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..

A tall bed might work in the room, but it would help if you added pictures (of the room and the bed) and a floor plan. If the bed is peaked like the ceiling it might look weird, but if it's a canopy style it might look really nice.

That is fine as long as you get a ceiling hugger fan

I would probably use a base from 5 to 6 inches in height. At the top end for 8 foot ceilings, but won't look lost in the 14 ft height rooms.