depends on how you articulate the fit-out - if you do it confidently then it may be best to maintain the higher ceilings for a greater sense of space/drama for the main living zone and a more interesting result. Bland is boring, embracing the uniqueness and owning it is more often than not a better result, but you need to do it with confidence. Since the original structure's already there, get the builder to frame the lower areas and get you in to have a look before making a call one way or the other Good luck! Cheers PD :)

I love what you have done with your renovation. I am very partial to large open plan living spaces. My only suggestion to this room would be to have 3 couches instead of one couch and a single chair. Situate one facing the tv and two on either side facing each other. This will define your space, encourage guests or family to talk and give a cosier feel to that area. The down side to large open spaces as mentioned by others are cooking smells, noise, heating and cooling costs. If the homes large windows are north facing with large eaves or shading for summer, the walls, floors and ceiling are well insulated and you have a well sealed home.This will dramatically improve the feel and comfort of this lovely home with out having high energy costs. I really hope your enjoying your new space.

I would prefer to see both ceilings matched with shiplap, to help tie the space, we all tend to look up. This would also mean that the wall between both rooms can be removed and therefore make the room appear bigger, as the height of the ceilings in each room will make them appear smaller if the wall isn't removed

The double doors are sold so that we can open up the space to create more of a flow through. We don't want to destroy the character of the house but it has features that are hard to live with. Sadly there are benches in the laundry that would prevent a door rework. The space also has an external door which we use a lot. I guess we just aren't closed door people ! And yes resale is an issue I am concerned about if we close off one door but obviously it couldn't be the door from the kitchen because we need the access to the dining room, ho hum.....thank you Kate for the layout suggestion....if only we could afford to buy different furniture that would work ! the space is quite narrow.