Beam colour - what would you do?
Hi again!
We are renovating our cottage and discovering all sorts of unexpected problems that make me regret starting this!
When enlarging a door opening, the builder was shocked to find the main beam in the boot room completely rotten at one of the ends. As you can see, he replaced the lintel and put a new support in place using this lovely oak timber.
My problem is that the rest of the beam was painted black by previous owners, and I feel the new oak is just too beautiful to paint and I'd rather keep it as it is now. However, I think the contrast is just too noticeable and I don't know how to balance it. Even if we agree to strip the old beam (which will be rather difficult), the colours won't match and I'm afraid we won't be able to do a good job staining them to look the same and the end result would be even worse.
What would you do? I just don't seem to see a solution unless I just leave them as is and learn to live with it... Also, we are rebuilding the large fireplace in the room in stone with a similar new oak mantel, so whatever we decide about the beam should apply to the mantel as well.
Comments (36)
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3 years ago
Sonia
3 years agoThe oak lintel is lovely. I did see on one of George Clarke’s programmes where he blasted the black, heavy beams with a high pressure water thingy especially for that job. It was a little messy but the beams looked fab after it. However, I do agree that you could paint the big old beam to match the ceiling and the decor style and colour of the room, I’ve seen beams painted white or taupe and they do look lovely and don’t detract from the charm of an old building.
Luciana thanked SoniaLuciana
3 years agoSonia, all the beams in the house are painted in black, something that I just thought as ‘normal’ and probably stopped me considering painting the boot room beam in a different colour. The exception is in one of the bedrooms, where they left the main beam natural and painted the others in black.
Now I'm thinking maybe I should have the lounge beams painted in taupe or similar, because I really like the example you showed above...
Oliver Pullout
3 years agoSonia
2 years agoLuciana
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoLuciana
2 years agoMinnie, I'd love your advice actually!
This is meant to be a boot room and I need storage for all our outdoor gear and dog stuff. I can basically see 2 options and I'm not sure which I should go for.
First option would be a large armoire and a bench, very stylish and 'Instagram-able' which I'd probably go for without hesitation if I didn't have dogs (or my messy, careless husband :)). Also, I'm not sure if it's not too fancy for our cottage.
Beechwood & Llewellyn · More Info
Secondly, I could have a built-in cupboard with a bench... I'd already had a chat with the joiner and we kind of discussed what to do, but he can only start working for us in September, so I still have time to decide...
Timeless · More InfoWhat do you think? I need practical, but love stylish... What would you choose?
Luciana
2 years ago
Maggie Youngson
2 years agoLuciana
2 years agoThank you, Minnie!
The furniture can only go on the wall where the builder plunked that black sideboard atm. I found a few wardrobes that I like, I'm just not sure what to choose. Whilst I'd love an antique, I'm afraid it would be somewhat smelly - in my experience, dusty old things tend to 'acquire' a specific smell that is nearly impossible to eliminate. So I'm considering new (like this one from Scumble Goosie), which I find quite whimsical.
Or an upcycled/refurbished Gustavian style one, like this below from one of my favourite Etsy shops.
I already have a nice bench, one that we found in the barn when we moved in; I had it cleaned and it can be stained or painted to (sort of) match the wardrobe. Although Andrew mentioned we could get some type of a monk bench too...
Or I could have the cupboard made around a bench:
I just don't know what to choose...
minnie101
2 years ago😂 me neither! They’re both lovely. I think a white wine vinegar solution helps the smell of old furniture, ours doesn't smell anymore! What’s on the wall from where you took the photo? It’s hard to tell what would be less imposing in the room. i don't know if I’d be tempted to have built in cupboards in the bottom right corner with a bench up to the kitchen (?) door keeping the cupboards in the wall colour. I love the t&g too and you could have baskets under the bench.
Why not try the bench in there first though and see how that looks to give you an idea as i really love the armoire idea? It’s just hard to tell from the photo angle how it would work.
Luciana thanked minnie101Luciana
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoMinnie, I've just finished a discussion with my husband and basically we've decided to go for a built-in, something like this:
with elements of this thrown in - I like the curved panels...
The lower room is still serving as a kitchen, but will become an utility after the extension/ new kitchen is built. I'm not sure if you remember the old pine kitchen; that is now gone, replaced by a rather bland&boring looking utility.Once more, I'm grateful for your input, thank you! I'll post photos when it's all finished!
Corrine Brice
2 years agoHi Luciana, i love the photos and what youv’ve done! I went for Slaked Lime throughout my house which is an off white but a pale grey rather than yellow hue. It’s from The Little Green Paint Co but my builder had it colour matched by Tikkarilla so its super hard wearing and scrubbable. highly recommend the paint 👍🏼
Luciana thanked Corrine BriceLuciana
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoCorrine, that kitchen looks fabulous! I love those roughly stripped planks, what a great idea!
Thanks for the paint suggestion, I've been looking at Portland Stone and French Grey Pale samples from Little Greene, but will get Slaked Lime as well. Never heard of Tikkurila, my decorator swears by Dulux Trade Diamond for scrubbable paint, so I normally try to match colours to their palette (which is a pain at times).
Karen, that is impressive! I imagine how much patience and time you've put into cleaning your beams. I admit, 10 or more years ago I'd probably would have tried to do it your way... these days, and with the amount of work the house needs, I'm just happy to get it clean and functional...
At the moment I need to decide what to do about the staircase... I'm not sure if I should encourage my husband to continue stripping (he's done the paneling, didn't even start on the spindles), filling the house with wood dust and other yucky goo stuff, or just tell him to have them painted white and be done with it! The whole thing is oak, not pine, so I'm hesitating, but I'm rather fed up with the never ending mess...
This is an older Christmas pic, where you can see the staircase better:
Luciana
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoI agree, the oak is nice, the only problem is that it's been like this for a year. And knowing my husband, it's going to take another 2 years until he'll finish the job.
Minnie, this is how the lower kitchen/ utility room looks now. We don't live there atm, the roof is being replaced so we are back in Cardiff. At the moment the house belongs to the builders :)) I barely managed to put some stuff in place, so I don't have good photographs, just some quickly taken ones on the way out. I promise some good/updated pics as soon as I can reclaim the house!
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LucianaOriginal Author