Jen’s *new* mid mod home in Florida has a beamed ceiling… she needs to add insulation… and writes in for advice: Does she need to keep the beams?
Jen writes:
Hi Pam,
I just recently found your blog and love it already! You’ve got tons of great info, and I’m desperately hoping that you and/or your readers can help me out with some advice. A few months ago my partner and I purchased a unique, mid-century home in St. Petersburg, FL. It has tons of great features and even more potential, but we’re having difficulty making design decisions. And so far, we haven’t been able to find anyone with an MCM mindset locally (designer, contractor, etc) to help.
Our immediate issue is in our living room, where we have exposed beams on a high angled/sloped ceiling. There is currently no insulation up there, and it is desperately needed, but I hate the thought of losing the look of the exposed beams. Our current plan is to insulate and drywall the ceiling flat, then add faux beams. We also plan to replace 2 ceiling fans with MCM style pendants and remove or replace existing track lighting, possibly adding recessed lighting instead. If we do faux beams, we need to determine how many and what size. If we do less than the exact size and number of beams that we currently have we can save some money, and it would still have the same effect, but they won’t match up with the exposed beam ends visible on the exterior of the house. Is this a big no-no? It wouldn’t be too obvious since there isn’t a contiguous view of the beams inside to out, but there are 3 high windows that could allow the interior beams to be seen from the exterior of the house. Oh gosh, does any of this make sense??
Please let me know what you think. We’re at our wit’s end, paralyzed by indecision! 🙂 I’m happy to provide more pics and more info – anything needed. Thanks! jen
Thanks, Jen for your nice comments about the blog, and for sending in your question. I’ll open it up to readers… But this time, I’ll start with my thoughts:
- Great house!
- Insulate the ceiling for sure — you must do what you must do, especially when it comes to saving energy.
- If you want, I think you can get away without recreating the beams altogether — by painting the ceiling and the back part of the wall that is still white. You seem to have that dusty blue going on below – put that on the ceiling and sort of “L” it to the back wall. Leave the white space on the sides (between the beige of the wall and the blue of the ceiling) and around the front windows alone. It think the whole scheme might be quite dynamic… sort of Mondrian, but not too too, because a sky is blue, too. Keep picking up that orange, too, throughout your decor.
- I don’t have a big problem with the ceiling fans — they are appropriate for your climate. Maybe get them in an antiqued brass base with wood blades, though… to add additional texture to the ceiling if you dispense with the beams.
- That ledge below the high front windows is perfect for a lighting solution. Is there some kind of uplighting there? For sure should be – would be fabulous!
- With a room that large — and a ceiling so high — I am not sure how good cans are going to do you … Those spots – they’re for the entry way, I get that, I think. Gosh, this whole issue of lighting is a big deal. I don’t have cans in my 45 x 15 living room/dining room — I have all task lighting — lamps. I prefer that for living areas. There are cans in my kitchen, though, because you don’t put lamps there.
- Paralyzed by indecision: We’ve all been there! Trust your gut. Good luck, the house is happy you found it.
Readers, what do you think Jen and her partner should do? Beams? No beams? …. ?
Janice says
First of all, what a fabulous home – inside and out! I agree with keeping the beams and finding a solution for insulating from the exterior. This elelment is so important to the design of the home that destroying it or covering it up seems to go against the mid mod mantra of keep as much original as possible. How many of us have grieved over original elements removed from our homes over the years for the sake of convenience and “updating?” I never thought about lowering the property value of the home, but that’s another motivator for maintaining the originality. Good luck Jen and Jen’s partner!
Gavin Hastings says
Jen-
You have the perfect backdrop for the “Uber Chic International Pop-Art” house. I see some Calder artwork and big mobiles. Embrace it!
Gwenn E says
It’s not just beams- it’s the paneled look peeking between them. I’d definitely try to insulate from the outside. Pam’s idea of uplighting from the ledges is great- it’ll diffuse the light nicely and show off the lovely beams.
Laur says
I love this home. What a shame it would be to alter the interior. If financially possible, I feel the homeowner should go with the roof option. Otherwise, I guess you do what you gotta do.
My husband is a faux artist. You would be surprised what you could do with paint. I don’t know the thickness of the board — Is it possible to cut to size the foam board insulation, and apply the foam on the interior – in between the beams – directly to the ceiling that is there now. Then have an artist “faux” it with paint to look exactly the way the ceiling looks now, Giving it the bead board look. The loss would be only in the appearance of how deep the beams appear, depending on the thickness of the foam board.
Mel says
I love the beams – but what attracted me to this photo was that GORGEOUS curved half-wall! *SWOON*! 😀
kate mckinnon says
I agree on the idea of exploring alternative insulation ideas- those beams are part of the bones of the house; they are beautiful, and the thought of seeing them covered up with fake beams on the outside hurts my throat.
There are so many things we can do to make our houses cooler that don’t involve sealing up tight as a drum. Cross ventilation, attic fans, better roofing, shade arbors in places where the hot sun falls on the house, plantings…
Please don’t seal up another beautiful vintage ceiling inside a cheesy fake ceiling!
Chris says
Pam,
I have the same issue at my house and here is how I addressed it. I added 1inch nailers to each beam 3 1/2 inches from the ceiling. I then added 3 1/2″ R13 batt insulation between the beams. I am then closing the space off between the beams with 1/2 dry wall. The beams in my house are 9 1/2 inches deep so I am only loosing 4 inches total with the insulation. So i still have 5 1/2 inches of exposed beam in the house. I found that batt insulation is cheaper than foam/board type. This might work for you. Also to make the job easier I had a contractor install the nailers. I am doing the insulation and dry wall myself.
Gavin Hastings says
Hi Jen…..Love it and am not tech-saavy enough for the construction aspect!
I would think long and hard about the recessed lights- they are great but I actually would go for big white square 1974 tracks. I LIKE the white fans and because of the height and color of the room-they aren’t calling too much attention.
What year was your house born? It looks a bit more 1970 than 1950. Personally, I like to pick a starting date of a house and add the best of each decade in its’ history. To add recessed lighting (which looks great) seems to be doing it the other way around.
20 years from now, retro-renovators will be hunting for vintage Lightolier tracks!
Great House.
amanda says
btw, my gut instinct is that I’d work to keep the beams. 🙂
amanda says
We moved into a mcm house last July and nearly all of it has been retained from the 50s, no home-depot mistakes. Best decision we made was to agree to not touch anything major for a year. Let it sit and research options. Have you found the lottaliving forums? Also a great resource.
What a fantastic house you have!!!