A properly operating steam system is an excellent heating device. You should not have to be doing this and you may be doing more harm than good. You need to find a professional who knows steam heat and get him in there to to identify issues, correct them and instruct you in how to live with your current boiler. Burnham makes good steam boilers. I suspect with all the clean water that has been added by you and the previous owner that there is quite a lot of debris in the system. A properly operating steam system should have an auto fill device to maintain the water levels. Fresh water has all kinds of chemicals in it. When you heat the water many of those chemicals will leach out of solution and coat the insides of your system. That will/can reduce heat transfer and create hot spots in the equipment. Get a pro in there. Today would be good!

I would do the grasscloth on the full wall -- including the bulkhead. And I would paint the walls in a tone to "match" the grasscloth as closely as possible so that the viewer's eye sees a co-hesive roomscape. And yes! -- putting in lights to highlight a buffet and/or artworks would be lovely too! :) Jan

Yes, only above the 11'5" opening, due to the HVAC ducting. I could change the design but I hate the look of soffits in the kitchen with cabinets underneath and the rest of the kitchen cabinets along a different wall would be up to the ceiling so I think it would look funny to have just this run of cabinets under a bulkhead. Like I mentioned, my thought is to run the bulkhead to the cabinets and then run the duct through the cabinet side wall so it is hidden. We would lose the functionality of the topmost cabinet on the right side of those kitchen cabinets but it might be our best option. It seems silly to me to create additional bulkheads all the way around the great room to create the appearance of a tray ceiling but maybe I'm wrong.

Even if the deck hatch works fine at the beginning, it will be a potential (and likely) source of frustration (or disaster) later, on account of mechanical failure, or someone leaving something heavy on it. Mechanical things that don't get used often tend to get cranky or stuck, like so many unused emergency brakes on old cars. It would be a pain to maintain such a hatch over the course of years. Personally, I'm sour on the idea of placing french doors at the end/side of house. Where do they lead to but a skinny "hall" to begin with, since there is limited space at that side of the house? And is the "view" over there? That might be one of the reasons to have french doors to begin with. I wish it were otherwise but I think your best solution may be to relocate the basement access, and possibly "revise" it at the new location. Doing it in a different and less expensive way may work as a fire escape, but not if the access is needed for common utility purpose, like carrying out a load of laundry. One must view such projects in light of the total value of the house. Sometimes, if corners are cut the wrong way, the house is devalued. It may show up as immediate dissatisfaction and "having to live with" something one doesn't like, or later as a monetary devaluing of the house market price. Usually, if it's the former, it's the latter, too. It would be better to create something that not only doesn't devalue the property, but adds value for the present and future user, even if it costs more up front.