You can't remove vertical or horizontal support beams from your home. If you leave these features untreated, though, they can become eyesores. How do you decorate a support beam, then? Lucky for you, we've done plenty of research and have some ideas to share!
If you want to transform your support beam into a usable home feature, consider these ten support beam decorating ideas:
- Use your support beam to build a kitchen island.
- Transform a support beam into a miniature museum of unique items.
- Cover your support beam in decorative stone.
- Create your own cat scratching post out of a support beam.
- Build your support beam into a shelving unit.
- Use the beam to store your wine.
- Create privacy curtains within an open floor plan.
- Build a floating entertainment center off/around your support beam.
- Add new lighting features to your room with your support beam as a base.
- Feature unique support beams seating options for you and your guests.
While some of these projects may require the help of area professionals, there are some you can take on with the tools you have at home. The sooner you determine how you want to put your support beam to use, the easier it will be for you to transform a room's eyesore into its central feature.
How Do You Decorate Support Beams?
When it comes time to customize your home's appearance, neither your vertical nor horizontal support beams have to stand in the way of your vision. Instead, you can integrate these features into your plans for your space.
We may include affiliate links and curated AI content to highlight top design styles.
If you want to put your support beam to work, you can:
1. Build A Kitchen Island Off Your Support Beam
Kitchen islands are some of the most versatile features that today's homes can benefit from. These freestanding additions allow you to move freely through a room without feeling confined to limited counter space.
Fear not if your home doesn't already have a kitchen island for you to take advantage of. With a bit of creativity and the help of a nearby support beam, you can readily integrate an island into your home.
You can build a kitchen island around a support beam. Alternatively, you can use your support beam to create part of one side of your ideal island.
In some cases, you can even use specialized tools to carve shelving units out of these spaces, creating extra storage space for your pots and pans.
It's often in your best interest to work with professional contractors when integrating a support beam into your ideal kitchen island. Sit down with the representatives in your area to discuss your ambitions, and you'll find that they're more accessible than you initially thought.
2. Create A Miniature Museum
With considerable care and the right tools, you can transform your support beam from a stagnate room filler into a showcase for your most beloved belongings. You can hollow out part of your support beam to create shadowboxes.
However, you need to do this carefully so as not to destabilize the whole of your beam.
Alternatively, you can place traditional shadow boxes all around your support beam. The effect is no less elegant, and you still have the opportunity to keep your most precious household items on display.
3. Apply Temporary, Decorative Stone For A Rustic Look
Many homeowners' complaints about the support beams focus on their plain appearance. You can transform the look of your beams, though, by adding texture to the landscape of your room.
Decorative stone veneer and tile can add pops of color and character to your room.
You can use thin-set adhesive to bond your decorate stone or tile to the wall. While it will take elbow grease to remove this fixture, should you ever want to change the look of your room, it's easier to contend with than traditional mortar.
4. Make Your Home Cat-Friendly With A Support Beam Scratching Post
If you're a pet owner, you know it's always a task to keep your furry friend entertained. While you can install cat shelves and complex toys for your feline companion, there are simpler ways to make your home cat-friendly.
If you have an errant support beam that needs decoration, the beam itself can become your cat's favorite toy. You can transform a plain support beam into a cat scratching post in little to no time.
With a quick purchase of sisal rope and small nails, you'll have all the tools you'll need to prevent your cat from scratching your couch. Wrap the sisal rope around your support beam and secure it with the nails.
So long as the nails are as deep into the support beam as possible, your cat can enjoy a stress-free scratch. Both horizontal and vertical support beams can make exceptional scratching posts.
Make sure that your cat can safely navigate a horizontal feature before you modify it.
5. Create A Shelving Unit
Suppose you have more than one support beam in a frequently-used part of your home; good news! You have additional home storage right at your fingertips. All you need to do is know how to use your space.
You can create a shelving unit out of two parallel support beams by placing treated wood or similar materials between the two. Secure these materials in place, and you can enjoy free-floating or resting shelves.
The freestanding nature of your support beams makes this project highly customizable. You're not obligated to place a back on your new shelving unit. You can work with representatives at your local hardware store to secure the materials if you would like to.
Similarly, it's up to you to determine how many shelves you want access to. Install the traditional three shelves or take your new unit up to the ceiling.
It's up to you to decide how, precisely, you want to use this part of your home.
6. Store Your Wine For Easy Access
Are you a wine enthusiast? Do you have wine that you can keep at room temperature? Good news. If you carefully use professional tools to hollow out your support beam, you can keep your bottles within arm's reach.
You can transform your support beam into a wine rack by adding shelves to a carved-out interior. So long as you preserve three of the beam's four sides, it can continue to support your home while also becoming a central feature in your room of choice.
While it may be possible to add refrigerating features to a support beam, doing so will take a specialist's help. When you're transfiguring a support beam on your own, you should plan only to keep unopened wines that aren't temperature sensitive on your new rack.
7. Break Up Your Open Floor Plan
There is a distinct appeal to a home's open floor plan. However, most open floor plans don't give you access to the privacy you need.
If you want to create more confined spaces within an open floor plan, you need to get creative. Fortunately, the support beams you have throughout your home can help.
You can use parallel support beams to create temporary room dividers between your open spaces.
Consider investing in concealable, fake walls or even screens that can give you the privacy you need. You can even create more permanent divides with the help of treated woods or elegant fabrics.
8. Craft A Floating Entertainment Center
Entertainment centers have many uses. Do you need to buy an entirely separate piece of furniture to house a television or gaming console, though?
No! If you have a support beam available in your home, you can transform it into a floating entertainment center. You can use a wall mount to hold your television in place, while freestanding shelves can help you position your electronics.
While you may need to invest in protective measures if you have kids or pets, these additions can make your support beam all the more versatile.
9. Bring New Light Into Your Room
If your support beam is near or includes an electrical outlet, you're lucky. You can transform a pillar into a unique light source.
Fairy lights make a cheerful addition to most spaces, particularly as the year trends toward seasonal holidays. Alternatively, you can invest in lantern-like lights or more artistic lighting features.
So long as you can safely wire the lights into the rest of your home's circuitry, your support beam can serve a new purpose.
10. Add More Seating To Your Space
When you move into a new home, you want to take advantage of as much floor space as possible. At first glance, support beams make this a challenging task. In reality, You can readily transform your support beam into additional seating for you and your guests.
This is not to say that you need to carve your support beam until it resembles a rocking chair. Instead, you can work with custom furniture designers to find or craft a sofa with your support beam as its central hub.
These loveseats can provide you and your guests with a novel seating experience while also helping you take advantage of a support beam's stability.
In Conclusion
Support beams don't have to be household eyesores. If you want to get creative, you can transform your home's support beam into an accentuating feature.
To take on more ambitious remodels, you'll want to contact professional furniture makers or home designers in your area. Should you wish to experiment with lighting or shelving, nothing is standing between you and the eye-catching feature of your dreams.
