We have 10' ceilings in our living room, 11' in the entry and formal dining, and then 8' everywhere else (except for a 9' tray in the master). We are planning a new build, and I most definitely want 10' in the living room again. I would like to have 9' ceilings in the kids' rooms so that my boys have a little more headroom above their bunkbed. I'm thinking about framing down some areas to 8' (like the laundry and powder room), but if that adds too much cost, I may not worry about it. Though, it would possibly give a little extra room for the HVAC to run between floors as we will build on a slab (we're in the south). A friend of mine has a 2-story house with 9' ceilings everywhere on the lower level. It feels good in her kitchen and dining room, but it feels too high in the laundry room and too low in the living room. One of the plans I'm considering is the Stone Creek by Mitch Ginn, and it has 9' ceilings throughout (I will look into getting them changed to 10' if we go with it). There's a good thread here for people building that plan. I believe most have kept the 9' ceilings, and I know for sure that at least one has put transoms over the interior doors. Here's a link to that thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/has-anyone-built-the-mitch-ginn-southern-living-stone-creek-dsvw-vd~3183196

there is no min for celing height for pendents.....i'd stick to the low volatge pendents they look much better also hang on a thin coax cable as compared to a thick rod or thick wire....check out some of the applacation shots at lbl lighting web site and tech lighting web site.....pm with any questions i'm a lighting designer so can help out.....remember that pendents hang about 2.5 ft off a counter top....just above eye level.

The issues, I see, to having a butcher block insert into a surface are that (1) you are "stuck" with it always being there and (2) it cannot (usually) be moved if it's needed elsewhere. Granted, the second issue is easily taken care of by having multiple cutting boards, but the first is still an issue...at least it would be for me. I like the versatility of being able to do anything on any part of my counters w/o worrying about having to "treat" a portion of them differently or not being able to use a portion of them for some tasks. As to a 36" aisle - that can work if (1) there is no traffic in the aisle (through the kitchen from one room to the next OR passing through the aisle when moving b/w two work zones) and (2) only one person is working in the space (side-by-side at the same counter might be OK with a 36" aisle, but butt-to-butt/working across from each other would be an issue). Cotehele, I have a question about your stools & island height. Your island appears to be lowered, are you using stools for counter-height seating? If so, how are they working out? Is there an issue with room b/w the seat of the stool and the bottom of the island? Is there enough room to sit there w/o the top of a person's legs rubbing up against the bottom of the island frame? Your kitchen looks very nice, btw (I don't know if I've told you that before!)

Just a random (maybe obvious) point, a mountain house favors taller ceilings than a lake house. I am super energy conscious but I don't necessarily agree with the arguments about taller ceilings and energy use. Of course it uses more energy but that is also easy to compensate for. Large windows are a lot harder/more expensive of an energy hit - depending on orientation. It is possible to get wall based heat losses to near zero. Windows are always a lot worse. So having 8 foot tall wall of glass is worse than normal windows on a 12 ft ceiling for example. Presumably this build is in Canada which generally has very strict codes - and plenty of hydro already built....