Super helpful conversation everyone! We're deciding between centered and off-center for a slightly different reason... we're off grid and the room in question has some large passive solar gain windows and also that's the part of the room with the highest ceiling area. Our primary use for the ceiling fan is to circulate that heated air back down into the living space in winter. We're not going to have much if any use for summer cooling (I'm writing this on April 27 and just yesterday they were enforcing snow chains on the main road to our place!) I also don't like the sensation of air blown at me by a ceiling fan because it dries out my contact lenses. So the whole purpose of the ceiling fan, really, is just for winter circulation of warm air. In that case, would people agree that we should put the ceiling fan as high up the sloped ceiling as we can and as close to the area of hot air, even though that means it won't be centered in the room? That same area will also be an "area" in terms of space layout because it's where our guests who like to be warm will likely congregate. Thanks!

If you like the kitchen cabinet color, you could pull that across the room to the new built-in. Since gray seems to be on the way out, you might start considering how you can change the wall color down the road.

....um...could you post photos. I've heard of beams in the ceilings....but an exposed beam in the floor is a new one (for me). How old is the house? Was there an extension? What is the subfloor material? How tall are the ceilings? Why is the beam there (I'm guessing for structural reasons...but weirder things have happened)? We will need a WHOLE BUNCH MORE info before we can help with this one. And the size of the room is another factor.

The purpose of the ceiling fan is to move the air in the room. During the warm Summer months, the blades should turn counterclockwise to create a cooling downdraft. In the cool Winter months, the blades should turn clockwise, which creates an updraft which will bring the warm air at the ceiling down to warm the room. Therefore, to be most efficient, the fan should be centered in the room.