If I could only vault one area, I would choose the main living area..it is a large space and looks "squatty" with a low ceiling. It will look even more so if adjacent areas are caulted. If vaulting is too costly, maybe at least large deep trays.

Thank you! my husband and i just groaned....:)....that's what I'm worried about but we're talking 6-7 thousand more dollars!! The back wall will be glass though...will that help?

I think it would be worth the investment. It will make a huge difference.

Thanks...this is tough because we're already 23K over our budget and the only thing i could save significantly on was the vaulting...nothing else in the remodel is really optional...and i do love vaulting. The family room, where the fireplace is, is too expensive to vault--it has all the heating and air above which would have to be moved etc. But there's nothing above the living and dining rooms so that might not be bad...so, if we vaulted all but that room with fireplace (which will be completely surrounded by glass, with a stainless flue)...how would that look do you think?

ok guys, i just called the contractor and told him to do it!! He said "I didn't want to say anything but it will look so much better". Unfortunately we can't do that family room, there's too much behind the ceiling that would need to be relocated, but we're going to vault 3/4 of the house--living, dining, kitchen and sunroom behind kitchen (that kitchen door and window wall is all coming down too, and the sun room is being glassed in and vaulted. I'll send you "after photos" if I can figure out how to get back to this post. I'm not very good at Houzz yet.

Thank you both again.

I think you made the best decision..vault as much as reasonably possible. Would be great to see the "afters".

I want to share the "after photos"--hope you can see these...it looks wonderful, thanks again!

I want to share the "after photos"--hope you can see these...it looks wonderful, thanks again!

I want to share the "after photos"--hope you can see these...it looks wonderful, thanks again!

WOW!!! It is amazing...great job. Thank you for sharing it with us.

I LOVE IT!!!!!!! I think that the living room looks great without the vault too, it makes it look cozy.

Can I ask how tall the living room ceilings are? We are in a similar boat, not sure what to vault and what to leave. Also can I ask what the approximate charge was to vault the individual living spaces? I was told it would be around 20k to do my living room alone! 7K sounds so much better. I am also in a ranch home.

The living room is about 8 feet. We didn't vault there because there was heating and air above the ceiling and it just would have cost too much. But folks on this thread recommended we vault as much as we could--and i'm really glad we took that advice...we basically vaulted all but that ceiling and I think it came out well...with the glass too...we got a lot of light so it doesn't feel closed...I'm glad you think it looks cosy, i think so too!

Thank you. Our living room also has 8 foot ceilings. I'd like to vault it and leave the other rooms as is. Your house looks wonderful. I bet the vault made the space feel so much larger.

Looks amazing! Great decision on the vaulting. I'm in Georgia as well and searching for ideas on altering a 1961 ranch. This looks promising!

Looks really great! I love the living room and the glass wall on the back. The house seems so open and airy!