How To Add DIY Wooden Beams Round a Tray Ceiling | Thrifty Decor Chick

Gown up your boring tray ceiling with these straightforward wooden beams! 

These wooden beams are a simple approach to give some character to your tray ceiling. I additionally painted our ceiling so as to add to the comfortable really feel. 

This beam undertaking is certainly one of my favourite DIYs on this home to this point! I work with Minwax sometimes and this undertaking is one other one I achieved utilizing their superior merchandise. 

bedroom with wall of windows

This submit could comprise affiliate hyperlinks on your comfort.

I could earn a small fee when you make a purchase order by hyperlinks. 

It has modified a lot since then! These beams and the painted ceiling added a lot heat to this area. 

After I see a tray ceiling I see a possible undertaking! I’ve seen many therapies on all these ceilings, from including crown to putting in wooden to the tray half. 

This was a special tackle the standard tray ceiling remedy and we LOVE the way it turned out! 

I had assist with the primary a part of this undertaking and due to that I did the steps slightly backwards. I’d have a lot most popular to color the ceiling after which stain the wooden after, however as a result of I used to be on the mercy of another person’s schedule, I did the steps the other approach I’d sometimes advocate. Extra on that in a bit! 

The objective was to create “beams” across the sides of the tray ceiling. We had two choices — take the wooden and 45 it on the desk noticed so after we nailed the aspect and backside collectively, it might appear like a true beam. 

Or, take the 2 items of  wooden and simply nail them into one another to create the look of a beam. You may see the seam the place they meet, so it would not look fairly as genuine.

We went with the latter, principally as a result of we had been utilizing very lengthy items of wooden — two at ten ft and two at 16 ft. I do not belief that the mitered corners would have met up completely at these lengths. 

I am glad we did not go that path. It will have been WAY extra work and the ultimate consequence appears to be like nice with out that additional step. 

Add your helps to the ceiling and wall

To begin, you will want one thing to connect your wooden to. The wooden “beams” are solely two sides — the underside and the aspect. 

So the piece on the ceiling (make sure you connect to studs) was there to stabilize the aspect board, and the wooden hooked up to the aspect of the tray ceiling was there to carry the underside piece in:

fake wood beams on tray ceiling

I hope that is smart. The arrows are pointing to the items that the wooden that makes up the beam had been hooked up to. You’ll be able to see the underside a part of the beam began in that picture above. 

Full measurement boards aren’t wanted — you may even use scrap wooden to do that. Simply be certain that it is the identical distance from the tray wall all all through. 

Set up the perimeters and backside of your beams

When the underside items had been up, the perimeters might go on — nailed into the board hooked up to the ceiling after which nailed to the underside piece. The arrows present you the place to nail: 

Building wood beams

Whenever you’re accomplished you may have “beams” operating across the exterior of the tray ceiling.

Like I mentioned…the best approach to full this undertaking could be to prep earlier than hanging the beams. I painted the ceiling after the wooden was up. 

Portray a ceiling is rarely enjoyable but it surely went faster than I although it might. I used an extended portray pole to get the 2 coats up. 

We moved furnishings and put a giant painter’s fabric over all the things as I moved across the room. I did need to climb up and down the ladder 1,000,000 occasions to chop in across the wooden. 

Portray earlier than the wooden goes it up could be SO a lot simpler since you would not have to fret about chopping in.

I painted the ceiling in Westchester Grey by Sherwin-Williams (flat end!) after which it was time to begin the staining course of. Even with the wooden already put in, it went a lot simpler than I assumed it might!

Prep on your stain 

I taped off the ceiling after which began with what I feel is a VERY vital product, particularly on a undertaking like this: 

Prepping wood for stain
I speak about utilizing the pre-stain wood conditioner so much as a result of it’s SO vital. Conditioning the wooden preps for stain so it is not blotchy. 

Extra importantly, it provides you time to stain the wooden, which is extremely vital on a undertaking like this that has massive items you are engaged on:

Pre-Stain conditioner for wood

It is vital to maintain a “moist edge” when staining — which suggests you need to ensure you do not apply the stain after which let it dry in any respect at any level. In the event you do, you will see the place you stopped and began. 

This wooden conditioner makes it way more forgiving so you may have much more time to work in your stain. 

Stain and shield the wooden

Provincial wood stain Minwax

Over time I’ve discovered the simplest approach to apply stain is with a rag. Gloves are wanted! 

You simply use the rag to wipe the stain on, then rub it into the wooden: 

apply stain with a rag

See that edge the place it is moist and assembly the half I had simply accomplished? (The stain to the correct appears to be like prefer it’s dry however I had simply utilized it.) If the wooden was not conditioned a few of that line would keep — and it would not look good! 

Due to the pre-conditioner, it got here collectively properly. No line!: 

provincial stain on pine

On the primary beam, I did the primary coat and stepped all the way down to test it out. I often solely use one coat of stain on my initiatives — extra coats will deepen the stain however I discover it is not often wanted. 

I like the Provincial colour, but it surely was leaning slightly orange on this pine. I did not actually discover it till I stepped again. 

Due to that, I went again with one other coat of stain, however this time with one other favourite, the dark brown Jacobean:
Jacobean stain Minwax

It is a good looking colour! Positively extra brown, which is what I needed. 

Here is a have a look at the distinction — Provincial on the left, then with a coat of Jacobean on high on the correct: 

provincial and jacobean stain

That is another excuse I like working with stain! You’ll be able to experiment with totally different layers of colours and get a customized look. You can too combine stains forward of time to discover a colour that is excellent on your wants. 

The ultimate step (after letting the stain dry) was so as to add a coat of polyurethane. I solely did one coat since these won’t ever be touched. Fortunately Minwax has a wipe-on poly that was excellent for this undertaking!:
Wipe on poly over stain

Once more, you will want gloves and a clear rag to use. You’ll be able to see how the poly on the left actually deepens the stain and makes it look even higher!

One factor to notice right here — if you stain there might be fumes! I had the home windows open all day every day and had an air air purifier operating continuously. We did not sleep on this room for a pair days. 

In any case was dry, we had been lastly in a position to get pleasure from this room once more…and we’re obsessive about the ceiling! It appears to be like superb and I could not be happier with it: 

wood beams tray ceiling

westchester gray ceiling

It utterly modifications the texture of the entire room. It would not darken the room in any respect — simply provides a heat, customized contact that I like to put in mattress and have a look at. 😉

DIY wood beams around tray ceiling

Dark gray ceiling wood beams

Due to the ceiling peak and having a bunch of home windows in right here, it would not make it really feel closed in in any respect. It does make it really feel way more cozy and that is our favourite half: 

dark gray tray ceiling and wood beams

I am contemplating portray the dresser now too — nonetheless deciding on that one. Perhaps black? 

My favourite half — the earlier than and after pics! Here is a reminder of the way it regarded a couple of weeks in the past:

bed centered on windows

And the way it sorted this ceiling and beam undertaking! Would not that fixture look nice towards the darkish ceiling?:

Dark ceiling with wood beams
short four poster bed

Listed below are a couple of ideas for this tray ceiling wooden beam undertaking: 

  • If you are able to do the staining and portray earlier than the wooden goes up, that is splendid. Nevertheless it actually wasn’t that massive of a deal to do it after. I assumed it was going to be so much worse! 
  • We did not lower down the width of the boards — they’re off the shelf and simply the size was lower. We used 1×4 and 1×12 boards. We discovered the lengthy 16 foot boards at a neighborhood lumber retailer (I do not imagine the massive field {hardware} shops carry that size however I could possibly be mistaken.)
  • The 1×12 used for the aspect piece did not go all the way in which to the underside of the tray ceiling, which does not trouble me in any respect. You do not even discover it. 
I like the facility of stain! And I simply love the heat of it towards each lighter and darkish colours.

See one other certainly one of my favourite stain makeovers right here!:

Wood planked wall with stain