River House Diary

The trim carpenters started installing the tongue-and-groove ceiling in the kitchen. It will be stained. We are also using tongue-and-groove on the foyer ceiling. This was a splurge Pete allowed me to include in the budget but when he saw it on the ceiling, he was most excited and thinks it will look great. Tongue-and-groove ceiling in kitchen; personal collection

Our contract included an upgrade to include three ceiling beams in the Great Room. During our last meeting with our project manager, we discussed in which direction the beams should go, how many beams were needed and where they should be positioned. The location of the ceiling fan and recessed lights dictated two beams instead of three. We relied on our builder’s interior designer for guidance on positioning and used a house she previously designed to give us our answer. Ceiling beams in the Great room of the Southern Livin g Shook Hill house plan built by TAB Premium Built Homes; courtesy of TAB Premium Built Homes

As a way to add architectural interest to our house, Zuniga Interiors recommended adding ceiling beams in the Great Room and Master Bedroom. Of course, there is an extra cost for those beams; so we opted to use them only in the Great Room. The ceiling is flat (because Pete doesn't like vaulted ceilings) but is 11'6" high. So I've been thinking about dropping the ceiling beams to 10'0" so they float. Phoebe Howard designed Great Room for the 2013 Southern Living Idea House; courtesy of Phoebe Howard My only worry is that we won't have those terrific windows above the beams and the distance between the ceiling and the beams would be smaller in our house. With that in mind, would the idea really work?

In order to give the interior some architectural interest, Zuniga Interiors recommended using wood tongue-and-groove on the foyer and kitchen ceilings. Tongue-and-groove ceiling; courtesy of Zuniga Interiors; source unknown To complement the dark hardwood floors, the ceilings would be stained much lighter. The desired look is below. I couldn't find an exact match but Minwax's Classic Gray (MW271) came close. Hallmark Floors Alta Vista Collection in Balboa Oak ; courtesy of Hallmark Floors