Mostly a style question. What I can see looks reasonably contemporary so just boxing it in drywall/blueboard will be expedient and help it to blend into the room. If you do it in a contrasting material it will look huge.

It's a shame they didn't push it up into the ceiling.

Style question. Will the reclaimed wood complement or contrast your other cabinet, countertop, and furnishings?

How does a load bearing beam run parallel to ceiling joists?

From what I can see from the last picture, it appears to be carrying the perpendicular floor joists in the kitchen, not the ones from where the pictures were taken. Nice dog.

Why aren't we seeing the ends of the perpendicular joists bearing on the beam if that's the case?

I would wrap it, I personally think that contrasting beams are not that great on low ceilings. 9' they are OK, 10' they can be incredible, but on 8' ceiling you are just making the low beam stand out.

It is an interesting framing job for sure. It looks like the joists run perpendicular on one side and parallel on the other with a steel beam resting over the new load bearing beam.

I think (and fervently hope) that reclaimed wood everywhere is just a trend and will pass away before too long. It really does look great in some situations, but this doesn't seem right for it.

Does the rest of the house have lots of trim and woodwork? Get some images of arches and cased openings you like and see how they fit in with your style. Just drywalling it will make it look like you took out a wall. Doing a cottagey bungalow type of opening with partial columns might work (or not!).

Trim it with trim that matches the exisiting trim in the house so it looks like it has always been there. If you have white trim, use white trim. If you have stained wood trim, use the same stain.

mollycolvin:

Would you please provide a close-up picture of what's above this beam on each side? Thanks.

You don't want people to notice it very much but you want it as a focus point. That's a contradiction. I would do the first picture with the white trim so people can see it looks nice but not focus on it.

A better look at the structure would be nice too for Joe and the rest of us to know its solid before you cover it up. Joe brings up a good point, I'm not convinced the whole thing is done right based on those pictures. Does the beam support the perpendicular joists that support your kitchen ceiling / second floor?

Very tiny notches that is resting on a 2x6 or a 2x4 if I look close. What do you think Joe? I give it a thumbs down.

It could be the way im looking at it too. Perhaps the notched joists are sitting on a top plate that is sandwiched between a parallel joist and the beam. If that's the case I don't like the way that top plate sticks out unsupported then attempts to support the floor joists.

Vith:

I thought I was the only one seeing the notches until I read your comments. I'd temporarily support the perpendicular ceiling joists. pull the posts and beam, reinstall the beam adjacent to instead of under the perpendicular joists, tie the header to the beam, put the compromised joists on hangers, and enjoy the 6" or so that I raised the beam.

I was thinking that too. Raise the beam and support the joists properly with joist hangers. Then you wont have near as much beam sticking out. And it will support the floor joists correctly.

You guys are seeing something different than I am. I see a steel I-beam with joist hangers running off it (near the sunken light). The entire new beam looks like it is there to avoid a post (at least on the near side). I think you could move the beam up on the far side, but still need to support the I-beam with a post or something.

Still no proof the joists on the kitchen side were supported correctly. OP deleted the close up pics she posted that we were looking at. Perhaps advised to do that by legal I would guess.