My living room has tall slanted ceilings with beams. Being that this is a mobile home, the beams are "fake", and are not real wood, just paper finish glued onto thin boards. If they were real I'd leave them alone. I'm fixing the walls to make them more like real walls. I removed the firring strips and taped the seams, then I textured the walls. The color scheme is going to be either Olympic Vanilla Tan or SW Champagne for the walls, and Valspar Terra Cotta Clay or SW Canyon Clay for the fireplace wall. The trim will be some kind of white but I'm not sure exactly what shade of white. I don't know what to do about the beams. Should they match the color of the ceiling, the trim, or the walls?

Is it correct that these are "decorative only" beams, and serve no structural function? If so, then ask your builder to give you architectural elevation drawings of the space both ways. Then see what you think. I also recommend that you find a copy of the book by Architect Sara Susanka called the not so big house. I say that because there are a lot of contemporary and well designed homes in the book. You can see what you think when you see them. Her book also discusses how spaces that are too large can feel as though they are too formal and lack intimacy. Since it sounds like you don't want to be too formal, I think you would get a lot out of this book.

I'll look into the j-boxes, but I am pretty sure we cannot even do that. Currently we have one chandelier hanging in the kitchen (you can sort of see it in the picture), and we will be using that box to base the track from which to hang pendants over our island. I think the problem is that there is no access to place boxes anywhere else in the ceiling. You would have to cut out the planking to add the boxes, and how would you run the wiring to get to the boxes? I love the idea of putting in skylights, but it just isn't in the budget right now - and I am worried about leaking as well. This whole project was triggered by ice damming from last winter - the ice melted into the kitchen and down the exterior wall into the basement. We will look into the above cabinet lighting. Any suggestions on type? More LED? What about track lighting systems? perhaps one on the wall side of the ceiling next to each beam? In the picture, you can see we have a track on the bottom of the middle beam already. The track heads are not the best (plenty of light, but blinding when sitting in the living room). This picture was taken on a very sunny day - few and far between here.

What about putting a shallow hutch down on the rust colored wall where you have your "Sorry about the Mess but we Live here" sign (Love it! LOL) The bottom half of the hutch could be used for toy storage if it's not needed for kitchen stuff, and the top half could be for "pretties." Sometimes these hutches can be had inexpensively from thrift stores and Craigslist, and you'll be well prepared for painting it and making it your own. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/designer-cottage-shabby-chic-style-entry-burlington-phvw-vp~186307) [Farmhouse Entry[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2114) by Burlington Architects & Building Designers TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design Another option could be a very small cozy couch down there where people could come hang out and sit in the kitchen while you're working, or you could sit and read the paper and half a cup of coffee, look up recipes, etc. A rocking chair and little side table or a couple of petite chairs with a little side table between them might work, too. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~1021897) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Locust Valley Interior Designers & Decorators Deepdale House LLC A painting or mirror could go behind the chairs in place of the window: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-wingate-2012-eclectic-family-room-louisville-phvw-vp~1346790) [Eclectic Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2104) by Louisville Home Stagers Home Staging Specialists A small desk could go there if you need a "command center" for the mail, phone, keys, calendar, charging station,cookbook storage, etc. Here's one example. You could check Houzz, pinterest, or google images for many more. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/laundry-mudroom-traditional-laundry-room-detroit-phvw-vp~1192450) [Traditional Laundry Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-laundry-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_753~s_2107) by Milford General Contractors M.J. Whelan Construction Or a shallow armoire could go there to hold brooms, mops, cleansers and so forth if you don't have a dedicated place for them. If you really wanted to get fancy, you could do a little electric or gas fireplace down there to cozy up to (Craigslist?) Good for you tackling this project. I bet you'll love it when it's all done (and I hope you'll come back and show us pictures!) : )