apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

And are you talking beams (horizontal) or columns (vertical)?

Either way, leave 'em as is, furnish the place as you are planning, then reevaluate.

Agree with Patrick. Repaint walls, bring in furniture, do whatever but leave the wood beams alone until you have a better compass setting on your redesign.

Kinda hard to undo white-washing or staining...

While they are somewhat 'blechy', I'd treat them more like found objects and not try to match them perfectly with anything in the space.

I also see the wisdom of the other Patrick's advice: finish the reno and furnish first. Then the answer may be more obvious.

I fall in line with the consensus to finish the place prior to making any decissions about the beams and columns. And remember you can always cover them with drywall and eliminate the appearance of the wood and "found object-ness" This way you could paint the drywall any number of times and then take it off if you ever decide you want the wood look again.

Once you alter those beams and columns by staining, painting or white washing you're stuck and will never get the original wood back...at least not without quite a bit of effort.

How does one whitewash beams? Is there a particular paint that's needed? I've been wanting to do this in my house, a converted barn that has a multitude of similar beams throughout the upper floor, but am unsure how to proceed.

Thanks!

Definitely leave the beams as is. I would change color of walls or floors before staining the beams. Dark wood wouldn't look bad against the beams either.

Amy B--
I believe it is achieved using a watered-down white latex paint, wiped on with cloth like you'd apply stain or a paint technique, or with white paint lightly applied with a dry-brush technique.

I've had some crummy experiences using latex paint. Oil based paint will be better but stinks and takes a while to dry.

Paint the surface and let the paint sit for a few minutes (with latex it's tricky as temp, humidity affect the drying rate) then using a rag wipe the surface. You're not trying to remove all the paint rather you're trying to both rub it in and buff it off of the raised sections of wood. Once the paint is dry you can, as P2 mentioned use a dry brush technique to hit some of the raised areas with white paint giving some highlights to the wood...

As always test first.

about white stains for wood
it's called pickling, as in kosher dill
Minwax makes a stain in winter white and other "pastels"
my cousin did a nice victorian white pickled wood bathroom...

not sure how it would take on those columns

And to Kris--

I may have missed it, but where are you, geographically?

Perhaps dark wood is not the best choice for a warmer-weather (like Miami Beach or Santa Fe or even SoCal).

I also think the TOTAL Wenge/Espresso look will potentially date your decor, since I think we are past that look, or pretty close to the SS Wenge having sailed...

And, since you say they are "smack dab" in the middle, making them darker will only "smackdab 'em" even more.

Boxing them out as Julian suggests will actually make them disappear the most into "the envelope"... but it seems like you are then negating an element of the space you probably actually paid more for...

Another question to ask... will this be a "day time apartment" or a nighttime one? If drama and nightime is the end result, then stick to the plan for darkening them, with dark floors, sleek finishes and shapes, and (well-executed) dramatic lighting.

But then I think the kitchen cabinets will be the sore thumb...

I think pickling (or liming) and whitewashing technically yield two slightly different results... pickling yields the most "woodness" and looks like white paint is mostly in the grain of the wood, but the grain is really evident (and it does indeed knock back the color of the wood).

Whitewashing is sort of the next step, just shy of "painted white."

I'm going to go on the assumption that you are talking about the obviously wooden columns instead of the painted-white beams that I'm seeing.

Yes, I agree with Patrick -- for one thing, if the colors you end up painting the walls end up being vaguely medium in tone, they'll blend in or something anyway.

But when you say you don't like the color, I'm wondering if one thing that MIGHT help is to address that strange bracket above the column, where it actually DOES meet the beam. I think I'd be tempted to paint that bracket in a metallic color, probably in one of the metallics made by Modern Masters, and possibly with one of their solution things that you wipe onto it that makes it oxidize.

And THEN, if the metallic color you had chosen was kind of a greyish iron or silvery one, then I think I'd be tempted to paint the white beams themselves in some kind of grey color to make a gentle transition from the white ceiling to the newly-metallic-surfaced bracket.

But I still think that all of that could wait until you furnish the place, although it COULD have an impact on whether you chose furniture that had big, exposed hardware on it, with kind of an industrial antiqued look to it.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! To clarify a few points...

Yes, I'm talking about the exposed wood COLUMNS, not the white beams. Thanks for the correction.

The columns don't have to match anything that is currently in the space (kitchen cabinets, technicolor walls, and hideous built-ins included) because it's all going just as soon as I get the key. The floor is currently polished concrete, but is subject to change.

With regard to geography and time of day, I live in Victoria, British Columbia, so think Seattle climate with a bit less rain. And it will primarily be a nighttime place, as my husband and I both work outside the home and hardly see our place in the daylight.

I agree about the dark wood finishes potentially dating the place. Perhaps I should work with those columns instead of against them?

The suggestion to complete the rest of the space and then worry about the columns might be a great one if I weren't so neurotic and didn't need a full plan laid out for the entire space before starting the reno project. What can I say? I'm an all or nothing gal.

kris--
I am a huge fan of the work of Seattle-based Terry Hunziker, and I think you will find great inspiration in his work for your space.

He is a master of balancing the raw and the polished, in a climate (like you cite) very close to your own.

But on behalf of those NOT lucky enough to live in a loft space, don't "de-loft it" too much. I LOVE the concrete floors, and in this case, the exposed wood of the columns.

Never understood people who buy "lofts" and then turn them into "condos."

At any rate, I totally envy your situation. Congrats on the new space.

Oh I love the beams! I wouldn't change them at all...I would just work around them like others have suggested here and then, if you still really want to, you could redo them. I do consider the beams both interesting architecturally and art in a lot of ways if you choose to work with them. I have exposed beams both in my ceiling and three big ones in the center of the apartment and I have chosen to let them guide my decorating. Maybe they are not for you, but I think you should give them some time before you make any major changes.

Maybe you could polish/stain the floors in a different hue? I don't know much about that process but I used to live in a loft in downtown LA and had the most beautiful brownish-colored concrete floors. Something like that would look beautiful with the beams.

Your new home is great and has a lot of potential and really nice light, congratulations!

p.s.
Victoria is one of the loveliest places I have ever visited, so clean and pristine.

Instead of messing w/ the beams, my first priority would be getting rid of the bowling ball decorative ornaments on the bookcases. Wood good...Bowling Balls bad.

The feeling of your space is more horizontal than vertical. I would downplay the columns rather than highlight them, but I wouldn't try to make them disappear. That rarely works well, and they can be used to balance the horizontal movement.

I think that the "whitwash" look that people are talking about is actually limewash. It's an involved process, and would only work with a pale palette, and a certain "look," it could be attractive. Not my taste, though.

What I "fix" first in my mind when I look at your photos is the kitchen cabinets. They want bold color -- I see deep lacquer red or saffron yellow...but that's me. Where the colums meet the beams there is a chunky bracket, which is actually a nice shape. I'd use it.

This is what I would do. Face the colums with a bark (birch, cherry) or bamboo. Something natural and a little rough. Easy to undo if you change decor later. Paint that bracket a flat color pulled from the bark, and the beams a lighter shade of that color. Stain the concrete floor a darker tone of those colors (the possibilites for stained concrete are huge...patterns, movement). Glossy, lacquer-red kitchen cabinets. Slate counters. Shoji-screen elements in the kitchen or elsewhere (a tall wall-storage system with sliding doors, for instance). Some tansu around. Glossy against rough. Some beautiful textiles. Asian/modern. Not sleek, but...refined.

Patrick (the other one),

Thanks so much. I just Googled TH and -- you're absolutely right -- his raw yet polished aesthetic is exactly what I'm trying to achieve. Brilliant inspiration!

Clint,

I agree. The first thing I plan to do is chuck those bowling balls right off the deck!!

Removing paint is quite the pain - harder if it is rough sawn wood. Staining pretty much requires removing some of the wood, which isn't easy. If have some doubt about painting it, I'd hold off as Patrick suggested in the first comment.

This is kinda old fashioned, but if you do want to darken the beans, consider shellac. It's natural, renewable, and removeable with rubbing alcohol (and some rubbing). It comes in various colors and can be tinted.

School bus yellow!

Holly

Oh please paint the beam a bright yellow!!! How cool with the red and blue accent walls.

I would actually really love to see what's under the dry-wall boxes covering up the beams. But I remember reading here awile back that some exposed beams may not be up to code.

awile = awhile

I personally love the concrete floors. Like Patrick(the other one) was saying, don't de-loft the place. It's an amazing space, don't change the things that make it different from your average apartment/condo.
Maxwell mentioned staining the concrete. I have seen some gorgeous concrete stains, including a very dark yummy caramel color. Having your concrete stained, even if you have it done professionally, is going to cost a lot less than hardwoods and look just as lovely, in its own unique way.
I don't know if I agree that the SS Wenge has sailed. I'm still seeing lots of gorgeous dark furnishings at all price points. My only beef with dark wood furniture is that I don't like it when it isn't broken up by mixing in some lighter furnishings, rugs, etc. That's just a personal preference of mine - a mix of light and dark woods with some metal thrown in. If you look at any great designers interiors you will notice that, no matter what their decorating style is, they make things look great by blending styles, textures, colors.
Good luck and have fun - it's a great open space and I would love to live there!

School bus yellow?! Perhaps if the red and blue paint was staying, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on what you like), it's the third thing to go, after the bowling balls and the crummy built-ins.

em, thanks for the blending tip -- it is such great advice. If Wenge isn't out, I think it's at least on its way, but we do have lots of it in our current place. But I think it could be updated by, just as you mentioned, mixing it in with lighter woods and some metal or glass pieces. Per Patrick's suggestion, I looked up Terry Hunziker's work, and this is precisely what he does. And perhaps the blending could somehow make those columns look less out of place? I always have trouble with mixing things up. I'm an engineer by day, and I tend to make things too matchy-matchy.

ion, your post was both poetic and confusing. Are you suggesting we install a shower in the middle of the place? Kinky...

patrick -- i realize this was a long tome ago, but you mention making the kitchen cabinets a "Glossy, lacquer-red" . I would like to do this with the cabinets I inherited in my new apartment, but have no idea how -- any advice?

thank you.

Any pictures of your outcome? I'm curious as to what you did with that column and floor.