My parents have this in their lakehouse den. The kitchen and MBath also have the wood/beam ceiling, but flat. Sorry, don't have any pictures.

For years I have wanted wood beams and found this website: Faux Wood Beams .com

They have a gallery of great photos and the installation looks like a possible DIY.

Their collection has expanded over the years. Would love to hear if you decide to purchase their product

Here is a link that might be useful: Faux Wood Beams

Sorry. Had to answer phone. We have cedar beams inside/outside our home (linked below). They were purchased by size according to where they were going. Some had to be cut (end) on site. DH cleaned and stained them. Also helped install the great room beams. The interior beams were installed after house was framed (still open to elements) and before sheetrock went up.

The veranda ceilings are T&G spruce. That was bought at the same lumber yard. Stained dark to match cedar beams and pine doors/windows/trim.

My parents used spruce or pine (don't recall) and it was not stained, so it's light.

Here is a link that might be useful: my house tour

I don't know anything about what kind of beams mine are, except they are real wood, but we love them in our family room/library. We get many compliments on them.

allison0704 and susanwrites, thank you so much! susan, yours look to be beautifully-sawn oak, w/a dark stain which is my preference. allison0704, I can't wait to go through your house tour, I'm sure it will be incredibly helpful. Cedar is what I keep picturing, and in fact there is a photo in the current ATOMIC RANCH magazine of a home that changed my mind from "dk beams, maple-light ceiling." I have a feeling, the photos of your home will be similar, and I'm headed to your link right now.

movin-in: I'm familiar w/that site - my parents purchased their beams from there! They are incredibly lightweight, but look absolutely authentic, distressed perfectly. They looked great w/their Tuscan decor. If you have been on the fence, you won't be sorry if you order from them.

I have to agree with the post above, check out FauxWoodBeams.com. They seem to add new types of beams all the time, so I'm sure you'll find exactly what you're looking for. The guides on that site are great help make them an easy DIY install. I used their Rustic beams a while ago in my house and they look great!

Here is a link that might be useful: FauxWoodBeams

allison, I have to ask but understand if you'd rather not say: my DH's family is in Alabama, and I would love to know which lake you live near! His grandparents had a lake cottage at Smith Lake for years, and I fell in love w/the area (having lived my entire life in OK and TX, it was the hills and mountains that did it.)

And how is this for continuing coincidence: I'm familiar w/your architect! We love his work, but have a more contemporary preference and chose an architect from Dallas instead.

Your home is absolutely extraordinary (which I'm sure you've heard before), and I can't thank you enough for sharing the photos.

I'm going to show your beams to my trim carpenter (I hate that title - the man is an artist of woodworking), and will ask me another question that I completely understand if you'd rather not answer: where did you purchase your cedar and spruce beams? It's getting harder by the day to find true lumber mills - my grandfather owned one in southern OK for decades, and I wish every day it was still in operation.

Again, thank you all for your feedback!

pic of the ceiling in question in great room, under construction:

Here is a link that might be useful: construction progress from earlier this month

This is the wood ceiling in our lakefront family room. Most/all of our guests love this room and we do too. We actually repeated the ceiling for the covered porch which is a continuation of the roof on this room. We get loads of compliments!