Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, so please redirect me if necessary.

We just had our kitchen ceiling replaced (frozen pipe upstairs - guess the kitchen reno project starts sooner than expected!), and our contractor installed a ceiling beam to head off the beginning of a sag. Rather than sheetrock over the beam, we decided to leave it exposed and make it an architectural focus. The contractor used three 2x6's for the beam, and two 2x4's for the post along the wall.

What would you recommend as the wood to encase the lumber? We like the look of post and beam, and we'd like to stain it instead of paint. The contractor suggested pine, while a friend of mine recommended poplar. From searching the forum, it sounds like both are tough to stain. Is there anything else that's reasonably easy to obtain we should consider?

Thanks in advance!

Emily