Friday, August 10, 2018

DIY Faux Wood Beams


I've been a mission to add more and more character to my house. If it were up to me, I would live in a couple hundred year old house just full of the best old world character. But, instead, my house is circa 2007 :) only 189 more years to go! ha! Awhile ago, I added the planked walls (shiplap) to my dining room. Next, I envisioned some old beams across the ceiling. I had loads of ideas saved for these and just never did it. The real reason why it took me so long? Because I had to paint the ceiling. Seriously. I despise painting ceilings! Our ceiling was the same beige found around our house, and I knew it would look so much better against white. So, I finally tackled the ceiling, and seriously the next day added the faux wood beams.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 I kind of wish I had waited to add the beams so I could enjoy the white ceilings longer, but I try to do things big like this when I know my husband will be gone. He doesn't quite approve of all my ideas :) So, it happened overnight pretty much!

First step was painting the ceiling. Here's a good picture of how beige it was. I taped it all off and painted it Swiss Coffee by Behr in Satin.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 Next, I took the straightest and most beat up 1x4s I could find. This was pretty easy considering most people don't like the busted up boards.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 Then I stained them. I started with a stain I wasn't a fan of and then changed it up to Dark Walnut by Minwax. I didn't do any sanding or anything. Left everything super rough. I stained the sides and the top, left the back alone.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 I then measured out where I wanted the beams. I ended up having 40" between each one. Not knowing if my husband would approve or make me take them down immediately, I just nailed them in place with my brad nailer. I didn't want a whole bunch of screw holes in my ceiling if they were to come down any time soon. If you are sure you want to keep them up and are afraid of them falling down, secure with a screw and anchor or into a stud, or you can also glue them up. My 1 1/4" nails have held up fine so far, but that's not saying they won't fall down without me knowing :)
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 The 8' boards weren't long enough for my ceiling, so I had to butt up a second board to it. I wasn't sure how it would look, but I made sure it stayed consistent in location along each "beam". You can barely notice the seams now.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 As for the end where my planked wall is, I had to work around the 1x2s that were already attached. So, I just cut out little squares with my jigsaw which allowed me to kind of puzzle it in place.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.

DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 I did luckily get a decent shot of my white ceiling before the beams went up.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 And here it is afterwards.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
Jute rug: Amazon    Farmhouse Chairs: Amazon     Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket: Amazon

 I am such a fan of the character it added with minimal effort and expense!
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 A couple of things if I were to do this again: I would use 1x6 boards instead. Once these 1x4s got up on the ceiling, they just look a lot smaller than what I had planned. Next, I wouldn't leave them outside to dry overnight. Most of them got warped and were really hard to work with. I ended up having to go back to the store and get some more wood to finish. So, my lessons learned :)
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 Here's a before picture of the beige ceiling from my Summer home tour.
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
 And now! I am the biggest fan of wood tones against white, if you haven't noticed. So, this space just makes my heart happy :)
DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.
So, how did my husband feel about it? He got home from his fishing trip and just gave me a knowing look with no words. I didn't expect much else. He doesn't hate them enough to make me tear the down immediately. So, that's something :)

Shop the look:
Jute rug 


Farmhouse Chairs




Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket



Vintage Metal Fan



DIY Lavendar Gallery Frames

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DIY faux wood beams. How to add character to your house. Farmhouse dining room decor and decorating ideas.


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