I like the ceiling as is. IRL, is it more blond or darker?
Buyers these days don’t want to lift a finger, especially if they are spending $1.5 million+. If they don’t like the ceiling, most likely they will pass on the house IMO. So cb has to make the right call to appeal to the most buyers.
VeryHappy, my understanding is that the stairs behind the laundry room will lead to the second floor master suite. They are inside. There is one bedroom down the hall past the stairs, two more in the back above the garage area, and the master upstairs.
Looking at the new layout, it seems that people coming from those two bedrooms to the rest of the house will be walking through the kitchen and navigating around the island on the side of the refrigerator. That looks a bit tight to me the way it is spaced now. Maybe make the island skinnier and a bit shorter and/or with a curved edge on the side that people will be commonly walking past.
Also, has the house elongated for that wing?
I’ve yet to see the house where I wouldn’t want to lift a finger. 
I think painting rooms in colors one likes is pretty normal, don’t you? Sure, people may not want to move into a house where the colors are so strongly not “them” that they would feel compelled to paint instantly.
Speaking of which, I really, really wish I had taken “before” pictures of the wallpaper and paint in my house when we bought it. Truly hideous.
According to my RE agent wife, no it’s not normal, at least among the current young generation. They will hire or just live with it. Or find another house.
Old people like us, different story. 
Whoops–duplicate post–see below).
The things we did to our home within 2 years of purchase were–new washer, dryer and fridge (appliances were excluded), repaint interior white (it was painted but we wanted new coat of paint). We also put in hardwood oak floors and tore off and installed a new roof.
Our home WAS in turnkey condition (other than lacking those crucial appliances), but we figured if we didn’t make those changes before moving in, we’d likely never make them.
The living room ceiling will be a critical decision. But, I am leaning towards retaining as much character as possible while opening up the walls. When I walked into that living room… it sold me on the house.
Taking the kitchen design into kitchen design guy tomorrow and and we will come up with some more tweeks to the layout.
My agent came by today and she really wants to move the stairs that are going up. She feels that people will have to walk around a lot of stuff (around powder room) to go upstairs. She wants to try to get stairs to come down into kitchen. I’m not so sure of that because there is going to be an entertainment area upstairs and I’m not sure it is kosher to have guests schlep through kitchen to get upstairs. But, in our area… casual living is the norm. There are not many buyers that care about formal living rooms or formal dining rooms. Everything is casual and outdoor living. I think the daily functionality for stair location might win out over a more ‘formal’ location.
We are going to tweak design a little bit to try to get a ‘craft and/or homework’ room in on the main floor somewhere. Willing to sacrifice the two separate bathrooms and change them to a jack and jill bathroom between the two back bedrooms.
Here is a link to a living room that has a similar fireplace and window setup with french doors on the side. Our windows will be same style, but a little higher off the ground. Ceiling does not have the cross bars, but is same wood tone as in this window. Flooring is a lighter tone
http://www.houzz.com/photos/1091094/Spanish-Revival-Home-farmhouse-family-room-other-metro
srw!!! you made my day… you helped identify the style and made me feel better about trying to retain the ceiling ‘as is’. Now starting to figure out some fireplace designs.
The link above has an interesting design, although it would keep you from being able to put up a painting or mirror above the fireplace. Here are more that are similar
http://www.houzz.com/photos/3232337/Spanish-Villa-Living-Room-mediterranean-living-room-other-metro
Here is a closeup of fireplace area from link above
http://www.houzz.com/photos/2259618/Ojai-Spanish-Fireplace-mediterranean-living-room-other-metro
I like the 2nd link in post 1010, where all wood is a lighter color, including the roof beams and ceiling.
re the tv above the fireplace - there are wall mounts that let you move the tv up and down, so you bring it down in front of part of the fireplace to watch it, and push it up out of the way if you want a fire.
Here’s an example: https://www.dynamicmounting.com/product/swivel-mount/
And the TV will be OK with the fire going behind it? Hmmmm…
Depends on the fireplace I guess… I have a gas log in mine, it doesn’t throw out tremendous amounts of heat. If I was worried I would just keep the tv up if I wanted a fire at the same time, even if that’s not optimal.
"And the TV will be OK with the fire going behind it? "
I’ve had a big flat screen TV above our fireplace for 10+ years- nada problems
Above the fireplace…fine. But poster upstream talked about a thing that could move it down in front of the fireplace for easier viewing. I don’t think having a fire going while,the TV is in front of it is going to work!
I wouldn’t paint the ceiling or beams.
I was looking at the fireplace links that coralbrook posted above. They are all beautiful and appropriate. I really like the Ojai Spanish fireplace, while it has the slightly triangular chimney breast on the sides the front plane is flat which would allow you to put a painting or a TV on it easily. I also like the doors, which probably hide a TV. In looking closer at your link I saw that I could click on the designer who did the room (Maraya Interior Design) and there were more pictures of the Ojai house, maybe some other ideas for you.
I like the dark wood ceiling. In the examples you posted, I noticed the dark ceiling, white walls, and then the same dark wood trimmed the windows and doors. That really makes for a pleasing appearance.