We had our log cabin sandblasted to remove varnish and water stains. Both were taken care of and it looks beautiful. It was actually blasted with corn husks which were more gentle on the wood than sand would have been.

Questions: What wood variety? Does the wood have any finish on it? If there is no finish on it, it's going to look dusty & probably pretty lifeless (esp., considering that it was sandblasted.) To get an idea of how a finish will warm it up, wet a section & stand back & see if you're satisfied with the look, keeping in mind that a finish will enhance it somewhat more than just the wet look. Penetrating oil would be my choice because the wood needs feeding. All the more because it's on the ceiling where the warmest air stratifies & cooks the life out of wood. (I hate to say it, but since it was sandblasted, sanding or scraping may be in the Rx to make it look it's best.) Another option might be using a semi-transparent oil stain. I'm including a link for reference. Note that this is an exterior product. If you decide to go this direction, be sure to inquire & sample interior formulations. Here is a link that might be useful: Semi-Transparent Stain

Ta Se,,,what kind of wood is it? (your picture is so small, I can't even see the beam. do a larger format picture) sandblasting, stripping or sanding, is all a lot of work. sandblasting would make the most mess. (that sand will be in every nook and cranny, even if you do hang plastic). stripping it will take out the majority of the color. You could try SoyGel since it's almost all natural, does not smell and wipes up with water. (the other strippers need a chemical wash to clean off the stripper). Or, just take an orbital sander or large format sander up there to the beam and see if you can get it down to natural wood. if you use a 60-80 grit, it should get you down to bare wood pretty fast. I would not hire your painter to do that. call in a wood refinishing company and let them do it. If you put stain over that, it's going to be darker. think of that wood like your hair. if you have light brown hair, putting on a lighter color like a blond isn't going to take. wood is the same way. you can't 'lighten' wood w/ a lighter stain. if you sand or strip, you may get it back to this shade if you go for a darker gel stain, you could get this look (and painting the rest white). and your ceiling is prob what this all white one looked like at one time. this one too. this was a mcm home in Hollywood. someone painted the all wood ceiling I would call out a wood refinisher and see what he could do for your ceiling.

I like the look now and wouldn't stain it, the problem with leaving it would be the way it coordinated with the wood floor. That said, I'd either leave it and change the floor color or make the contractor paint it. One question: Did the T&G sit in the house for two weeks with heat/AC running to acclimate it to the temp/humidity? If not, it's going to shrink or swell (probably shrink) when the house is closed up and heated/cooled. If you paint, you want to paint AFTER THAT. Otherwise, you'll have lines of unpainted pine showing through. The house will be near finished and the contractor will say "You really don't notice it from down here" and won't address the issue.