Reclaimed Beams: Make a Beautiful Statement in Your Home with Wood Beams

Hello friends! One of my all time favorite recent additions to my home are my reclaimed beams! In this post I will share how to incorporate reclaimed wood beams into your space, and where to source them!
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I am always looking for more ways to make my home feel more like an English cottage with a touch of history. One common element of an English cottage are reclaimed lumber and wood ceiling beams, and I absolutely love the custom finish look they give to any space.

However, incorporating reclaimed barn wood into your home can quickly become an expensive project, especially when you are wanting to cover your ceiling and walls with them! Even though I loved the charm and beauty they add, I knew I would have to wait until I was able to find barn wood beams that fit my budget!
Weathered Barn Wood Fireplace Mantel
One way to use reclaimed beams is by replacing your fireplace mantles with old barn wood. My fireplace mantel was actually one of the very first projects I tackled with reclaimed beams. You may be surprised to learn that I found this 100 year old single beam on Facebook marketplace for only $60! It had the perfect width and length dimensions, and I adore the way it looks with our AirStone fireplace.

After picking up this gorgeous beam, we washed off the dirt, let it dry out and then sanded down the wood’s grain with 120 grit sand paper to soften the wood and lighten up the dark finish. I still wasn’t in love with the warm, reddish tone of the beam, and after some trial and error, I ended up white washing the beam to give it a more weathered, white oak look!

Most of the beam is supported by the fireplace, but my husband did put a 2×4 in the wall right above it, attaching it to studs on either side using 2.5 inch deck screws. He then created a frame using more 2×4’s that the barn beam would attach to. In order to secure the beam to the frame, he used 3.5 inch deck screws. You can watch the installation process here!
Kitchen Ceiling Reclaimed Beams & Where to Source Them
Another way to incorporate reclaimed beams in your home is to add them to your ceiling! For a while in my kitchen, I had a faux beams on my ceiling because I wanted to achieve the English cottage style look on a budget. A faux wood beam or faux box beams are excellent ways to add the charming look of a wood beam to your home and keep the total cost of your project down. However, I never stopped dreaming of one day having authentic, reclaimed wood beams in my home.

I really wanted that aged, hand hewn and imperfect look that reclaimed beams add, but I didn’t have a lot of money to be able to purchase the materials I would need to cover my home in them. I had to get creative to source the beams at an affordable purchase price. So where can you source affordable, reclaimed beams?
As mentioned above, I found my first beam on Facebook Marketplace! Another great place to look are salvage yards that specialize in gathering older materials. Finally, check with your local Fire Department to see if they have any scheduled barn burnings. If you live in an area with old barns, many times owners will call their fire department to come monitor the burning timber. Both my husband and Dad are volunteer firemen, so they were able to rescue a lot of the solid beams from our friends’ barn before it was burned down.

Thankfully my craftsman Dad researched how to cut down the rough-sawn beams, as none of them had standard sizes and were full of irregularities, and purchased a special portable chainsaw tool from Sportsman’s Guide Magazine. You can checkout a similar one here. You can also watch the entire process of how he cut down the beams, as well as the wood products, specifications and the power tools he used in this YouTube video!
I am in love with how my kitchen looks since installing these antique beams. They truly add so much character and achieve the English cottage aesthetic that I am always hoping to emulate in my home.

Entryway Reclaimed Beams Upgrade
There is no better place to make a statement with reclaimed wood beams than your entryway. It’s the first space everyone sees as they enter your home, and the warmth and charm reclaimed beams add makes such a huge impact. For a while, we had faux beams installed on the ceiling, but I was overjoyed to be able to incorporate real reclaimed wood beams into our entryway.

I love the look of the reclaimed beams with the bead board paneling and slate flooring. The look shouts English cottage to me, and they have truly become a focal point in this space. We decided to bring a beam down the wall, and I’m so happy with that choice.

Bedroom Makeover with Reclaimed Beams
Although I’m sure it won’t be the last, the final place we installed reclaimed beams was in our master bedroom! I believe it’s so important to have a tranquil space to escape to at the end of a full day of homeschooling and homemaking. I really wanted our bedroom to be an oasis I could fully relax in the beauty of the room. We have been so blessed with our master bedroom layout, and even more blessed to be able to add some gorgeous barnwood beams to our master bedroom renovation!

The arched ceilings were really calling for a unique design element, and the reclaimed beams fit the bill perfectly! We also pulled the beams down along our walls, and I love how the wood wraps around our whole room. I love waking up to this view everyday, and feeling like I live in a real English cottage.

Reclaimed beams add so much character and charm, and really make such a statement in your home. They can be sourced on Facebook Marketplace, salvage yards, or old barn burn downs! Do you have reclaimed beams in your home? Let me know in the comments below!

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Love this look! Do you need higher than usual ceilings to add beams?