Wow, you really have a lot of different materials you can pick up on. (Love the circle window, BTW)

I didn't see any of your furniture or belongings so I'm not sure which vibe you are trying to highlight, but just looking at the empty room, I would use elements from your kitchen. Be that the cherry and nickel. They are so open to each other, but feel like two different houses really. Tossing a bit of those materials into your living space will help create cohesion.

:O)

Do you have some potential fans you like?

Gorgeous room. 'Course I'm partial, b/c it's a lot like our'n (smile).

We went w/ a darker fan. It's a Hampton Roads Special order from HD in Walnut. We actually have two, which was kind of a mistake. The room really only needed one. We chose to not have the light, hence the special order, but a light can be put in in future. I just didn't want that spotlight feeling and we have lots of other lights in the room. You can see we have beams. W/out the beams, then maybe the satin nickel would look better, or white. In our case, there's lots of dark wood going on, in your case, it doesn't sound like it, so maybe a dark fan would be obtrusive rather than striking?

In any case, here's a pic of ours so you can see it in situ, so to speak. Please ignore the unpainted drywall and lack of trim. DIYers, here.

That's a natural finish on our ceiling, btw. It darkened that much in a couple of years.

Here is a link that might be useful: pic of dark ceiling fan, hope it works....

I love your great room -- and your great views! I'd go with a more contemporary, rather than traditional, look for that space.

Before you can zero in on the perfect fan, consider the following:

1. What are the dimensions of the room (length, width, and especially height)? The fan should fit the scale of the room and be sized appropriately for the amount of air that needs to be moved.

2. Do you have a budget in mind? There's a huge range in fan prices. You may get what you pay for, but you can also pay a lot more than you really need to if you go for a designer fan by an elite manufacturer. If you're looking for one that's more affordable, look for one that comes complete (downrod, blades, wall control, remote control, light kit if you need it), rather than a la carte. (You'll probably need a downrod extension because of your cathedral ceiling.)

3. What is your climate and how much do you expect to use the fan? If you expect it to get heavy use or to last a long time, choose a fan with a high performance rating and one that has an Energy Star rating. Also, look for one that has a reversible motor -- it can help redistribute heat in the winter.

4. Do you want the fan to make a design statement, or to be more or less in the background?

5. Do you need a fan with a light? If so, consider what light options are available for a particular fan. Btw, most Energy Star fans don't include lights but may be light-adaptable.

After you can answer these questions, look at fans at various web sites and see what appeals to you visually. Some sites have great pictures of installed fans, which can help a lot. (I can't find a site like this, now that I looked, but I know they exist.) Sometime the manufacturer's site has better pictures than the vendor sites.

One ceiling fan site that I like a lot is Farrey's because it has diagrams that show the fan dimensions and because you can search by several different criteria (blade length, style, energy efficiency, and so forth).

Here is a link that might be useful: Farreys Ceiling Fans

Thank you all for your feedback.
Paint_chips, I believe you clarified my problem-the disparate elements. On one side-the kitchen-I have the potentially more formal cherry cabinets (they do look darker in the photo), while the main room features pine-a casual, beachy look. In trying to decide, I vacillate between traditional, casual and contemporary.
My first fan choice was a Casablanca Panama with cherry blades and nickel motor. My husband prefers a more modern look-considering an all nickel look. Druid-thanks for the picture of the walnut, darker fan. That is actually the latest look that we like and the link helps visualize. We also do not want a light. The dark would actually blend with the ceiling in its own way, letting the round window be the star.
Which brings me to dilettante. Thank you for putting me on track with the practical considerations. The room is quite large and we definitely want to use the fan for capturing heat! We are willing to pay for value. I definitely don't want a fussy style-form follows function. I definitely love the sleekness of some of the contemporary modelsm and those would make a design statement. We're putting a fan in the tray ceiling of our bedroom and there we want the unit to blend in and disappear so the architecture stands out. Here, I'm still not sure.
I've got a lot more homework to do (thanks for the Farreys link). In downsizing from a large traditional colonial, we want more modern, cleaner lines. However, I have lots of traditional and antique furniture which I still like(the cherry will carry over the kitchen elements). Editing will be difficult. I think the fan issue is just a facet of all the design dilemmas I'm facing. Thanks again for the help!