I realize this is 1.5 years later, but thought's I would comment anyway :) .If you did end up going with one beam and thought, gee I wish I had taken the beams across the breakfast and/or living room, they have these products called faux beams now. You mentioned budget constraints kept you from doing more beams initially, but the faux beams I've seen are but a FRACTION of the cost of traditional wood weight bearing beams. I'm sure there are many suppliers such as Home Depot, etc, any many online, but here is one particular website worth viewing. http://www.fauxwoodbeams.com/beams-custom-rough-hewn.php If you posted after pics and you did multiple beams, sorry for the redundancy, but hey, maybe there is another room you'd like beams in and this is a legit consideration. :) Cheers!

I have a 23 foot long beam that runs straight down the center of my kitchen and great room. In the design phase, it was our intention have the beam in the ceiling and avoid varying ceiling heights in the same room (caused by my house being extended downstairs, but not upstairs in renovation). Anyway, once the space was actually built, I liked the height and decided to keep the varying ceiling heights. We wrapped the beam in knotty pine and added faux beams to add additional interest (only the beam that runs to the range hood is a real beam). My GC did this rather quickly and we love the result. Still pondering - to stain or not to stain. The beams are wrapped with multiple pieces of pine. There are tight seams, but you can only see them if you look closely. We do plan to add iron straps eventually- after we are past the stain or leave it dilemma. However, I won't consider them seams for placement of the straps. Instead, I'll place the straps symmetrically. Good luck.

What about putting a shallow hutch down on the rust colored wall where you have your "Sorry about the Mess but we Live here" sign (Love it! LOL) The bottom half of the hutch could be used for toy storage if it's not needed for kitchen stuff, and the top half could be for "pretties." Sometimes these hutches can be had inexpensively from thrift stores and Craigslist, and you'll be well prepared for painting it and making it your own. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/designer-cottage-shabby-chic-style-entry-burlington-phvw-vp~186307) [Farmhouse Entry[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2114) by Burlington Architects & Building Designers TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design Another option could be a very small cozy couch down there where people could come hang out and sit in the kitchen while you're working, or you could sit and read the paper and half a cup of coffee, look up recipes, etc. A rocking chair and little side table or a couple of petite chairs with a little side table between them might work, too. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~1021897) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Locust Valley Interior Designers & Decorators Deepdale House LLC A painting or mirror could go behind the chairs in place of the window: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-wingate-2012-eclectic-family-room-louisville-phvw-vp~1346790) [Eclectic Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2104) by Louisville Home Stagers Home Staging Specialists A small desk could go there if you need a "command center" for the mail, phone, keys, calendar, charging station,cookbook storage, etc. Here's one example. You could check Houzz, pinterest, or google images for many more. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/laundry-mudroom-traditional-laundry-room-detroit-phvw-vp~1192450) [Traditional Laundry Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-laundry-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_753~s_2107) by Milford General Contractors M.J. Whelan Construction Or a shallow armoire could go there to hold brooms, mops, cleansers and so forth if you don't have a dedicated place for them. If you really wanted to get fancy, you could do a little electric or gas fireplace down there to cozy up to (Craigslist?) Good for you tackling this project. I bet you'll love it when it's all done (and I hope you'll come back and show us pictures!) : )

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.