I have a love affair with ceiling beams, I really do, so I’m super excited that our main room, my new studio and office space, as well as our master bedroom, are lined with ceiling beams. It’s unfortunate though, that downstairs, they’ve all been painted from their original dark stain to a taupe color, which I’m not too fond of. The master ceiling including the beams are all white, and I think I’ll leave them that way but I’m not sure which way to go with the beams downstairs.
The main room of focus is the great room, which is the only living room with an open kitchen. I’d love to see these beams in their original dark stained and raw glory but I fear stripping the paint on each will be far more work than just painting over them. A dark chocolatey brown may suffice but I love the sort of weathered beachy gray look as well. I’ll have to achieve that with paint rather than getting the real deal as well.
I may just go with a solid white in my studio but I’m also thinking a glossy black would be a nice contrast, I just wonder if it will be too distracting visually and compete with the room rather than add to it.
Here are some of my favorite beamy rooms from around the internet…
Dark beams with a blue ceiling via Linum
Natural wood beams via Keystone projects.
Multi-color panels with light beams via NY Times
Weathered gray beams via Elements of Style
Gray beams on dark wood ceiling
White ceiling and beams via Desire to Inspire
dark stained beams via Lonny Nov/12 {same source for #1 as well}
I’d love to hear your opinions on beams. Do you live with dark beams and find them distracting? Or do you love them? Do you have a rustic look or a painted finish? Do you know a way I can get a rustic look without stripping them to their natural state? Or is stripping them the easier route? And what about contrasting colors on the ceiling and beams?
* Find photos of our new house for reference here {scroll down a bit}
* You can find many of these and more on my Lake House Ideas & Decor pinboard.
Anonymous
I’m thinking that the light grey weathered look or the white beams wouldn’t be as distracting. I wouldn’t go through all of the trouble of stripping them, though. Either prime and paint over them, or enhance the darker beams with a coat of clear matt varnish or the same color of paint.
Anonymous
p.s. You might want to first lightly sand the beams with a very fine sandpaper. That way, whatever you do to/with them will adhere to the wood. But, always check with a professional first. “Just to make sure” ….
drollgirl
ok! these are glorious examples of ceiling beams! i love each example!!!! i am not sure exactly what i would do. i think each example works well with the colors and textures of each room.
p.s. the boyfriend’s house has ceiling beams. his are so so. wellllll, really his place needs an entire re-do and then they might be ok. but i’d rather he just get a new place as his isn’t all that thrilling. I AM SUCH AN ASS! but he’ll never see this comment!
Stephanie
I love the natural wood ones (the light brown). it preserves the wood finish (hence showing its natural beauty), while not being distracting because of the light colour.
cheap jersey
Looove this kind of style, I think my future house would be in this way. But now I can try in my favorite game SIM3, maybe you’ve heard it. So happy today.
Anonymous
Paint over them, they are so high on the ceiling that from far away, they will look like stained wood. You can even get some of those rubber tools that make paint look like wood grain. Good luck!
Anonymous
What are your dear hubby’s suggestions? I’ve been thinking about this for quite awhile. Very difficult decision. Maybe just leave the beams alone for now and after a few months you will know! “All in all”, the beams are beautiful whether painted or not.
Julia Lang
Nice blog!!
I really enjoy it!
Keep it up!! 🙂
Kisses from Berlin
Julia xxx
http://www.geeksndfashion.com
Anonymous
I have fir ceiling beams that were stained with dark walnut oil stain and I now want to return the wood to its original natural finish.
web link
Anonymous
I would recommend Minwax Gel Stain. Here’s a link with more info
http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains/minwax-gel-stain
I used it on my front door that was painted over and got more of a wood effect because it’s so thick!
Good luck!
LesliMarie
There all so beautiful! Thats exactly what I wan to do in my kitchen…one day.
http://www.leslimarie.com
Lorena
Before I did not care ceiling beams.. but i just got a tiny weekend home that actually has these!
FierceandFashionable
I LOVE the way beams look in houses! The darker the wood the better! I bet they’ll look great in your new home!
xo Michelle
Fierce & Fashionable
Hunter Douglas
The homedecor spotlight ceiling beams is shared on the post here
faux beams
Fantastic photographs. The ceiling beams can really accentuate a high ceiling as well.
Cs
Love your room. What white paint color did you use? I’m buying a house with wood trim and it’s hard to find a warm white.