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To throw a very early comment in, I think your kitchen looks great albeit a tad dark and that could be remedied at minimal cost. If t’were me, I would leave it ‘as is’ apart from more lighting unless Mrs Devonian has decided it is time for a change!
My wife and I have been pondering on a home improvement and I thought, hang on, the tz’ers are a switched on bunch, with various skills, knowledge and ideas, so I thought I’d ask here.
We’ve an upside down house. Our lounge and kitchen are upstairs to make the most of countryside views. Both rooms are probably 25 to 30 foot long and width wise around 20 foot in one and 22 foot in the other. They have large beamed ceilings with wood panelling. I like them though maybe they are a bit old fashioned.
We are thinking of having them plastered, skimmed and painted to be more modern, new lighting throughout and been advised to sand down the beams and paint them. I’ve tentatively spoken to a couple of builders who have indicated it’s a fairly labour intensive job - they aren’t looking to do the work so I’m happy they are telling me as they see it. I’m guessing 5k to 6k but until I get a quote that’s a guess.
Just wonder if anyone’s got any ideas or suggestions it would be great to know.
To throw a very early comment in, I think your kitchen looks great albeit a tad dark and that could be remedied at minimal cost. If t’were me, I would leave it ‘as is’ apart from more lighting unless Mrs Devonian has decided it is time for a change!
I'm assuming they'd put plasterboard on first and then skim that? It would certainly make it look lighter.
"A man of little significance"
Paint the wood ceiling, leave the beams, change the kitchen to a light or white set of cabinets /work surface.
Why not paint the boarding and beams Stephen- it would transform the appearance without the major hassle and cost of finishing with plasterboard and skimming?
Looks great as is to me. LED up lighters on top of the beams might help illuminate the architectural features of the construction as well as lifting the atmosphere. Make a feature of them, rather than cover them up. Are they in keeping with the rest of the property?
Yes plasterboard first then skim.Originally Posted by Foxy100
I did think about that Adrian, however a neighbour did a similar thing and Mrs Devonian said the finish just looks poor. Problem is a few of her friends have told her how amazing this will look - not as amazing as a new watch though
The kitchen was very expensive when I had it done and luckily I got it at a trade price, it would be a bit of a waste to change it. I did consider granite worktops instead of the oak, but the surface area is huge and it really was silly money.
I think it looks fine, it's got far more character than many kitchens. Don`t get drawn into the 'modernise' fad, if you like it stick with it. Having revamped my kitchen at considerable expense a few years back I wish I hadn`t bothered, wife persuaded me to 'modernise' it and 5 years down the line the new stuff's starting to look decidedly tatty.
Might be worth upgrading the lighting a little, kitchens are working areas and good lighting is a big advantage.
If wifey persists in nagging for it 'modernising; tell her it's not happening......that's what I should've done.
It doesn't look like your kitchen has much lighting in it. We've recently had LED downlighters installed in ours and the difference still makes me laugh out loud.
I like your wood and actually the underside of the roof is fairly light, I wonder if it's the dark beams making it look a bit gloomy.
A friend of mine has recently bought a house with really dark beams.
I thought they’d been sanded down, as they’re now much lighter, but they’d been painted in a way which retained the look of the wood, but much lighter.
Can get some details if it’s of any interest.
Plasterboard and skim, but, don’t pay what your being asked…
Are the beams sandable? Try a small patching see if it dyes in deeply
I got mine shot blasted…. Came up nice and light…
Beautiful rooms, but, look really dark…. It’s worth the investment…
Get that bit right and then pick any kitchen that takes your fancy…
I want ‘after pics’ :-)
Start with the beams alone. The width and dark colour are very dominant above your head! When they have more or less the same 'wood colour' of the panels (boards), things will look a lot lighter! If that's not enough, you can start changing the colour of the panels and the beams.
Your type of house is pretty rare here in The Netherlands, but the same beam & wood construction can be found in New England etc, often with white painted panels and sanded/blasted beams.
Menno
I think that a sanding down of the beams and a change of lighting would transform both rooms.
I'd suggest a consultation with a lighting specialist would be very worthwhile.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Some great suggestions, thanks everyone.
I’m coming round to the idea of painting the beams a light colour first to see how that goes and modernising all the lighting. The kitchen was done in 2006 and the lights in the lounge before I bought it so before 2000. Only on the beams is there’s lots of knots - not much knowledge but I wonder if they would come through. Even knot paint which I’ve used before still doesn’t stop everything.
I suspect a shot/vapour blast of the beams will see them in their true colour - looks to be years of dark wood stain/varnish on there.
Personally I would consider if the plasterboard/paint is worth doing - I suspect they will want to cover the timber with it and then skim? Bit of a bodge in my book.
Look at some decent LED lighting and maybe a change of worktop?.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Yes, this would be my preferred option.
Try a zinsser product such as bin or 123
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I’d board and paint the ceiling. Either leave beams or sand/blast them lighter (wood) colour but don’t paint them.
I think it looks great as it is.
I'd definitely change the lighting to a more modern design and greatly increase the Lux levels and alter the colour temperature.
I think the Kitchen is too woody, I'd consider changing the worktops to Corian, they do a nice 'Artic' off white colour, this should help bounce some light around too. Or maybe a quartz/granite in a light colour?
I'd definitely keep the natural wood look of the beams and ceiling, but would consider bead blasting to strip them back and putting a clear lacquer finish on to show their natural beauty.
I'd probably change the floor too, but my gut instinct is a darker floor finish such as slate or a natural stone finish would look nice.
Good luck. Need pic's of the finished item
In my opinion, you should leave it as it is and get a lighting specialist in.
Lighting will transform the place, it looks like you have bare minimum lighting at the moment.
me too, the beams look great, the knotty pine boards less so, they look very dated and they bring the ceiling down visually, board and paint then that will show off the beams and act as a huge reflector to lift the gloom in a way lighting would never be able to do. boarding over is probably easier than sanding all that wood for a good key for the paint.
you could easily light up from on top of the bigger beams onto the boarded ceiling to add light.
Where we used to live the ceiling was boarded and painted and the beams were shot blasted, granted it was before everything else went in the house. I think the ceiling would look great boarded and painted and make a big difference at a fairly reasonable cost. Beams, I'd be tempted to paint them.
I'd experiment with lighting first and if that doesn't work, consider the other options.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Id paint the ceiling first
I doubt you'd regret it
Forget all about plasterboard and plaster etc
Once you've got the ceiling done you can decide whether to do the beams as well
Id use osmo, either a light cream /off white/ very soft grey. Keep it fairly light and neutral
You'll be amazed how much ' more space' you'll get.
Just my 2p.dave
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
sand and paint...it shouldnt cost 5-6k surely
So . . . . . .
Months on from my post, we decided on the painting option and here we are. Not quite finished putting everything back yet but thought I’d update you all. We are going to get the lighting modernised next. Once again thanks for the input.
Wow that looks great, just goes to show what a lick of paint can do.
Wow, big improvement & much better result than plasterboarding it over.
Looks great. Fantastic improvement for I imagine fairy little outlay.
Night and day. Literally. Looks great
Now that looks superb, modern but keeping the character of the rooms. Good choice👍
Amazing result! Enjoy it!
Menno
Looks tons better. I have to ask though; how on earth to you manage with so few kitchen base units?
Looks fantastic, like a brand new room.
Very light and airy feel to it.
Superb!
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Looks far better.
Good decision, it looks the part.
Thanks for the comments :-)
Believe it or not they are all full up!
The kitchen is big, too big maybe as quite often friends will ask why I wanted such a huge kitchen. It was an extension over a utility room and a double garbage so had to be that size. However it delivers a bit of a wow factor when people come up the stairs and see the lounge, then kitchen (reverse living accommodation).
Having lived with it for 24 hours, we definitely made the right choice.
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