How I Updated our Faux Wood Beam

Every time we complete a project around our house, I’m always thinking of the next one I’d like to tackle. It’s how my brain operates, I can’t ever seem to shut it off and just be content with the progress we’ve made already. I think its because I don’t like being bored, and I like to push myself to see what else I can do. Any time we’ve finished anything recently, I’ve always thought “ok, next thing I really want to do is the wood beam,” but for whatever reason, taking that on always scared me a little bit. I would think about the mess, the potential unknowns (what kind of wood is it, is it even real wood, what if I make it worse) and would decide against it. That all changed when an account I follow on Instagram redid her ceiling and wood beams, and I watched her progress for a few days and became envious of how beautiful her end results were. I texted my husband her reveal picture, told him I was finally ready to take on our hideous glossy orange beam, and we spent the week working on it.

Now that it’s finished, I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to do it! It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be, and while it did make a HUGE mess and I did have a moment of feeling defeated, I have to remind myself that the mess is only temporary, the frustration will go away, and the end result is always worth it. It’s crazy how this one small change – going from a glossy orange beam to a beautiful dark, knotty wood beam -has completely changed the look and feel of our kitchen/dining area. It gives off this cozy warm vibe, and I still find myself staring at it when I enter the room. Here’s how Brett and I DIY’d our wood beam, and all products we used are listed throughout the post.

Step 1: Get all the necessary supplies

Something I’m totally guilty of is not having all the materials I need for a project, and have to make 4836 trips to Lowes. I always think I have what I need, and then half way through I somehow run out of paint, or don’t have long enough screws, or need another roller. So this time I looked in the garage to see what I already had, thought about every possible scenario that could come up, and sat down and made a list of what I needed. That list entailed:

Step 2: Prep the area

After the major cleanup from our ceiling renovations, I realllllllly dreaded this project because of the mess I knew it would make, and how much time I’d spend cleaning up afterwards. To keep the mess centralized we laid drop cloths down on the floor, and taped them up over the baseboards, hoping to keep as much dust off the floor/baseboards as possible. We also lightly secured a cloth to the ceiling using painters tape both in front of the kitchen and behind the beam in the dining room, hoping that would keep the sawdust confined to the space between. This only sort-of worked, and I still ended up with sawdust on the ceiling and all light fixtures….annoying.

Step 3: Sand down to the natural grain

We have a small, corded sander which we attached to an extension cord so that it would reach the beam. While it’s not the fanciest hand sander out there, it gets the job done, and one day I hope to splurge on a nicer one that sucks the sawdust up while it goes. We used this sander and 80 grit sand paper and got to work. This part took a couple of hours and was a little tiring. I’m so glad I thought of the masks, because it was A LOT of dust in our faces. My husband and I took turns sanding, and it left both of us extremely sore at the end of the day! To avoid damaging the ceiling or walls, I used this block hand sander I had in the garage for all edges that met the walls and ceiling. A major shoulder workout for sure. But the finished result was beautiful, and we ended the day with a beautiful light natural wood beam.

Note: Always make sure to sand with the grain of the wood, don’t sand against the grain or in small circles, as you’ll see those marks once you apply your stain!

Step 4: Test the stain samples

There were a few unknowns going into this: we weren’t sure if it was real wood, and if it was, we weren’t sure what type of wood it was. Once it was sanded and we were able to see that it was wood, I still wasn’t too sure of the type of wood it was. We know it’s not a true wood beam, but most likely is something wrapped around a plaster drop casing. Not knowing the wood type made this whole staining process a lot harder than I thought it would be. I had an extra piece of wood in the garage that looked similar to what was up there, so I first tried a few samples out on that. I purchased the following MinWax wood stain samples: Espresso, Jacobean, Dark Walnut, and Weathered Oak. I also purchased a can of Behr Decorative Wax in Dark Antique, because I had initially hoped I could just use the wax to stain/seal the beam.

*Left to Right: Espresso, Dark Walnut, Jacobean, Dark Wax*

It was at this point that I started to regret touching the beam. While the stains looked nice on the scrap piece of wood I had, none of them looked that great when I put the scrap wood on our floors – they all looked like they’d clash with the wood tones that run throughout the house. And since I still didn’t know what type of wood we were working with I knew that these would ultimately look different once applied. I figured the best option was to test the stains directly on the beam, knowing full well that I’d have to re-sand it down. I tested the wax first, and immediately ruled it out because it didn’t really do much of anything for the color. Then I did a small sample of each stain directly on the beam, and right away they all looked different from the scrap wood samples. AKA all of them were reddish. I hated them all, and started to get really frustrated. I was texting my husband and parents pictures, trying to get different opinions, but no one really loved any of them. I started doubting myself, doubting I’d be to figure out the right combination, so I took a few days break from this project. I took a step back to clear my head of the negativity and frustration, and told myself to start it back up only when I was ready. This is something I’ve tried to practice with anything I do in life, just taking a small step back and being patient, accepting that I won’t always get it right at the first go. It’s a work in progress, but I’ve come a long way with it.

Left: Dark Walnut
Right: Dark Walnut/Jacobean mix

After staring at the samples for a few days and clearing my head of all the negativity, I played around with the stains a little more and blended a few samples together to see if they’d hide some of the reddish undertones. I didn’t want the beam to be black, and wanted to get something light enough that would let the wood grain and texture seep through. I narrowed my stains down to 2 that seemed to work well together: Dark Walnut and Jacobean.

Step 5: Prep the Wood Surface

There were a few small holes/cracks in the beam, and the nail heads were exposed in a few spots, so I used my wood filler in these areas. I let the wood filler dry, and once again sanded the beam, this time using 220 grit, just to lift the stains up without sanding too deep into the wood. Once all the stain was off, I used a tack cloth and wiped it all down, making sure to get all the sawdust off.

Next I applied a thin coat of wood conditioner using a paint brush. I let the conditioner sit for about 10 minutes, and then went back with a rag (I use scraps of old cotton T-shirts) and wiped off any excess. I noticed the bottom piece of wood soaked the conditioner right up, so I ended up applying a second coat to just this piece, and then went back and wiped off the excess.

I’ve never used wood conditioner before, but after I spent some time researching this project, I am fully on board with this being a necessary step in any wood staining project! The conditioner helps prevent streaks and blotches by evening out the absorption of oil-based stains, and is especially true when working with soft or porous woods like pine, birch, and maple.

Step 6: Stain

When using a wood conditioner, it is important that you apply the stain within 2 hours after the application. I waited one hour after applying the conditioner before applying my stain. I stained the entire beam Dark Walnut, letting the stain sit for a few minutes before wiping off the excess. I knew the Dark Walnut alone would be too red, so once I finished that coat, I immediately applied a thin layer of Jacobean over it, wiping and blending as I went. I’ve read that people have mixed stains together to create their own stain, using a variation of 1 part this, 2 parts that, but I was worried that doing it this way would make it too dark. I chose to apply the Jacobean stain directly, which gave me more control over how much to apply, how much to wipe/blend etc.

After the beam had one coat of Dark Walnut with a layer of Jacobean over it, there were a few spots that still felt too red, mainly around the larger wood knots, so I applied a second thin coat of Jacobean stain and wiped it immediately. Once I was somewhat happy with how it turned out, I took a clean rag and spent some time rubbing down the entire surface, making sure to really blend and wipe away dark spots, giving me the look I wanted.

I have yet to seal the wood with a topcoat, mainly because I’m afraid to touch it again. I attempted to add a coat of Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane, but immediately wiped it off because it took on a reddish tone, and I didn’t want to ruin it. I think I’ll leave it for now and see how it holds up, and revisit sealing it off in the spring.

We completed this project a little over 2 months ago, and I’m still in love with the end result. The light changes the look of the beam throughout the day, and different spots are darker/lighter than others. The textures and grain of the wood boards really pop, and while it’s not the exact color I pictured in my head, I still love it. All of the sawdust and self-doubt was totally worth it.