Long before we started construction on the #staggreno, a company called Arizona Faux Beams reached out to me about a collaboration for faux wood beams.  Because we were getting ready to move, it wasn’t really a good time.  I mentioned that we were getting ready to launch into a big renovation and thought it could be a neat feature.

We started our plans and the vaulting and raising of the ceiling in the great room was one of the first big decisions and I immediately pictured wood beams.   I checked out their website and couldn’t believe the beams were faux– as in not only were they not load bearing, but they also aren’t real wood.  I’ve got to be honest though, I was super nervous about how they would look in person.  You never know if something is just going to look good in pictures, and not in real life.

I worked directly with the company to come up with a plan for the space and they shipped them directly to the project.  They arrived via freight.

We watched a couple of their videos about how to install them and it seemed straight forward enough.  We opened up the box and you guys, Jon and I were kind of freaking out.  The color obviously didn’t look like wood at all.  Even as we were installing them we were kind of like well, here we go!  This could be really bad, or super awesome!

The beams are hollow on the inside and sort of make a U shape.  One thing we had to take into consideration– we were attaching both a ceiling fan and a chandelier to the beams, so we needed to install some wood framing to support them.  Between Jon, my dear dad, and Jon’s brother, they were able to install them while I held my newborn and occupied Ruby.  This is what it looked like as we got going.

I could go into a lot of detail about how to install them, but the company has some excellent tutorials and explanations and we followed them without any trouble.

To explain how the pattern came together, we did one long post down the center, then evenly spaced them on either side.  We used a simple miter saw to cut them.  They’re kind of like a really hard foam, if that makes sense.

We got them up and they were looking amazing– everything but the color.  I was nervous.  We talked through how to stain them with our painter and he had never done anything like it before so we tried out some stain samples on a few remnants.

It was unbelievable.  The product stained just like wood would.  No special stain, just exactly how you would stain a real wood beam.  We used Color Putty in B.R. Mahogany to fill the nail holes and Jel’d Stain in Walnut for the beams.  Our painter got to work and it was crazy how real they look!

We do have one seam in the center on the large beam, as they don’t come long enough to fit the length of the room, but once it was stained it just kind of blends in and you don’t really notice it.  And I can’t imagine the space without them.  They totally make it.

 

Crazy good, right??  I mean, you would never ever guess those babies aren’t the real deal.

I’m waiting on some drapes to reveal the whole open concept space to you.  We ran into a little issue with them and they had to be re-sewn.  And I’m hosting a massive holiday party in this room on the 23rd and I have big plans for the room layout so the beams will be highlighted.  Can’t wait to show you more.

They really are a show stopper and I’m still in awe about how easy they were to do ourselves.  I would completely recommend them.  Thank you so so much to Arizona Faux Beams!  We love them!

If you have any questions, comment below.  The company is also very responsive about questions and concerns.

Happy Monday!

*The beams were provided c/o Arizona Faux Beams