I think its hard to answer with the space empty. Its more of a pain to paint it later, but you can live with it as is for a while to see how you feel about it with your furniture.

Gosh, I'm torn....usually I'd say paint the pine ceiling but I'm not sure in this case that it would be the right decision.

If you choose to paint the ceiling, I'd leave the beams unpainted and maybe even consider a darker colour stain on the beams.

What I think your rooms need is better lighting. I'm looking at the light fixtures in the pictures and they all look heavy and like they don't give off a good deal of light.

You could change out the bulbs for brighter less warm lighting - look for 4000K for whiter light, as opposed to yellow. You may have to look for different fixtures completely that would throw better light than the ones that are there now. The ones in place look almost medieval in style and very heavy.

I'd also consider some light coloured throw rugs around the rooms and light coloured furniture if possible. The flooring is throwing a lot of orange around those rooms.

It looks like a really gorgeous home. Please send pictures when you've completed your projects, whatever you choose.

I wouldnt paint it. Its a beautiful ceiling, and a beautiful room.

No, I would not paint the ceilings. They fit the house and are lovely.

Beautiful home! Before you do anything, move in. Put down LARGE rugs in the rooms that you have posted. Then your furniture. And lighting. Then step back and photograph it for yourself so you see it as We see it. I think that the carpet and furniture will balance out the wood on the ceilings. You won’t notice the floor except in the traffic areas. I think you will love what you see…and what We see!

I would not paint it.

Don't paint it! No matter how much you sand, use Killz on the knots, and prime, the knots from the pine WILL bleed throigh and show up as polka dots all over your off white ceiling. Trust me, I’ve been there! To save $$ when we added to our summer home, my husband used some knotty pine wood left over from our floor to trim the inside of a bedroom closet. It has been 20 years, and we still treat and repaint those knots twice a year! Thank goodness it is just inside a closet. I can’t imagine doing that on a ceiling even once, let alone every few months. LEAVE IT ALONE!

Your ceilings are high enough and the rooms large enough that I think you can keep the stained wood. Once you have rugs down, it won't seem like so much wood.

You might consider a wash rather than full paint on the ceiling. It is a lot of wood in the rooms between the ceilings and the floors.

I think moving your furniture in and placing some rugs will help diminish the amount of wood. Try that first and see how you feel about the room.

Please do not paint, it would take all the charm away of your beautiful space.

I would not paint the ceiling. That room is lovely! Looks like you have plenty of natural light too.

I’m in the strong do not paint camp! The ceilings are so much a part of the house design. I do agree that I wouldn’t choose heavy or dark furniture & I would have large colorful area rugs. The lighting looks very yellow in the pictures & my preference is daylight color & dimmer switches all around. The two big square lights - what is all the trim around the edges of them? Looks like trees or something. I might change those out for something lighter in feel but I'd need to see a better view of them. They might be great - just can't see in picture.

We might suggest leaving the ceiling as is. These are some designs we have done for clients. Note the ceilings in both:

Modern Napa · More Info

Urban Ranch · More Info

I'm in the Don't Paint Camp. Beautiful wood ceiling is classic and transcends trends. Be trendy and/or modern with your furnishings and most especially with your lighting since you have such great, tall ceilings. Lucky you to have such a beautiful house. Look at the great can lights here--another approach to lighting.

Northgate Family Room · More Info

Note the light in this wood ceiling room:

I would paint it- too much with the floors. If you paint the ceiling white the beams become a stronger architectural element and the floors and cabinets become more of a feature as well

I would definitely leave it (at least live with it a while). I’m not one of those whose opposed to painting wood, but in this case the wood ceilings just don’t give that feeling of wood overload (as it does in many other homes). Maybe it’s because the walls are sheetrock and the wood does not have that orangey color (at least not in the pics). I’d furnish, get your rugs down etc. and see how you feel about it then.

It’s absolutely beautiful as it is. Painting the ceiling may diminish the airy, natural feeling of the space and make it slightly more ordinary, but it’s your house. Lucky you!

Easier to paint than unpaint. Don't do it unless you are certain.

No way. It’s gorgeous

My first thought was to paint the cabinets to separate the wood of the floor and the ceiling on the kitchen wall. Other than that, rugs, furniture and lighting.