Living Spaces with Wooden Beams Reflect Warmth and Texture
Adding rustic charm to a home, wooden beams can be found in residential properties around the globe, irrelevant of the style of the interior of a home.
05/10/2021
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I love the look of a home that features wooden beams throughout. There is just something warm and comforting about a room that has wooden beams installed along the ceiling, no matter the decorating style used throughout the home. Any form of wood in a home instantly adds warmth, provides texture and interest and breathes nature into a living space. A home decorated in all-white can often seem sterile and cold but add a few wooden pieces with furniture and fittings and the rooms become more interesting.
Having recently posted on how easy it is to make your own faux wood beams, I thought it might be inspiring to see what a difference you can achieve in a room by installing real or faux wooden beams, especially in a home that lacks any architectural detail or outstanding features.
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Unlike the dark wooden beams often found in rustic or country-style homes, contemporary homes feature a more natural look with light-coloured beams that lift a low ceiling, creating the illusion of lightness.
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Design Aesthetic of Wooden Beams
If you are lucky enough to already have wooden beams in a room or home, highlighting these as a feature brings a strong design element that not only brings atmosphere to any room, but also reflects on how you view the size of a particular space. In a room with high ceilings, wooden beams give the illusion of lowering the ceiling
Where a room has high ceilings and, rather than highlight the sense of space, you want to create a cosy setting, it is possible to install wooden beams lower, say in line with the wall height, and this will have the effect of lowering the ceiling. Similarly, you can install wooden beams to visually widen or lengthen a room. As the beams draw the eye in a particular direction, the optical illusion confuses the eye.
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There is no doubt that wooden beams, whether real or fake, can be used for aesthetic purposes to beautify a contemporary or traditional home and introduce interest, texture and the beauty of natural wood.
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Natural Beams in Light Wood
Gone is the oppressive atmosphere of dark chunky slabs of wood that adorn ceilings to be replaced by honed beams left in their natural - raw - state to provide architectural detailing to an otherwise bland space. We all know that light colours have the effect of making surfaces recede, and for that reason, wooden ceiling beams in a light colour, even lighter perhaps than the paint colours used on walls, will draw the attention upwards and create the illusion of a higher ceiling.
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While dark wooden beams are still a favourite in farmhouse, cottage or country-style decorating, and adorning those ceilings in farmhouse interiors, the more contemporary approach involves simply preserving the wood for its natural beauty rather than applying a dark stain or paint over the wood. Although, having said that, if you have a room with dark wooden beams and love the look but feel it makes the room feel oppressive and claustrophobic, it is possible to whitewash the beams to lighten the colour.
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The Durability of Wooden Beams
Easy to work with if you are utilising softwoods or medium-hardwoods, wooden beams can be installed as solid beams or as faux box beams. While not impervious to decay over time, the beams take on a patina of age that adds even more appeal to the look. Installing box beams, where the centre is hollow and the 'U' shaped frame consists of light woods, becomes a simple process of installation that shouldn't cost that much but adds architectural beauty to a plain home.
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Popular for their old-world charm, wooden ceiling beams bring a rustic touch to a modern home with their undeniable aesthetic appeal.
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Define your Style
In a home decorated in a casual style, whether farmhouse rustic, cottage or shabby chic, decorative wooden beams - and particularly box beams - can be installed below an existing ceiling, or to span a vaulted ceiling or double-volume space, to boost interior appeal in rooms.
Rustic crosscut beams in reclaimed wood or distressed soft or hardwood are perfect for a home decorated in a more rustic approach.
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Wooden beams bring the natural beauty of wood into a modern home that is otherwise lacking in architectural detail.
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Minimalist or contemporary home design can be considered cold and lacking in emotion, but the installation of wooden ceiling beams immediately warms up the space.
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Install wooden beams to bring charming appeal to a cottage or country-style decorating scheme.
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