Wow! Hard decision, as both are fabulous options. The main thing you want to consider is what type of home or style of home are you building. How do you want the home to look and feel? You have lots of options between both coffered ceilings and beams. I would suggest looking on Houzz at the different room styles (I.e. Traditional, Eclectic, Farmhouse, Modern, etc) and you will most likely be drawn to a few rooms/homes that you feel best reflect your style. From there you can narrow down between coffered or beams as to which would look best in your space and get you to your final answer. Hope this helps & good luck.

Thank you!

I find the one directional beams too farm/country. Or is that just me? Our house will be fairly modern so that's why I'm hesitating on the beams.

No matter whether you choose coffers or beams, you might want to think about the ceiling as a way to visually divide this big space into separate spaces. For our 30 x 18 kitchen/ breakfast room a coffered ceiling in only one space divided the space without a wall.

Beam spacing matters. When we modeled the ceiling, we noticed that more coffers (and probably more beams) had a heavier feel.

This probably also depends on the type of decoration scheme. Beams can be modern or rustic. A coffered ceiling can be modern, transitional, or traditional depending on the depth and profiles used.

Thanks Steve. I like the coffered look for sure and if it was just for the kitchen I wouldn't be contemplating the beams. The problem is there isn't a clean way to split up the areas. Cutting it off where the kitchen ends splits the dining room in half. Splitting at the end of the dining instead creates a space where the entire space 85% is coffered except for the living room which would look awkward. So if we have to do the entire space, that's why we are looking at just the one directional beams as we're afraid coffering the entire space would make it too heavy.

Ceiling height has much to do with your decision as well as spacial divide as someone else mentioned.

Coffered is a more formal, traditional feel. Beams feel much different. And whether you paint the beams or get rustic barn beams adds even more to think about!

Good luck!

Our kitchen will be white along with the fireplace mantle and built in shelving so essentially the entire space will be white. We plan on having white ceiling an beams. No moulding so very clean and modern. Hope this helps.

Just wanted to provide an update. Let me know what you think. Decided to go with the beam look.

Looks nice John. One comment I will make from looking at the pictures: I see they sheetrocked the beams in lieu of wrapping them with wood. Thats ok with one exception. If you would like them to look like beams, be sure to have your painters paint the sheetrock beams with a semi-gloss paint, or whatever sheen your trim will be. If you paint them ceiling flat white like the ceiling, they will be lost in the ceiling. A little sheen and they will stand out a bit more but not be loud. You may have thought of this already but just wanted to be sure! It's easy to lose a small detail like this when building a home.

Have a great day!

Thanks! Yes, a little easier on the wallet to wrap with sheetrock. As it's all going to be white or a shade of white, didn't see the need to use wood. Haven't thought about finish yet but was going to use the same colour as our baseboard trim CLW 1043W Fossil Dust but a shade lighter or darker for contrast. Thoughts?

Great job!

I have a blog posts that may offer some inspiration.

http://www.timothyriversinteriors.com/blog/2015/10/16/10-spaces-to-inspire-your-next-remodel

Thanks for the link. Love the monochromatic look!

Hi guys! Another update. Walls and beams have been primed and painted. Amodeo, didn't expect them to paint so quick so didn't speak to them about your brush suggestion. My question now is what to paint? My initial thought was to paint it a shade lighter than my baseboard colour, pretty much white. But what do I paint? Ceiling, bulkhead, beams? or ALL? Help!

here's a second angle so you can see the bulkhead and the dining room area.

Here's a shot towards the kitchen. All cabinets will be white so will painting ceiling and bulkhead along with beams make the cabinets feel taller vs having the bulkhead breaking it up?

last commentary, sorry, kitchen shot was before prime and paint.

Here's an update to this post. We decided to go all flat white for the ceiling and beams.

Nice ! I love the minimal moulding added on the inside edges of the bulkheads, below the fake beams. Similar concept to crown moulding but this one is appropriate to the style and gives it a finished elegant look.

Thank you! we actually added the extra detail after everything was painted because it needed just a little more detail..

John Truong, I just love what you did in your great room! If you are willing to share,I am wondering what size fireplace is? 48 wide? and how high is your mantel off the floor? My favorite room ever, love how the fireplace mantle runs same height in to the builtins! I am trying to decide if I could mount a TV above. Working on my room now! Would love to hear from you!