Beamed ceiling kitchens – we’re in love with them here on Hadley Court, as in this beautiful example above by interior designer, Brooke Wagner.
{and can we talk about those slipcovered barstools and those pendant lights? Are you noticing how she combined a chrome faucet with gold? We love the mix! }
Today we hope to inspire you with examples of beamed ceiling kitchens for your own homes, and share with you about some of the pluses and minuses of the engineered wood beams now available on the market versus the authentic, antique reclaimed wooden beams.
One of the marvels of modern design is that you cannot tell, from a picture, what ceiling beams are antique and what ceiling beams are made of engineered wood. For instance, in the kitchen design above by Cyndy Cantley, although the beams look antique, they could be engineered.
One of the main advantages of engineered wooden beams is that they are much less expensive and much easier to install than original, antique, hand hewn wooden beams, because they are lighter.
Here’s what an engineered wooden beam looks like. As you can see, it has a hollow core, yet the outside looks real. This is what makes it easy to install and much lighter.
These days, many big box home improvement stores carry engineered wooden beams. Speciality companies like artisanbeams.com can manufacture custom designed engineered wood beams to your specifications. This route might come in handy if you have antique wooden beams in the rest of your home, but are renovating your kitchen area and want to use your budget on appliances or a beautiful tile backsplash or kitchen range hood.
But…why would you consider NOT using engineered wooden beams, given their advantages?
You’ll find the answer farther down in this post, but, first, a look at some more inspiring examples of kitchens with beamed ceilings.
In the Swedish home above, found here, the strong vertical wooden beams bring your eye down from the ultra high ceilings, which helps to keep this kitchen in proportion to the height of the cabinetry, while at the same time creating a sense of human scale, warmth and charm.
In the kitchen above, designed by Stephanie Holmes of The Working Kitchen, for this circa 1800’s Cooperstown home, the inclusion of the wooden ceiling beams at the top of the windows lends this stunning all white kitchen a sense of elegant gravitas.
And are you noticing how the wooden backs of the 4 barstools break up the solidity of the 2 other solid wood horizontals, yet still help to maintain that rhythm?
{ Side note: We also love how the chandelier and the base of the barstools echo each other in shape. This is one of the reasons why you might want to consider hiring a professional designer: they can envision this result for you and give you something so much more beautiful than you might otherwise be able to envision on your own. }
A well placed ceiling beam can also act to highlight a unique chandelier over a breakfast area, as you can see in this kitchen above, designed by Jan Ware.
The strong horizontals and verticals work together to create a *formalized* focal point for the seating area, without dissipating the loveliness of the view out the windows.
Above, well known New England based blogger, Tina of The Enchanted Home, has used wooden beams to bring her *fifth wall*, the ceiling, into relationship with the rest of her very large kitchen area, creating a sense of timeless harmony.
And now, we’ll answer the question we posed at the beginning of this post:
“When engineered wood options look so real, and are such a cost saver, why would you still want to consider investing in authentic, reclaimed wooden beams, like these found in this renovated farmhouse kitchen by Crisp Architects, with its 200 year old beams?
Because, according to our friend, a captain in a major city’s fire department, engineered wood beams disintegrate in a fire in about 5 minutes or so, and if they are acting as any kind of support, the ceiling will collapse faster. Why is this? Because the underlying material these beams are made of is, generally, some type of flammable chemical compound.
Authentic hand hewn wooden beams, reclaimed from old barns, burn slower in a fire and therefore provide a greater margin of safety from structural collapse.
It’s something to think about, that not many people are aware of, and its this type of information a professional architect or interior designer will make you aware of, so you can make the right decisions when it comes time to decide on whether to make the additional investment that would be required for authentic reclaimed wooden beams for your kitchen ceiling.
This is an excellent post on the different types of authentic wood beams that are available and what they look like.
http://vintagetimbers.com/recycled-timbers-beams.php
Whatever you choose now for your kitchen ceiling beams: reclaimed wood for its safety and authenticity or engineered wood for its light weight, ease of application and cost savings, we hope this post has helped educate and inspire you!
And, if you’ve had experience using either one in your own home or for a client, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, to help our other readers understand all they should when considering what choice to make for their homes.
Thank you!
~~~
Leslie Carothers
for
Leslie Hendrix Wood
Leslie Hendrix Wood Interiors
Interior Designer
Midland, Texas
Owner, the Hadley Court blog
~~~
~ We invite you to please click the links below to follow Hadley Court on our other social channels ~
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Instagram
The post Inspiration! Beamed Ceiling Kitchens appeared first on Hadley Court - Interior Design Blog.