I think the beams painted in the trim color will look fabulous and add interest to the ceiling. I have had dark beams on a white ceiling for over 30 years and even though this look is out of fashion, I still it. The worst that can happen is that you will not like it and have to repaint them in ceiling white. But I would definitely try the color first.

I think the color will be fine. But I also wouldn't hesitate to post at the Home Decoration forum. They have so many knowledgeable people with terrific ideas. You don't have to use any you're not comfortable with.

Over the years I've consulted with them a lot. Learned tons, used some ideas, quietly rejected many. :-)

I think I would paint it the same color as the ceiling. I think it may look odd to have a strip of another shade of white up there.

I guess it depends on if you want the beam to be an item of interest or if you want it to disappear. Once you decide on that, the decision should be easy enough.

Personally, I would paint it the ceiling color, figuring I couldn't go wrong with that and I could live with it for a while, then if I decided to change it, I could.

Lydia, what is that body of water, a lake? You are getting real green, girl! Have you had a hummingbird yet? Ours are coming in now.

I have no clue but I would like to see the whole room, might be easier to decide what I would do in your situation.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I don't want the beam to be a center of interest, so I probably would be better off going with the ceiling white. In fact, the trim color was really disturbing me until I put the chair up to it. I think that the furniture color being close to matching the trim color makes me feel better about it.

Kath, not much else to the room.. just 4 windows on the back, 2 to the left and a glass door to the right. The trim and the door will all be the same ivory color.

Maybe I'll see if the painter will paint a bit of the beam the ivory, then let me dwell on it while he paints somewhere else?

Mingo, that's a lake. Wanna come swim in it? No sharks, but I've seen some BIG grass carp in there.. think loch ness monster sized! *shudder*

Got my first hummingbird yesterday! Haven't seen an Oriole yet though and they are usually here first.

I like the look of different shades of white used together. It keeps things from just all meshing (is that a word?) together. White vinyl windows are always very starck white. I'm usually able to considder them neutral after everything else is done. I like that beam the way it is. Will there be any wood that ties to it in the room?

You must have a gorgeous view! Are you using window treatments or leaving it open for the view?

This is just my slant on it, but I would paint the entire beam the ceiling color, including the wood trim that's showing on it now. I would want the beam to disappear and not leave any of the oak trim showing.

Most experts will tell you not to judge the room in mid-reno. It never looks as good as it will when you get the drapes up and the furniture in place. You won't even see the white vinyl of the windows when the drapes are up.

I would paint the beams the same colour as the ceiling. If you leave the wood as is, the brown stripes across the ceiling will always be the first thing your eyes will go to whenever you enter that room.

I love the colour of the walls. I think it will be all gorgeous when it is finished.

Thanks everybody. We are planning on not having any drapes or window treatments... but that might change if the sun turns out to be unbearable (the room faces Southeast).

I agree about the oak strips.. they are definitely getting painted. I think I'll just tell the painter to paint the entire beam the ceiling color.

Was it you that had asked about the flooring color some time ago?

I think it looks great!

Sue

Yes Sue, it was me! I do like the floor.. it is Bleached Pine from Pergo.

It does not appear to have any yellowish cast to it like you were concerned about, does it?

You did real good!

Sue

No yellow cast. Some of the retailers had used the wrong photo on their websites... I could tell when I looked at Pergo's website and compared their 2 whitest floors. I still held my breath until it got here though since I hadn't seen it in person. :-)

This room is going to be beautiful! I didn't even notice the flooring before, Lydia, I love it! And you mind consider roll up blinds for in there when the sun is wicked hot. They're very unobtrusive and simple and easy to overlook.

I would love to do that to our house where our back deck is. I got an estimate from Four Seasons for a room and the price was astronomical, nearly 1/3 of what we paid for our entire house. And to try to really SELL it to me, the guy told me I could get a 30 year mortgage on it! Oh, what a salesman- I quick did the math and a $35K room jumped up to over $80K! Uh, no thanks! Who in their right mind would do that? lol

Roll up blinds are a good idea. In August I may be thinking they are a VERY good idea! lol

We got 4 bids.. lowest was 18,500., highest was 28,000. We ended up picking someone in the middle to do the work. We did a little of the work ourselves like tearing down the old deck and clean-up, but we upgraded the small side deck so the cost stayed about the same. We compiled some money from different sources and didn't have to get a loan thankfully... I agree paying $80,000 would be nuts.

I got an estimate from Four Seasons for a room and the price was astronomical, nearly 1/3 of what we paid for our entire house. And to try to really SELL it to me, the guy told me I could get a 30 year mortgage on it! Oh, what a salesman- I quick did the math and a $35K room jumped up to over $80K!
You know though that a lot of folks, maybe even most, would only be concerned with what the monthly payment would be. They would not do the math and know what it would 'really' end up costing once it was paid for. Really quite sad.

I too think the roll up blinds might be great.

I love the color white you're using as trim. I feel your pain regarding the vinyl window white vs. the trim white. We had an order in for two vinyl sliding French doors and a window and when I realized how stark the white was, I canceled the order. That was over a year ago. At this point we have wonderful shoji screens in front of the windows to help with privacy and keep our mind off the fact that we can't find affordable windows we like.

I would definitely paint out the beam with the ceiling color.

I too would love to see the rest of the room.

Jodi-