From the cozy confines of a rancher, or the industrial chic of a loft, to the sleek modernity of an open-concept abode, no matter the architecture or layout, it’s likely you want to optimize your living spaces to reflect a unique personality and style.
Whether you have small spaces you want to broaden or a large room that lacks that cozy, intimate feel, there are so many ways to improve upon an area in your home without costly renovations or structural modifications. If money or time was no object, sure, you could expand floor space or alter a ceiling height, but for many of us, that’s just not practical.
What is practical, affordable, and beautifully realistic is harnessing the power of color, natural light, furnishings, and decorative accents to make your space just right for you at a price you can afford!
At AZ Faux, we believe faux wood ceiling beams are just the way to do it, no matter what kind of space you’re working with. Here we will share ceiling beam design ideas that create optical illusions to expand and enliven your surroundings.
Wide-Open Spaces: How to Make a Large Room Cozier
Open-concept floor plans are still all the rage due to their flexibility and opportunity for families big and small. However, what they often lack is intimacy. Luckily, bringing a vast, free-flowing layout down to earth is easy with faux wood ceiling beams. Check out a few ceiling beam design ideas that make a room cozier.
Old Barn Faux Wood Beams in Cappuccino
This beautiful eat-in kitchen is gorgeous with its natural light, caramel wood floors, and neutral furnishings. And while the sheer size of this space may be perceived as overwhelming, the right aesthetic choices have made it a gorgeous and comforting place to gather.
It’s no secret the focal point here is the sprawling center island. With the use of just a few Old Barn Faux Wood Beams arranged in an intricate pattern, this homeowner has squared off the island to draw attention without taking away from the dynamics of the overall space. This ceiling beam design makes this kitchen a feast for the eyes – and a great place to host a dinner party!
On the other hand, sometimes with large dual-purpose spaces, you don’t need an ornate ceiling beam design to bring the cozy vibes. Even just the use of a single faux wood beam can have a dramatic effect on the perspective of a space.
Although the room below has beautiful architectural arches in its design, leading from the living room to a dining area, the abundance of white screams sterility. White walls, ceilings, brick fireplace, area rugs, it’s certainly clean and crisp.
If you love the purity and cleanliness of white and have no intentions of adding paint or vibrant furnishings, that’s perfectly alright! You can still play with the ceiling to transform the space.
Saw Cut Faux Wood Beams in Burnished
The use of a single Saw Cut Faux Wood Beam brings just the right amount of warmth to this living room without taking away from its crisp, clean feel. The candelabra-style chandelier installed in the ceiling beam directly above the sofa and coffee table gives the illusion of a lowered arched ceiling.
Whether you use a single beam or a series of beams arranged in a unique pattern, you can make large rooms cozier and define a purpose – whether that’s snuggling up on the couch or entertaining a group of friends.
Cozy Up: How To Make a Room Look Bigger
When you sink into the couch after a long day, you aim to experience a sense of ease and tranquility. Yet, in spaces with lower ceilings, this relaxation can be marred by a feeling of confinement. Thankfully, some strategic design choices create the illusion of lengthened ceilings.
Magnolia Faux Wood Beams in Espresso Brown
Hues wield a significant influence on perception; hence, opting for lighter tones such as pale creams, subtle grays, and soft greiges can enhance brightness and impart a sense of spaciousness within compact areas. In the showcased living room, the gentle beige wall color harmonizes seamlessly with the inviting ceiling beams, amplifying the room's organic palette.
The rich brown finish on these Magnolia Faux Wood Beams contrasts nicely with the lighter furnishings but matches the flooring beautifully. The spacing of ceiling beams is an important consideration when reinventing your space. Longer beams, placed further apart can effectively lengthen the ceiling, and make the room look bigger.
The choice and placement of wall art also greatly impact the size of a space. Too much of the same style can look busy. Try mixing and matching finishes. Take advantage of smaller walls by hanging skinnier, vertical pieces, like the metal sconces above. A single, central shelf above the couch in a wood finish complements the suede and leather furniture.
Dialing Into Height: Balancing High or Vaulted Ceilings
High, two-story, vaulted, cathedral, and sloped, are all different ways of describing ceiling lines and heights. Sure, you can let these airy and lofty ceilings speak for themselves, but why not tune into their expansiveness?
One thing is for sure, where there are high ceilings, there’s likely an abundance of natural light. This is the perfect opportunity to incorporate deep, rich finished faux beams into your sky-high ceilings. From the great room to the kitchen to the bedroom, check out how you can reinvent your space with a few vaulted ceiling beam design ideas.
Light floods into this two-story family room, accentuating the monochromatic style of the furniture and finishes. Choosing dark faux wood beams, like the Old Tuscan Faux Wood Beam in Fresh Coffee, really balances with the white walls and natural light.
Old Tuscan Faux Wood Beams in Fresh Coffee
The “single line” kitchen is common in new and old homes alike. This arrangement is where all the main features, such as cabinets, appliances, and countertops, are arranged in a single straight line along one wall. An island may be positioned in the center of the room.
If you have a similar layout you can play with various ceiling beam designs to essentially frame in the space. For example, the vaulted ceilings in the kitchen below lay the ideal landscape for a beam and ridge ceiling design. The single beam down the center ridge creates a point for additional beams to come down the sides where they meet the wall.
Magnolia Faux Wood Beams in Burnished
Even smaller bedrooms with uniquely shaped ceilings can benefit from the beauty of faux wood beams, like the Hand Hewn Faux Wood Beams pictured below. This bedroom may look tight and confined, and the added ambiguity of the ceiling architecture makes the ceiling feel lower. But, you can create a lift with beams arranged in a way that makes the ceiling look higher.
This bedroom is nothing short of cozy with the distressed dark beams, matching barn door, and bed frame. These wood elements make the greige paint and warm bedding tones really pop.
Hand Hewn Faux Wood Beams in Espresso Brown
Turning Rooms into Havens with Unique Ceiling Beam Designs
Optimizing rooms in your home doesn’t have to be messy, costly, or stressful – they can be an affordable, simple, DIY project if you plan it right! Think of your space as a whole, and combine color, natural light, furniture, and mixed textiles with beautiful faux wood beams for the ultimate room revamp!
Faux wood ceiling beams offer a versatile solution, whether it's creating optical illusions to expand a smaller room, adding warmth and intimacy to large open-concept areas, or highlighting a focal point of a space.
Ready to decide what faux wood beam is best for your vision? Click below to explore your options!