DIY Beams? DIY DREAMS!
You guys, I can’t even handle these beams! They are a dream come true.
I’ve talked before, about how many areas of our home came to me in dreams. I had vivid images of specific spaces and would wake up in the night and make notes about them in my phone or even physically sketch them out on paper! After I got our spaces down on paper, I imagined defining our main living spaces with these beams! So to finally have them in the real, is so cool to see.
I was hesitant to add them right away, because I wasn’t quite sure the look and feel I wanted for them. I like to feel spaces and live in them for awhile before commiting to these kind of design details, so I decided to have our builder prepare the ceilings with backing and support, so that when we decided on what we wanted, the preparations would be in place to support them!
One of my favorite things about building this house, is knowing we have room to grow into this home. By way of the additional space, and design. I love a good project!
But these beams, you guys… CHANGED MY LIFE. For weeks I didn’t do anything but stare at them. They made such an impact on our space it’s unbelievable. Our house felt more grand. The ceilings felt TALLER, contrary to what you’d think, and the cozy factor definetly rose. I wasn’t unhappy without them though, so it was still somewhat challenging to commit to such a big project. While building them isn’t too complicated, it is a decent commitment of time and energy and until you see something down, how are you to know if it was the right choice or not?!
Taking your time with this project is KEY! You will be thankful in the end. Slow down and prep your wood and take your time with each step as you go. This was killer for me. I don’t like to start projects that I can’t also finish in the same day! It’s so hard to not get to the end result right away, but I promise you guys.. SO DANG WORTH IT.
Mr. Shoreworthy spent many late nights in the garage making these bad boys come to life. Hopefully his hard work (and mistakes! haha) will help make your job easier!
Here are the biggest tips to take with you as you dive into this project!
USE A WOOD THAT ISN’T HEAVY: Pine is lightweight and flexible with stain colors. We used a SELECT pine, meaning it didn’t come with many knots and imperfections. I personally wanted to stay away from getting too rustic or farmhouse as to keep inline with our cozy beach house vibes. Your beams will get heavy as it is, using a lightweight wood will help.
CHOOSE STRAIGHTEST BOARDS YOU CAN FIND: this is especially important if your beam boxes end up longer than 12 or 16 feet and you have to piece boards together.
LOOK AT YOUR GRAIN: When building your boxes, pay attention to the grain of the wood that is visible. This is also important on the beams that are longer than one board length so that your beams appear to be one long natural beam and doesnt draw your eye to a seam.
MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE: You do not want to do all that work on these beams and have one too short. Definetly build them a bit longer, you can always shave them down. Even new construction walls are not the same from floor to ceiling. You will most likely take them up and down a couple of times before getting the perfect fit!
SAND YOUR LITTLE HEARTS OUT! Mr. Shoreworthy sanded and sanded and sanded! After the glue dries, sanding off the access glue and sanding the seams will make everything look SEAMLESS! It’s so satisfying and worth it, trust me.
EXTRA WOOD & STAIN: make sure you have some extra lengths to test out your stain colors. Different types of wood soak up stain differently. Pine is softer and can really get dark quick, but if you have plenty of extra test area, you can play around with your desired look before commiting on the beams you’ve spent so much time on already! I think I ended up mixing three different kinds of stain before finding the perfect tone!
