Painting Beadboard Vaulted Ceiling and Installing Old Growth Pine Beam

Painting our beadboard vaulted ceiling and installing an old growth pine beam made our living room and kitchen area feel larger.

old original beadboard vaulted ceiling and old growth pine beam

We installed old original reclaimed beadboard on our vaulted ceiling a while ago. It was salvaged from our neighbor’s garage and she gifted those beautiful old gems to us. We were delighted to bring those beauties back to life and put them on display and basically show them off.

They looked so good on our vaulted ceiling! There were just two things that would complete the project. Painting the beadboard and installing a beam in the peak. I will share how we accomplished that and the outcome.

PREPPING OLD GROWTH PINE BEAM

The first thing Nate did was to start prepping that huge, heavy, old growth pine beam. It was a lot of work, but necessary for a successful installation. At the end of the beams, he cut the sides and carved out the tongue shape.

It was a tedious task he learned to get better at doing the more he worked on it. He chiseled away at it like a carpenter or wood worker.

PREPPING BEADBOARD CEILING

Then he prepped the beadboard ceiling for primer and then paint. Since old reclaimed wood usually has a layer of old oil based paint, the best thing we’ve learned, is to use oil based primer on it. Then when you add water based paint on top of that it adheres to it better instead of peeling up.

He removed any nails from the beadboard and also caulked any of the cracks. Then gave them a good wipe down with a rag. After all that, it was prepped and ready for some oil based primer.

You have to be prepared to use oil based primer as it’s not as easy to work with as the water based stuff. Make sure you have a quality mask and painter’s sock over your head. Otherwise, you will be covered with nasty primer afterwards. And make sure you are able to keep windows open for good ventilation because the stuff is stinky!

PRIMING AND PAINTING BEADBOARD CEILING

Nate used a paint sprayer and roller brushes small and large to get the job done. He also made sure to mask everything in the house down so that overspray did not get to it.

After he primed the ceiling, I came home from work and was delighted at the results. The white primer made the whole house feel much larger. Keep in mind that our living room and kitchen are essentially in one big room and open. Like a large studio shot gun house, but with bedrooms and a bathroom on the side.

woman looking up at painted beadboard ceiling

Next up was the paint. We decided to paint the ceiling the same color as the exterior of our house. We chose Sherwin-Williams Shoji White. It’s such a nice creamy off white color that goes well with the antique and rustic colors around our house.

When we lived in Hawaii, we were caretakers of a old Japanese house that contained plenty of authentic shoji doors. I suppose the paint color is a replica of the delicate shoji paper.

We used a water based Shoji White paint. Nate was relieved to be done with the oil based primer. It’s much easier to work with water based paint. He applied it the same as the primer. Using a paint sprayer and various roller brushes. It was beautiful to see the ceiling go from bright white to a creamy nutty delicious looking off white color.

Perfecto! Oh~ and did I mention our pantry built in beadboard cabinets are also painted Shoji White. Can you tell we love that color?

OLD GROWTH PINE BEAM

Preparing and installing the old growth pine beam takes the cake. It required a lot of work, elbow grease, and attention. But, as always, Nate made it work.

He had the idea to hollow out the beam so that it was easier to work with. And ultimately lighter to install at the peak of our vaulted ceiling. The trick worked out well. He also took precautions to make sure the beam was properly secured.

man working on old growth pine beam with skill saw

Nate borrowed our neighbor’s old Makita skill saw. Not just an ordinary one, but a really huge one. It was the biggest one he’s ever seen. It was like riding and managing a horse. You had to be very careful to keep control of it. He made the cuts in the beam so he could eventually hollow it out with a pry bar.

Then he prepped the beam by sanding it and washing it down with soap and water. And finally the icing on the cake was adding the tung oil to it. A total of about three coats. It turned out so beautiful!

INSTALLING OLD GROWTH PINE BEAM

The final step was to actually install the heavy beam in the peak of our vaulted ceiling. Nate had a great strategy to work the beam up the peak like a ladder in steps. Handmade rung by rung and he took all the safety precautions to make sure it was sturdy and safe up there.

What a gem to have such a beautiful antique display. Your eye is drawn up the ceiling with the beadboard and then to the final peak with the gorgeous reclaimed beam. Everything handmade with tender loving care.

Painting our beadboard vaulted ceiling and installing an old growth pine beam added such historical character to our cottage. It really preserves the time period in a unique way.

man putting up old growth pine beam on vaulted ceiling

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own~ while working full time jobs! Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead. Read more about us here.

You can also watch a video about this here.