To paint these beams or leave them natural??

[MrsMummyBx]

Hi everyone
Please help me! Stone holiday cottage in Yorkshire- shall I paint the beams white or keep them (they are basically exposed joists and not original features but not sure if it adds to the country vibe or instead looks dark as is). What do you think?? Please ignore the horrible kitchen, it's going to be a nice pale cream shaker and there will be spotlights for lighting. Thanks so much!

Change the rest of the kitchen and leave the beams.

Leave the beams, once painted you’d need to maintain them. The natural finish on the beams will contrast nicely with your new cream kitchen.

I would leave the beams. I think changing the cabinets to pale cream should do the trick.

Leave the beams! They are supposed to be that colour and if you are changing the kitchen then it doesn't matter about them being dark anyway.

Personally I would paint the beams white along with the rest of the ceiling

It will distract from the low ceiling and make the space look bigger

We have similar in our dining room and I dithered a long time before painting them as felt it was an irreversible decision for they look much better white!

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughts - so helpful, seems to be mostly thought best to leave them. Glad you all think it will look ok.

@shaggedthruahedgebackwards can I be really cheeky and ask you to share a pic of your dining room ceiling painted? I had exactly the same concern that once I go white I can't go back. The ceiling is very low in the kitchen. It leads into a dining room and into the hallway which all have the same sort of beams but not such low ceilings so if I paint the kitchen I'm going to have to paint the lot I think.

I've tried to take pics at an an angle so you can see ceiling/beams. HTH

I think that given the ceiling is low I would be tempted to paint them.

@shaggedthruahedgebackwards thanks so much for those- looks v light and fresh and I love the colour on your walls too! Oh gosh I'm in two minds now....!!!

Can you wait until the kitchen is done before you paint them? Would be a shame to ruin the natural wood when it could look really affective with the new colour scheme.

@therenegademaster yes that might be a good way forward - it wouldn't be a huge task to paint them retrospectively. I think I will do that! I think it's going to look like such a different room after all of the changes (I will be bankrupt)!

Thanks lovely MNers for all your help x

Yes I think I'd wait until the new kitchen is in and see how it looks then.

I'd paint them