DIY Faux Wood Beam. A couple of years ago, Brooke and I had a local builder build us a home. It was our very first experience and looking back there are a ton of things we would have done differently.
But that is entirely another post for another day. What I am trying to get to is building a house is not cheap, so we went with the basic things with no upgrades. We decided that we would put our own touches and style on the house throughout the years we live here.
Our first big project was adding a faux wood beam between the living room and kitchen/ dining room. There was already a little beam between the two rooms covered by drywall.
Supplies
- mostly wood- We measured the area that we wanted to cover with wood. Then, purchased long and wide enough pieces to fit the area. We used 1x8in.x8ft. pieces of wood but you can use whatever works best for you.
- stain– we used our favorite espresso color.
We needed a little help from my dad and his tools came in handy also. Brooke had the wood pieces stained prior to actually creating the wood beam. We used espresso stain to match our decor, it is our go-to stain for most of our projects. He also distressed it by hitting it with a hammer or cutting it with a knife.
They measured how far down we wanted the beam to hang. Then, they took measurements of the wood and created a little box to cap over the existing drywall beam. They did not cut any width off of the bottom piece of wood, but the sides needed to be cut down to fit the measurements we desired.
They hit a few snags along the way because the existing walls were not level, either due to settling of the house or just not built correctly. Honestly, it could have been either.
They ran an extra piece of wood down the middle to have something to screw the box into from the bottom. They also screwed in the sides of the wood box into the existing drywall beam.
We wanted to add a decorative bracket to the beam so we cut two pieces at 45-degree angles to screw in at both ends of the beam. This project turned out better than I could ever imagine. The dark stain adds contrast with the tan paint and gives a divide between the living room and kitchen.
To buy a faux wood beam could cost between three hundred dollars to eight hundred dollars. Our faux wood beam cost us the amount of the wood needed which was roughly eighty dollars. It adds a rustic element to our living space.
You do not need an existing beam to make this project happen. You could secure a piece of wood to the ceiling to screw the faux beam into.
I hope you find some inspiration from this post and can create your own DIY faux wood beam.
If you enjoyed this DIY, also check out Shoe Rack/ bag storage, Bookshelf ledges, and Growth Arrow Chart.
Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram.
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40 Comments
Amber Myers
I love how this turned out! I’ll have to make one of these.
Julia Hess
Thank you! It turned out really well and adds some farmhouse feels.
Julie Sanfilippo
The espresso stain looks great! Thanks for the helpful info!
Julia Hess
The espresso is my favorite. Most of our projects, we use that color stain.
Courtney Fortin
I love this!! My boyfriend and I just bought a house. This would be something we might try to make the house our own. Yours turned out great. This is really customizable with different colors for different styles.
Julia Hess
Oh congratulations! Making your home your own is the best thing. It is so easy to customize it to your own style.
Marie Phillips
That looks amazing! And I can’t imagine how much money that saved you. That is also my favorite color of wood.
Julia Hess
Right! We saved so much money, and thank you. It is my favorite color also!
Amanda
This is so great! We have often thought about adding a wood beam to our home.
Julia Hess
Thank you! I think it is a great addition to our home. You should go for it!
Joy
Awesome post! This looks so real and sounds so simple to do! I love how it looks – Thank you!
Julia Hess
Thank you! It was pretty easy, the hardest thing was making the correct cuts and holding it up in the air.
Lisa
This is a brilliant DIY idea, and good timing given that we’ve to stay at home during this period. I just need to find the parts and will give this a go! I really like the espresso colour too!
Julia Hess
So true. I did not even think about that, the perfect time to get a bunch of DIY projects completed. Thank you.
Tara Pittman
Wood beams are popular here. This is a look that I would love in my house
Julia Hess
Super easy. I think wood beams are becoming more popular again and not just for that farmhouse style.
Kristen V
This looks so nice! I love the accent decor too!
Julia Hess
Thank you:)
Shannon
This was a very creative way to add a personal touch to your house and save money. I really love how it turned out!
Julia Hess
Thank you! It added some contrast that we didn’t know the room needed.
Sean
This looks fantastic. I can’t believe you only spent $80! DIY win of the day!
Julia Hess
Depending on the type of wood you buy it can obviously cost more. Thank you for the kind words!!
Stephanie Wong
Thank you for the inspiration and confidence. I have been considering adding this feature to my home remodel … still undecided but now I know it is very doable.
Julia Hess
Oh you definitely can do it!! I would love to see the final product if you do decide to do it!
Britt K
I love the faux wood beam – it really looks like a huge step up from the original beam. At only $80, you really can’t go wrong! If that were our house, I would be all over this upgrade too. It looks like you’ve sunk some serious money into a really fancy addition to your home.
Julia Hess
Thank you! I was cautious about it at first but it was something hubby wanted to get completed so we just went for it. Oh, it’s so nice to hear from others that it looks good also! Thank you for such kind words.
Carrie E Rundhaug
This looks so good! I love the look of wood beams in a home. They add so much dimension and become a true focal point.
Julia Hess
Thank you! It really does become a focal point, crazy how something on the ceiling like that draws your eye to it.
Krysten Quiles
Oooh I would love to do that in my house! Thanks for the inspiration my friend!
Julia Hess
Oh of course! Just sharing things we love to do.
Lyosha
wow! looks absolutely impressive. very stylish and super cute!
Julia Hess
Thank you! I am impressed at how well it turned out.
Cristina Ioana
It looks great. I love wood, it gives such warmth to a house. I would love something like this in our house.
Julia Hess
It is definitely doable if you have an area for it! Thank you:)
Nyxie
I love the colour of this beam! It’s gorgeous!
Julia Hess
Thank you! My favorite color stain, it is my go-to color!
Monidipa
Lovely ideas. And a lovely DIY I will say. I wish I could be so creative.
Julia Hess
Oh thank you!! I am sure you could get some creative juices flowing!
LisaBeth GormlyTeer
Your project turned out very nice. Married to a man that is totally DIY on projects I have an idea of the work you put into it. You did great on the pictures taken of your finished project. I had a scrap book of the projects my husband on did with before and after pictures. It was always very cool to see the difference when it was done.
Beth
Julia Hess
Thank you! Handymen are fantastic to have around. I always have the creative ideas and my hubby usually brings them to life. I love keeping pictures of our projects to see the before and afters. Our old house we redid a lot of the house before moving in, I wish I had taken pictures to remember the before and afters of that big project.