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Dark beams across a double-height stairwell ceiling with amber lantern pendants and a timber balustrade

Resources

Guides for the decisions that come first

Proportion, silhouette, layout and preparation — the parts of a ceiling beam project that get decided before anyone talks about product.

Not sure where to start? The Buyer's Guide puts these in order, from first idea to evaluating a quote.

Profiles & finishes guides

  • Bright empty room with evenly spaced dark beams across a flat white ceiling, drum ceiling lights between them and a row of windows down one wall

    Profiles & finishes

    Dark or Light Ceiling Beams: How to Choose

    Dark beams draw lines and ask for attention, while light beams add depth and let the ceiling rest. How to tell which one your room wants, with a paper test you can do this weekend.

  • Two pale timber beams on a vaulted ceiling above a fireplace with a matching timber mantel between two windows

    Profiles & finishes

    White and Painted Ceiling Beams: When They Work

    White beams give you the shape of a ceiling without a new color overhead, as long as the light can find them. Where they work, where they disappoint and how to test them.

  • Dark beams running across a white ceiling above a row of black cone pendant lights and a window wall

    Profiles & finishes

    Black and Charcoal Ceiling Beams

    Black beams are a commitment, and charcoal is a different commitment. How to tell which your room can carry, what the color hides, and why you should count your echoes first.

  • Weathered grey-brown plank ceiling with matching beams, lit by a large iron ring chandelier carrying rows of candle bulbs

    Profiles & finishes

    Weathered Gray Ceiling Beams

    A weathered gray beam can calm a warm room or make a cool one feel lifeless. How to read the undertone, what to pair it with, and how to keep it from looking like a phase.

  • Heavy pale timber posts and beam framing an opening between a living room and a hallway beyond

    Profiles & finishes

    Coordinating Ceiling Beams With Your Floors

    Your beams do not have to match your floors, and a near match is often worse than either option. Three relationships that work, sorted by floor type.

  • Kitchen with a white-topped dark island and pendant lights, mid-tone beams crossing a white ceiling, opening onto a living area with a stone fireplace and a window wall

    Profiles & finishes

    Coordinating Ceiling Beams With Cabinets

    In a kitchen, the cabinets are the loudest finish in the room. How to choose beams for white, dark, wood-toned and colored cabinets, and how an island or hood can link the two.

  • Pale timber trusses against a dark plank vault, with an iron ring chandelier above tall black-framed windows

    Profiles & finishes

    What Color to Paint the Ceiling Behind Your Beams

    White is a fair default, but only one of several good answers. How to choose the white, when to go darker, and why the ceiling between beams looks different from the same paint on a flat ceiling.

  • Living room with dark beams running the length of a white ceiling, a ring chandelier over pale seating, a fireplace and a carved timber cabinet

    Profiles & finishes

    Mixing Wood Tones When You Add Ceiling Beams

    Adding beams adds a large new wood tone to a room that may already have several. How to take inventory, choose a role for the new tone, and tell a rich mix from a messy one.

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