I really like your stained ceiling and beams, so I would not vote for painting them. I think that painting the wood surrounding the fireplace a creamy white would contrast very nicely with the ceiling and new wall color.

I'm very partial to wood ceilings and wood beams, so I would leave them as they are, or add matte poly. I remember reading a design magazine and it seemed like whenever designers saw wood beams they said "paint them," but if they saw painted beams, they said "strip 'em." I like the wood.

I like the wood too. I think it is the fireplace wall wood that is throwing things off. Like the others suggest, I would paint it light rather than dark.

Lovely home.

Add another one that says keep the wood stained! I would love to have a ceiling like that in our home. You can get a nice hand rubbed finish easy now with Minwax hand rubbed poly in a satin. It would bring out it's natural beauty too. Paint will only take away from the feel of your reprodution home too and lower it's value, I would think.

KEEP THE STAIN! It is beautiful. I agree with the PP's and think the fireplace surround in a creamy white would pull things together nicely.

Chris

Your family room is wonderful and I love the wood ceilings. I'll bet the rest of your home is beautiful too. I agree with the others about painting the fireplace wall - or perhaps whitewashing it.

If you must paint any of the ceiling, paint the ceiling portion only but leave the beams stained, which would make the ceiling appear taller. But since it is a farmhouse reproduction, the ceiling should remain as it is.

After years of living in the mountains and heating strictly with wood, I learned a few things. Burn only well season wood and having plenty of kindling. Invest in a woodstack thermometer to keep your stack temperature in the "green" temperature range which is optimimum for wood burning efficiency. Is your woodstove airtight? If so there should be a minimum of soot and smoke in the room. Have a chimney sweep clean the stack real well before the heating season and have them check the fire bricks to be sure they are intact. If needed, have the asbestos rope which lines the woodstove door replaced to make a good seal. Hope this helps.

I am curious why code requires wallboard be installed behind or above the wood ceiling?

Also insist that the carpenters removing the ceiling and beams take their time so they minimize any damage. If any portions crack or split off, save those and they can be glued back on and then a little wood putty put there before the poly and then the damaged portions should be minimized. Good luck with your project.

I know in my area, you must have drywall behind wood paneling for fire reasons. I guess I am the lone dissenter as I would paint the wood ceiling to match the other white trim in the adjacent room. But that is me...I haven't met much I wouldn't paint :-)

What a wonderful room. I'm hoping you just mean painting the ceiling portion of the wood and not the beams :) Anyway, here are some visuals! If you're really not loving the dark ceiling, I'd paint it the white. The wood is still a beautiful detail there and it would brighten the area. Even feels a bit more open/wider. The ceilings can look really pretty in a color, and stenciling b/w the beams is a really sweet touch, too, if you've ever seen that. It can be really subtle and weathered.

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Some blue on the ceiling, too. The first one is lighter than the mantel area, the second is about the same.

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Squirrel you are awesome! Read on because I think I have a few more requests, if you have time.

springvillegardens - thanks for the woodburning tips. We have a new Jotul stove and it is airtight. We don't get a lot of smoke or soot, although it does have a tendency to blow smoke into the room if I open the door too fast when reloading. And there have been a couple times when I've smoked up the house seriously by trying to build a fire when the wind/temperature outside weren't ideal for creaing a draft. But still - the ashes and dust coat everything during the winter - it's impossible to empty the ashes without making a cloud of dust.

Yes, the code requires drywall behind the ceiling as a fire barrier. Even more annoying is the fact that in the winter, when the wood paneling shrinks, big gaps appear between the boards and you can see right up into the attic. Cold air just pours down out of the cracks - until we got the woodstove, that room was at least 5-10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. We tried fixing this from the top but while it helped, it really didn't fix the problem because access is limited. So we're going to do what we should have done in the first place - take the ceiling down and put drywall behind it.

Now, as far as damage goes, the worst part is actually going to be on the beams. The beams are hung with bolts that screw up into the ceiling. Each bold has a plug that covers it. Even now, if you look closely, you can see all the wooden plugs because they don't quite match the beams in color. Our contractor has to drill out these plugs and give us new ones, which will be unstained. So we're going to have to hope we can match the stain - unlikely, since the current ceiling has 9 years of fading, dust, and patina. That means that the bottom of the beams will have little round circles across them. So when I was thinking about painting, it would include the beams - the ceiling will actually be fine, I think - it's the beams that are the problem.

Now, squirrel, do you think you can do the walls in either Lancaster Whitewash or Greenmount silk? Both are BM colors. Then I think I'd love to see the fireplace wall in a dark brownish red like BM cottage red, and in the green and tan that you used in # 8-11. Could I see it with the ceiling staying dark, with the ceiling and beams painted the same color as the fireplace wall, and with the ceiling done in maybe a taupe-y color like in #8. I'd also like to see the ceiling painted a solid dark brown - maybe the fireplace wall as well.

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm leaning toward keeping the wood even though it's the most work (I'd have to paint the drywall black or brown so you wouldn't see it in the gaps between the wood, plus try to match the stain, plus poly all the wood - eek!) But I'm really worried about being able to see the circle plugs - it would certainly take away from the whole reproduction look if I've got obviously fake beams up there!

Great room! Can't you get in the attic and install the drywall on that side without having to rip out the ceiling and beams below? I know it's tricky but once you rip down all that wood, you know some of it is going to be damaged.

I like the stained ceiling and beams. At least keep the beams stained. For the wood plugs to cover the bolts, you could have bolts exposed for that look. Or the plugs could be black or stained dark brown to actually highlight the plugs.

Good luck.

I love interesting ceilings and wood beams. Normally, I would agree that you should keep them stained.

But in this case, I would paint them out. I think they visually crowd the room, making it feel smaller and also shorter. You also have all the trim elsewhere in the white, including in the area on the right with the stone. It also feels like alot of beams in a small area - but perhaps that is just the depth perception issue of the monitor. I am wondering if removing half the beams would help the feel of the space?

And I am puzzled by the window up on the fireplace wall, the unfinished area, and how it is hidden by the beams - it looks odd, but maybe it is just the way the pix is taken?

Love the mantel/fireplace wall with the old doors - I wouldn't touch that, unless it would be to correct the pink tone you see in the stain to a more neutral one. I love the idea of the paint in the grooves, etc. I would paint out the white surround to match the mortar color on the stone floor.

A very nice space!

the burgundy color is pretty ..
But the Blue is GORGEOUS!!!
the tan... blah.. kinda boring, just blends in with the surroundings.
Well It's a prolly a tie between the Burgundy Wash Or the Colonial Blue wash .. :)
very nice mock up, as usual :)
small but gorgeous space!

I can see why you might want to paint the beams, given the "plug" situation as well as the size of the room. Painted beams with stenciling on them would look wonderful, and you could pick up whatever color you use for the FP wall on the stencils. Lovely room!

lkplatow
you have a beautiful home...just for fun, here is a few inspiration photos from a reproduction house that was newly built. Ree

Here is a link that might be useful: 18th Century Garrison Home Reproduction

Here is another house that is an original 1690 that has been lovingly restored..this reminds me of your house with the wood ceiling and beams..beautiful!

Here is a link that might be useful: original 1690's restored

lkplatow, can you have the plugs made of a different wood and stained a contrasting color to emphasize them and make them look like they were done that way on purpose? I had a solid piece of alder wood made for a half wall in my home and the woodworker made the plugs of cherry and square to hide the bolts that attached the wood to the half wall. I think they add a nice touch. You could have something like that done for yours. Photo below for you to see what I mean.

squirrel, you are amazing, I just love the blue in the room.

reeree, those are great examples you posted. One thing I notice about the beams on those older homes is that they are smaller in diameter than lkplatow's home and maybe that is why they look so imposing in her space?

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Here's an impressionistic guess at the fan swatches of LW and GS. They both have just whispers of color in them. Working with the green mantel as that's what I had up and they both seem to have some green in them. Changed the sofas and rug to neutral browns. And indulging Les in a mortar colored fp surround :)

Let me know if the paint swatches need to be adjusted more.

Must check back above and refresh on your specific requests.

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I'm no help, I like it the way it is and all the ways it has been mocked-up. LOL

Even more annoying is the fact that in the winter, when the wood paneling shrinks, big gaps appear between the boards and you can see right up into the attic

If you leave the ceiling unpainted, have you thought about painting the drywall black or dark brown? Otherwise you will have a view of the white drywall when the panelling is in its "shrunken" phase.

Good luck, I love to see photos of your home.

I am really partial to the Dk Red, but don't mind the other colors. I do find the painted ceiling distracting to look at in the pictures, although it may look ok. But I tend to love the stain ceiling and the beams. Let us see it when you are finished ! I love historical homes! Mary

Squirrel, DANG WOMAN!!! Those are fantastic!!!

Yeah, I'm no help either, I love them all, but I really like the earthy pale green, I'd love to see the walls painted a lighter warmish green/gray/beige and the ceiling washed in the same with the beams left dark. Hrm... Squirrel, don't feel like you have to mock that up - it might look bad. : D

I like the blue, too, but I'd still paint the walls an off-white with a warm greenish tinge to it and paint the ceilings to match.

I like the blue on that table a lot - it looks really nice with the stone work.

Well, thanks! Chic, where are you? Don't see you around much. I miss you ! :(

Wellllllll now that I've seen the green .. I like that even Better than the blue!!

Squirrel, you are so good to me about the surround, but would you do it with the wood paneling unpainted? The most I would do with the fireplace wall is pickle or whitewash the wood. I don't like the panels painted. I would paint the walls instead. I think that would also compliment the stone in the room.

I have barely skimmed.

BUt, you paneling, ceiling and beams are gorgeous@@

I would add soapstone on the fireplace surround.

Get a good carpenter to add some doors on your audio & tv area. Paint the inside of those cabinets dark so you do not see the white or wire spaghettii(we all have it).

I would then add a soft neutral creamy tan to the walls. Love the stone on the half wall. I love the panels where it shows a hint of the paint. Very charming.

SMiles:)

Squirrel, (see discussion side) I've signed up for too many stupid things. SHOOT ME NOW!

OK, the ceiling is about halfway down and the wood is not coming down without a fight. The contractors are being as careful as they can be, but still the wood is cracking and chipping. I could try glueing and puttying it back together, but at this point I'm thinking that painting is going to be easier and much less risky. And as far as the fireplace wall goes, Les, I almost always agree with everything you say but the photos don't really capture the true hideousness of the color. There's some kind of varnish over the top so I can't even restain because it won't take. Also, there are many cracks and gaps in the fireplace paneling that allow cold air in - part of the reason for painting that wall was so I could caulk the heck out of those gaps without the caulk being noticeable. (I used clear caulk on some of the biggest cracks a few years ago but it is very noticeable since the caulk is shiny.) The guy that built this house was apparently striving for authenticity, right down to the draftiness and lack of insulation of a 200 year old farmhouse.

So, assuming that I'm going to paint both the ceiling and the fireplace wall, what are your opinions? I was thinking of choosing a colonial color and going for the look like in the links that reeree posted. The only thing is that I don't want to commit to colored trim throughout the house - I don't mind it in this room, but would have trouble figuring out where to transition it back to white. I could easily do the baseboards dark in that room without a problem, and could do the windows as well, but could not do the posts or the trim at the top of the stone half wall without connecting directly a room with white trim.

So actually, I was thinking of a dark dark reddish brown - something like BM's hadley red or townsend harbor brown. I was thinking of putting it on both the ceilng and fireplace wall. But I'm worried that this will look too imposing, especially if the rest of the trim is white and the walls are light.

I do like the look of the blue and green as well, but after 10 years of blue sofas, I'm a bit sick of blue. The green is pretty but since I have no idea what color I'll end up with as far as sofas and rugs go, I hate to commit to a definitely color - I'd rather stay neutral. I was also thinking of a dark gold color like BM Livingston Gold, Blair Gold, Summerdale Gold, or Yorkshire Tan.

I think I'd rather stay away from painting the ceiling white because of the soot/dust from the stove. We have another beamed ceiling in our breakfast area that is painted white and it looks kind of blah.

I'm considering rehanging only every other beam to keep the ceiling less busy. It is a small room, maybe 13 x 15 (in fact, when I'm ready to ditch the blue sofas, I'm going to be posting for room layout help - it's such an oddly laid out room that I can't figure out what type of furniture I even need in there!). But because the room is open to the kitchen and foyer (where the photos are taken from) and because the ceilings are high (they are about 10.5 ft) the room doesn't feel claustrophobic, so I'm not afraid to put a dark color back on the ceiling.

So at any rate, assuming we're painting the ceiling, beams, and fireplace wall (and assuming the walls are going to be a yellow-ish cream), what colors would you suggest? What about the baseboards and windows?

Thanks for all the advice!

Here are some tans, greens, and reds with similar wallcolors to those you were looking at. And Les's wood with putty fp. Hard to twiggle colors on wood grains :) Hopefully you can get an idea of what you prefer :)

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Well, now my greens look too washed out! more like gray. I like a soft grayed green or a tan. As much as I like a red on the mantel, I think including the ceiling would be too much for me. I'd probably choose green and feel it's pretty neutral.

Actually, I should say just a grayed green -- make that, green :)

Hmmmm...now that the drywall is up, the room really does look more spacious. I'm half-wondering if I shouldn't ditch the wood and beams completely and just paint the drywalled ceiling white and call it a day.

I'll try to get some pics up of the drywalled ceiling.

I'm so indecisive...I could never, ever build a house!

And here's a shot of the wood beamed ceiling in our breakfast area - this was already painted white when we moved in.

As I said earlier, I love beamed ceilings, but in this case, as long as you have already take the stuff down, I would leave it down. The room really does feel more spacious, and the focus is now on the room and the fireplace, rather than the heavy ceiling.

I know I asked earlier, but what is the half-visible window on the upper left of the fireplace? If you are going to keep that to let in light, then I would seriously find a way to panel and then paint that to match the rest of the fireplace. It will give the whole wall a more cohesive look, and will help make the room feel more spacious when you don't have that odd spot as the focal point of that wall. Your eye will move around the space much more fluidly.

The little window is in a recess with a peaked ceiling, that rises above the ceiling in the room, which is why you only see part of it. It is set back maybe 2.5 ft from the front of the fireplace. I agree that it is goofy and certainly not something I would have done if I were designing the house. When we resided the house due to the "Great Stucco Disaster", we came *this close* to getting rid of it from the exterior. But I did a test run by hanging a black plastic bag over the window and I really did miss the light a lot. It's a south facing window and for such a tiny window, it does make a surprising difference in the amount of light the room gets. I also would need to keep that ledge area anyway (where the speakers are) because it's the only way to access the area above the ceiling in question (you have to climb up onto that ledge and then crawl through a panel in the wall that is directly opposite the wall with the little window. I suppose I could paint the back wall where the window is the same color as the fireplace wall. It's up high, so you probably wouldn't notice the lack of paneling. But I'm not sure that would really help, since you'd still see the big recess. Let me know what you think.

Got it. I would for sure paint that entire niche area, including the side walls, in the color you decide on for the fireplace wall. Trim on the window, too. I think it will make it seem intentional, rather than odd.

lkplatow
I don't know if you ever go on the holiday forum..I just took a peek to see what was happening over there now that Christmas is approaching and thought you would like to see this (look at 2nd picture)
Ree

Here is a link that might be useful: check this out from holiday forum!