Faux Wood Beams: Tips on How to Use Them with a Vaulted Ceiling
Written by Milan Jara on 22nd Jul 2022
Not sure whether faux wood beams will incorporate well into your décor? Faux wood beams and vaulted ceilings can complement any style with these simple design ideas.
Vaulted ceilings aren’t reserved for cathedrals or castles. This grand interior design is suitable for any home, making rooms appear larger. These ceilings are made by opposite ends of a ceiling rising to a slant and meeting in the middle. We discuss how to incorporate faux wood beams and vaulted ceilings.
For those who want to gaze at the sharp, clean lines of a vaulted ceiling, the good news is that many homes incorporate this feature. Since open concepts are an ongoing trend in homes, it becomes natural to incorporate vaulted ceilings as well. This feature naturally accompanies the flowing layout with height.
Faux Wood Beams: What Are They?
Generally created using high-density polyurethane, faux wood beams look like the real thing and are found in hundreds of different textures and styles. They are also easily found and are exceptionally lightweight, making them much easier to install than heavier real wood decorative beams.
What Are the Benefits of a Vaulted Ceiling?
With people wanting to engage in more do-it-yourself projects to increase their home’s value or to improve the look, vaulted ceilings are incorporating more of an exposed ceiling beam structure. For some, it seems a shame to leave those gorgeous ceilings bare. The benefit of these ceilings is:
- Provides ventilation and allows hot air to escape, which is useful in bathrooms.
- Has an airy, open appeal allowing the space to feel lighter and larger.
- Offers practical use of available space which doesn’t require people to give up valuable square footage.
- Requires more or larger windows to improve natural light.
- Adds charm and character to a room and increases overall home value.
Incorporated into Open Concepts
Open floor plans with a vaulted ceiling will typically incorporate faux wood beams. This tends to be predominant on the first floor in dining and formal living spaces. Largely, the shade of the decorative ceiling beams will best dictate where they are used, with darker shades for formal traditional areas and lighter for more of a country charm feel.
The faux beams work exceptionally well in common areas, breaking them up, especially where walls acting as dividers may be scarce. Each space should flow into the next but be clearly defined by the faux wood ceiling beam spacing and design.
Beams and Trusses
Another idea is to enhance the look with trusses and faux ceiling beams. This design takes a faux wood beam appearance a step further by filling the space with a truss system. This design can make either a bold statement or a soft one, depending on how you use it.
Ideas for Placement in Your Home
Faux wood beams aren’t just for a cathedral ceiling in a formal area or dining room. You can place them anywhere in the home. In each room, they create a different look for your home décor. Depending on the shade of the natural wood or faux beam, you can make a room more traditional or go for a farmhouse appeal. The design choice is up to you.
Chateau Master Bathroom
Add a bit of luxury to a master bath by incorporating a medium shade of wood beam along the ceiling. The shade offers a nice compliment to the brick lining the back wall. The color contrast between the DIY faux wood beams and the walls combined with the flooring makes the room appear very bright and airy.
The claw-footed bathtub provides that touch of vintage to a classical chateau-style look.
Modern Clean Marvel
Faux wood beams aren’t just for a classic look. Contrasting the grey with dark wood beams gives this bathroom a sense of modern opulence. Homeowners or guests can relax in the tub, which overlooks a spectacular ocean view in an area that feels luxuriously open. The clean lines are the perfect complement to a modern, minimalistic look.
Ruggedly Rustic
To define the spaces in an open concept house, rustic trusses were added to the vaulted ceilings to separate each space, making them distinctive. The medium shade provides the perfect backdrop to the rustic, circular chandelier and wooden furniture punctuating each area.
Combined with the grey accents, it provides the perfect rustic charm that ties all elements together.
Traditional Country Charm
Open your dining room and make it more inviting with this design. White ship-lapped vaulted ceilings are punctuated with distressed-looking wooden beams. The color and design blend perfectly as this isn’t a bold statement but is designed to provide some warmth to an area that may come across as uninviting otherwise.
The wood ceiling beams act as the perfect country complement to the traditional country hutch/serving area and the kitchen table.
Wealthy Wonder
This luxury living room is designed with rich, faux wood beams meeting in the center of the room. The layout complements the grandiose width and expansiveness of the living space. Combined with the antique, traditional woodwork, the accents make the room look spectacular.
Tropical Oasis
This bedroom boasts spectacular natural lighting with beige accents. Wood is added to accent the windows and the latticework and carries through to the ceiling. The wood adds the perfect visual depth by making the room appear larger. The eye is drawn to the wood ceiling and molding, which compliments the overall beige hue of the room without making it look boring.
The overall look, feel, and style is that of opulence.
Conclusion
When using faux wood beams and a vaulted ceiling, you want it to showcase something spectacular about the room. If the room has skylights, they can be accented with faux wood beams. You can use them to highlight a raised area or incorporate it as molding.
Faux wood beams are incredibly versatile when used in a room. They aren’t reserved for just a traditional, formal space. The variety of textures, stains, and colors means you can add them to any room. When it comes to faux wood beams and vaulted ceilings, the sky's the limit in terms of design.
