Leave them the same color. Why seal the wood at all? It's on the ceiling.

Gorgeous space! I'm partial to natural cypress so that's my vote. Our ceiling beams are natural cypress (ceiling is poplar t&g painted white) and we have natural cyress on 3 porch ceilings - it's a beautiful wood.

I say leave them the same color. Love the windows!

All same color. Nice space!

Same colour

Gosh I never even considered leaving it raw. Is that ok to do!?

And why can't beams be treated the same as the ceiling?

Hint: they can!

If you make them some contrasting color with the wood ceiling it will create a strong visual contrast.

That sort of contrast will pull the eye up to the ceiling and away from the eye-level elements in the space.

Don't do that .

Ziggy, your home looks gorgeous! Please share more photos of your progress.

Leave the wood as is. It will slowly darken over time.

I believe stain would ruin it forever.

Gosh I never even considered leaving it raw. Is that ok to do!? As far as I know there are no finish coat police so no one is going to throw you in the slammer ! ;-) We opted for an almost matte acrylic clear coat inside and out. Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference visually to leave them raw but my brain would have felt we missed a step. Your beams follow a flat ceiling ours are angled following a vault so someday when I get up on a ladder to dust them, the finish coat will make that possible. I'll sell tickets when that day comes.

A spray applied clear acrylic coating would reduce the darkening from sunlight. The ceiling should be as light as possible.

Thanks all! We are going clear polycrylic matte on inside and out. Will post pics when its done next week.

Well done! Looks fabulous.

@Ziggy, this is exactly what I've been looking for to use in my new living room and outdoor room. I love how it looks. Do you have more pics of your home? Thank you!