I would definitely snap a better photo of the beam in question and the space as a whole when you can. Everyone here has such great ideas as long as you give them the fodder. And now that I've compared us all to cows, I will offer suggestions based on the little I can see. You could drywall around it as mentioned above. You could paint it the same as the ceiling. You could do a wood veneer in a stain of your choice to keep a more rustic look. You know it has to stay, so design around it and then when you get your pretty new kitchen installed, it might not even bother you anymore. It might help to post what look you're going for in your new kitchen... Inspiration photos or materials etc. Also, you said it's getting in the way of your reno... Do you just mean aesthetically or are you changing the layout of the kitchen? Also, I used to live in Kalispell too!

Fire Zone 1 extends up to 30 feet (or your property line, whichever is closer) from every structure on your property which calls for relocating woodpiles well away from your home. Keep the area under your deck or balcony free of combustible material. Never store your firewood under your deck. I live in a rural part of Santa Clara County and our 5 acre property is regularly inspected by the State and we are subject to warnings and then fines if we don't clear up things that would make it impossible for the fire department to access the property, save lives and try to defend the house in the event of a fire. Fuel to add to a fire under the house would earn us a warning and a fine if we didn't get with the program and clear the wood away. Maybe the homeowner lives in a county with no budget for fire inspections or a viable fire department. No matter....HOMEOWNER, please move that wood pile.

OP, you can use the comment section to post your photo. In the original post the photo hasn't shown up yet.

You are all so nice. OK - first off, I agree that the house isn't all that bad. My "problem" wouldn't be a problem if I had anything in life to really complain about. I'll try to address a few questions. First off, the driveway - I think that the driveway extending so far to the left is a relic of the house before there was a garage, which was added on when the house, once a small cabin, was renovated. It's not paved, it's dirt and some packed gravel, same material as the driveway. Do we need the parking space? Not typically, but I have to say that the truck that delivers heating oil might need to park there. The garage might be too far away for the hose? They send the hose down the bulkhead, into the basement where our oil burner is. I should mention - I live in rural NH. Also, you cannot see the house from a street - the front, on the other side of the front most flower bed, is a large field, bordered by forest - pines, birches, and maples. I agree about the railroad ties, those are actually degrading in place. We contracted with a landscaper last year to improve that situation but due to rain the project was put off until this spring. I don't want to pull that garden out, it's a perennial garden that is very mature and in bloom is wild but beautiful - peonies, poppies, irises, lilies, lots of bee balm, mint, another flower that I love but can't remember the name of, and other things, mostly ground cover type flowering plants.No doubt it could be tamed and that is on the agenda this year. Where I live in NH, we have about 2-3 months of lush bloom so you have to really love it while you can. The garden closest to the house is messy and kind of disappointing, outside of two mountain laurels I could part with all of it. I did cut it back quite a bit at the end of last season, so am hoping it looks more tidy this year. The big log is in fact the remnants of a large tree, we cut out three huge pines last year, they were old and sort of looked like they'd crash onto the house if a wind blew in just the right direction. Cutting down those pines was our first real attempt to address the gloominess, definitely successful. The trees/logs were completely removed shortly after this photo was taken. Flo - I like your ideas. If I can figure out a way to work with the peak, I think that would be best, as it would be less expensive. I'm also afraid that extending the roofline to address the peak would leave me with a hulking rectangle of a house which might not be great. I really like the blue and hadn't considered that color. In your design, I would be considering a dark roof, right? Here's a photo I found last week - I think that I could successfully incorporate some of the design and color elements displayed here. I find the tree growing through the deck on this house to be so odd, not sure why it was left in place, though the moss covering it is cool. I also like the idea of incorporating stone - we have nice stone and slate inside, so that would makes sense.