would have saved a lot of time and money, but this light project has become my hobby :-) Lowes has very, very nice flush mounts in a 2 pack for $20 (a great deal for good looking lights). Good Luck, Bob

Lucky you, callaloo, to have the stairs to aid in your decorating. I find the ladder work a little treacherous on our 9 1/2 foot tree, but it looks really nice in our vaulted space. We bought it out of necessity a few years ago after we limped through the final Christmas with our 20+ year old 6 footer... DH called me when I was out shopping and said don't ask any questions but stop at a hardware store before I come home and bring him a sandbag. Huh? I did so, and found the sad remains of our old tree when I got home. Each year it seemed that tree looked more sparce so we fluffed more branches in front and left the bare patch against the wall. Apparently that thing was so bare on the back that it should've been hanging on the wall! Turns out DH and our 2 youngest children had been putting on ornaments when it just toppled over, burying the kids underneath. Hubby thought they had been knocked out because there was utter silence, but it turned out they were so terrified they didn't even know how to react. I lost a few of my favorite ornaments that year, and yes, we hid the sandbag under the treeskirt and DH tied the upper part of the tree to a hook in a wall stud. AH, Christmas memories! Did I mention I really like our new tree? :)

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!

Just a reminder that the door is not on the same wall as the mirror. The mirror is on the wall perpendicular to the door. We were limited to making a 2D representation, and could not find a way to show the door on one wall and the mirror on the adjacent wall. So, it is less likely to overwhelm the door as the mirror is not right beside the door. I believe the mirror will reflect the door, though.