Can you post a picture of the exterior of the house?

It seems a logical place for one..in the opening.

Thanks for the input everyone...

It looks random but if it will make you happy, go ahead and put it in. If you get tired of it or eventually sell it will be easy enough to paint it the ceiling color and make it disappear.

If it will drive your wife crazy to look at it every day, you probably should rethink it.

A friend of mine did this in her house (added an exposed beam between her kitchen and living room opening) and it looked great. She said it was made from wood out of their attic floor, which they repurposed to make the ceiling beam as well as other elements in their attic bonus room when they finished that space. I think part of what made it work is that they had some other wood (furniture, frames, etc.) with a similar tone so it didn't stick out like a sore thumb.

For those asking... it will be very easy to take down, as I am making and staining it myself out of 1x4’s and 1x6’s. It will be hollow and be attached the same way as the photos show.

I like it

Can you not do at least 2 across the room? Or one at another opening? Make it look like it was intended and not an accident or forced fix for something.

I've also seen decorative beams done flatter or more shallow -- as if just the bottom inc or two of the beam was exposed. That might work if you did them across a room, but deeper is better if you do them at doorways.

I would think it would look fine, but I would do the beam at the ceiling and a support beam on either side as well to frame the opening completely and it looks structural. Nothing looks odder than a fake beam that's just stuck there, just because.

From the outside, it looks like your house may have a vaulted ceiling somewhere. You might want to put beams in that area to help make a larger overhead space feel cozier.

House unfortunately does not have vaulted ceilings (I wish!!). That is attic space up there. I have thought about adding more beams... but I can’t really find good spots to run them. Here is the great room from both angles.

Thanks for the exterior photo. I was wondering if there was someplace on the exterior of the house where you could also place a couple of beams (above the garage doors?) but there doesn't seem to be anyroom for them.

I would put it up and if you or your wife don't like it at some future time, leave it up and just paint it. It will help to define the space between the kitchen and the eating area.

I live in a post-and-beam house. A lot of people don't like them but I do. The beam between the living room and dining room is painted and is very similar to what you are doing. We have vaulted ceilings but our rooms aren't very big so the living room only has one large exposed beam with one post. When we renovated the house we vaulted the eating area/family room and exposed another beam.

Your kitchen isn't really contemporary, so I think the beam will look fine, but it should have some undertones that tie in to the cabinet stain.

The beam looks pretty random to me. If I were your wife . . .

Thanks everybody!! I think the general consensus is to not do it.... besides... happy wife, happy life as hey say. I guess I’ll just be very “choosy” when we buy a new house. Until then... a boy can dream!!!

Cheers