Thanks for the tip on the 8' doors. I would consider our house high end and I absolutely love the box beam ceiling look- we are doing the tray ceiling in our dining room, and we have an open kitchen, breakfast and family room area, so i was thinking of putting the beams in the family room to define the space and give it a nice look (the only other thing we have in the family room is a fireplace and thats where we will be spending most of our time and I would love to make the best out of it). Do you think thats ok or should I do it in the kitchen instead? I just thought thats there is alot going on in the kitchen already with the granite island/white cabinets/stainless steel appliances etc..

I know what you mean, we do a lot of historical homes in St. Louis and those 100+ year old homes all have 10' ceilings. Here's a couple ideas. Your cabinet man is really right suggesting 8' high but what if you added stacked crown? depending on the door style you can pick up another 8-12' and it's very attractive. Another idea is adding glass cabinets to the top of the 8' line starting with a trim piece, then the glass cabinets, then stacked crown to the ceiling.

We love the 9' ceiling height in our home. Because I am unusually tall we have the 7' doors and they look and balance well in the 9' ceiling. 6'8" doors would do the same thing. However, if you are going for a more "custom" look, choose the 7' door. They might be a bit more expensive but not everyone has them and it brings a more custom feel to your home.

I would only put tile to baseboard height on all walls. The floors, shower and tub area would be tiled. There would be backsplash on the vanity. Tile styles change. The more tile you use, the more you set the room in 2020. You can always paint drywall to match the fashions that are current at the time.