What to do with beams and woodwork?

[Switchd]

What would you do with a house like this that has reasonably dark wooden beams, along with woodwork in a reddish brown colour? I don't like the look at all but don't know if I just need more time to get used to it. In addition, the window frames are dark grey and altogether it's just a lot of dark. My preferred go to style would be wooden floors with white woodwork and fairly neutral walls.

The door is lovely, you would be better selling that as is and buying something you like. Beans don’t look old so do what you want but if you paint them use the correct prep and paint to avoid issues later.

the warmer colour of the walls is better than the cold swatch

I agree with the previous poster. The beams are a main feature of the house. If you don't like them then move to a differnt house. Dont paint them.

You can use Frenchic to lighten your beams. It's easy to do.

the beams look great to me! I don’t like the sound of dark grey window frames so I’d be more inclined to change those (though I appreciate it’s difficult to say for sure without a picture of them - maybe I would like them too)

I agree dark grey window frames would either have to go or be painted white. I'd leave beams as are and oil door. I like fresh white paint with dark beams.

is this house a new purchase for you @Switchd?

Those look like purely decorative beams, if you were prepared for the expense and ceiling repair, you could remove them?

It's a new house purchase. 1980s house, but I don't think the beams are decorative to be honest as they are in every downstairs room including the hallway. I'm just looking for advice on possible colour schemes or other ideas.

The windows have to stay as they are almost brand new.

If you are standing in the doorway looking lengthways down the room you can't see any white ceiling, only the beams as there are so many of them and they run perpendicular to the length of the room.

The beams are nice. Leave them and see if you grow to like them. Could you stain the doors to make them the same colour as the trim? Or paint them white, but leave the trim as it is. Walls will look best white. Is it possible to paint the windows, or is it pvc and you'd rather not? If they stay grey, with white walls and these beams it can look fine, though, for a minimalist scandi style, or scandi, but more rustic.

If they dominate so much and you don’t like them why did you buy the house?

If the beams are from the 80s they're really not worth keeping as they are, painting them wouldn't be destroying a character or period feature! You could paint them white, or having a coloured ceiling is really in at the moment, maybe look online for inspiration pictures. Otherwise you could see if they would sand back to a lighter shade? Maybe test a small area.

The doors look nice, you could paint the frames.

We have painted beams off white. Those look like pine - not oak. Do prep them well. You might be able to lime wash them for a lighter look. Paint the door frame white. Door looks fine to me. Beams are a bit frequent and overbearing so I’d paint and “lose” them visually.

The beams are nice individually, but there are too many of them.making the entire ceiling essentially dark wood from many angles. Upstairs there are beams too, but only one or two per room and that looks nice.

I very much regret buying the house at the moment. We have only just moved in and I'm feeling very homesick and stupid at our decision to move. I really miss our old house which was smaller but brighter and we had done it up to our tastes. I had reservations about moving, but I am also notoriously bad at making decisions and tend to go back and forth. It took us a long time to find a bigger house in the right location and it seemed like a decent price for the space. DH seemed confident and still seems to like it now we've moved in.

I'm just trying to be positive and think about things we can do that will make it nicer.

On a house of that era, it was popular to add beams, they will be decorative (if you tap them do they sound hollow as opposed to solid oak beams?)

You could first try (if you're not keen on the beams) removing them from the smallest area (perhaps the hall) to give you an idea of the possible effect.

If removal sounds too overwhelming/time-consuming then painting the beams and the skirting, white (or any of your preferred light colour) should lift the oppressive feel @Switchd

I like the beams. If you hate them however then do what you like with them. Our first house had beams on every wall and ceiling and we removed them as they looked awful, nothing as nice as yours. Or if you have high ceilings you could have a false ceiling put on top.

Aww your beams look absolutely lovely. OP if you have only just moved it’s normal to feel unsure about the move or the new house or decor. I would really give yourselves some time to live in the house before making any decisions on making changes to it. You need time to settle and get a feel for the new place and the space that you have. Live in it for six months or a year and then decide about decor once you feel more settled so it’s not all overwhelming now.

I know what you mean OP, and I think I might feel the same way.

But I think it’s good advice to give it a while and see how you feel. I’d paint the walls really light to try to make everything feel light otherwise, and then I’d see how it looked.

I wouldn’t rush into painting it, but some kind of light coloured wash that a previous poster mentioned might work?

Congratulations on your new home, I hope you settle in soon.

Honestly I would paint the beams white, along with the ceiling. They aren’t features of great beauty or historical value.

There’s a flat close to me for sale though, and the beams have been painted white - it just looks all higgledy piggledy somehow.

This is why I wondered whether keeping the wood look, but toning it down somehow might help.

i agree with you, there are too many of them and they’re a bit overpowering. (and I have beams in my house, am usually a fan). How low would the ceiling be if you were to put plaster board onto them and plaster it?

I have beams in my house (and dark window frames) and from that photo, it looks like you have a lot in that room. How's the lighting in your house - by that I mean exterior light through windows which can off-set the dark beams?

It varies by room and time of day. The living room has French doors facing southwest so is not too bad in the afternoon but to me it feels gloomy earlier in the day. Having said that my previous house had bi-folds and veluxes and was very bright.

As it's a new house I'd definitely not touch anything for a year. Live with it and see how you feel later. When we moved into ours, we painted part of one wall white - the living room is entirely wood-panelled, with beams and dark wood window frames. Such a mistake and I'm glad we stopped, leaving the room as it is.
The house was built as a faux mid-century one, so all the wood is quite deliberate and intrinsic to its style so I don't fight it. To compensate, there are skylights and one wall is entirely floor-to ceiling windows, hence my question about exterior light.

See how you feel in 6months and if you still don’t like them and as they aren’t of any historic value plasterboard over

I would not lower the ceiling with a false one. Just paint the beams a neutral white. I’ve seen this technique used a lot. The beams become less prominent and even places like Dalesford Orgabic do it. Think White Company vibe.

They don’t look like old wood, to make them less noticeable paint them white.