Opinions welcomed on ceiling beams

9 years ago

We are updating a Florida ranch style house to sell. The family room is open to the kitchen to make a combined area of 400 square feet. The combined window area is a mere 50 square feet, one window beneath a broad overhang and the other two facing trees close to the house. As you may imagine, the two rooms are not light and bright! To lighten them we are installing a light colored floor, refacing the floor to ceiling family room fireplace with light colored stone and of course we will be using light colored paint everywhere.

My question relates to the ceiling beams in the family room. The beams are rough sawn cedar and darkened with age. They darken and lower the ceiling considerably. A remodeler friend says we should remove them completely to make the room look as large and bright as possible and because he says beams like these are dated. I am not so sure. The location of the house is lovely. It is surrounded by mature trees and has limited views of a large lake. It has a rural feel that I think is echoed by the rustic beams and stone fireplace. The pitched ceiling and beams are the only architectural features the house has. On the other hand I certainly need to maximize the limited natural light.

The options are thus: 1. Remove the beams completely (they are not structural)
2. Paint or stain the beams white or a light color.
3. Cut the beams to give them a lower profile so that they don't visually lower the ceiling so much, and paint them.
While I don't usually like to paint wood, in this case it is absolutely necessary.

Do you feel that the ceiling beams date this otherwise updated 80s ranch and should be removed or do you feel painted beams would continue to draw attention to the volume ceiling while keeping it light and bright? BTW the kitchen cabinets are white. I welcome your thoughts.

Featured Answer

sis3
Original Author

9 years ago

Thank you all very much for responding. Interesting that no one thought we should get rid of the beams or that they will make the house look dated. Unfortunately leaving the beams exactly as they are is not an option, they make the room way too dark. I will stain them with a solid light stain and then they will be re installed.

I have been looking at a lot of photos on Houzz and notice that where there are dark beams my eye is always drawn to the beams rather than the room beneath them. Where the beams are light my eye takes in the whole room, including the beams. This is the effect I prefer for this house.

Comments (15)

jewelisfabulous
9 years ago
Keep the beams and paint/stain to a white or light color. Homeowners add beams like this to their homes now, so this is not an outdated decorating concept. Having the beams adds character.
Errant_gw
9 years ago
A picture would be helpful :)
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sis3
Original Author
9 years ago
Please excuse the washer/dryer in the foreground! It does not usually reside in the family room!

The photo shows the ceiling with half the beams removed. We will reverse the wood so that the smooth side is outermost to make a better surface for painting/staining, and for cleaning for the next homeowners. Easy job to cut the beams smaller while they are on the floor.
tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
9 years ago
I would leave the beams as is. They add character to the room and with the ceiling being vaulted, they are not too heavy. Removing them makes the room just like every other tract house with a vaulted ceiling.
Errant_gw
9 years ago
I love the beams as they are and would definitely leave them.
palimpsest
9 years ago
I think with a white ceiling and light floors the beams in natural wood would be fine, and they add detail.
nanny2a
9 years ago
Since you donÃ¢ÂÂt have painted wood trim around your windows, I see no reason to paint those beams! I think they add interest and detail to what would normally be a typical vaulted ceiling. I would clean them and put them back, as they are. They look great, to me.
callie25
9 years ago
I agree with tish, removing them would make the space like every other house. Our ranch home from 1980 also has similar stained beams (what I would like to get rid of is the popcorn ceiling, lots of work!) Your room is going to look nice. Keep the beams.....
sis3
Original Author
9 years ago
Southerngal, yes my first job after removing all the carpet was to remove all the popcorn! Every single ceiling had to be scraped! Not my favorite job! The scraping is not difficult but clean up.....!!
pricklypearcactus
9 years ago
I love the beams and would keep them. I don't think they look dated at all. It's probably hard for us to see that they're making the room feel dark. I wonder if it might make sense to see how they look with the fireplace done? Or perhaps photoshop w/ the fireplace material? I think that will help a lot.
erinsean
9 years ago
I personally would remove the beams....we had dark beams in our family room and could not remove them, so we painted them white like the rest of the ceiling. Our ceilings are 9-10 feet and the beams seem to disappear.
Holly- Kay
9 years ago
I love the beams. I want to add beams in our family/living room but I have too any other things on my plate right now.
Fori
9 years ago
Those are good beams, not dated beams (which I also like but know 'em when I see 'em just the same).
chispa
9 years ago
My friend just paid around $15K to have beams like this added to her master bedroom. Keep them.