{Easy DIY Faux Beams}
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A few days ago I posted about our next big project, the basement. Last weekend we were able to get a little DIY’n in and it made a HUGE difference!!!
I have always loved the look of beams and knew that we had to get them in this house somewhere – so, why not the basement?
It was the perfect space to put them in, especially since we decided to leave half the basement as one big open space – the beams really help break it up and I love the character that it adds.
And, the best part? These beams were super cheap and SO EASY!! And, the entire project took about 3 hours – sweetness.
K – I did some research on beams and thought maybe we should do the faux Styrofoam ones – way pricey. then I was going to make a hollow box with mitered corners – way time consuming. Then, I was looking at some pics on-line, went to my shop and grabbed some 2×4 scraps and constructed a little beam. It wasn’t the way the ones on-line were made, but mine looked just as good as way less work. Again… sweetness.
Basically, its just made up of 4 2×4’s. One that is hidden and attached to the ceiling, one directly underneath, and one for each side. And I love that the side 2×4’s drop down a little lower than the middle one – lots of on line pics were that way.
I put my husband to work putting up the 1st board on the ceiling – this one is hidden, so don’t worry about stain. We made sure that we hit a stud and used liquid nails and a nail gun to attach it.
Then, I put Santi to work staining the bottom and sides of the beam.
Then, the bottom board was nailed to the “hidden” board – again with the nail gun and liquid nails. We probably should of used screws – but we didn’t. And everything is fine – no boards falling on our heads yet :)
Next, I put Santi to work putting up the side beams. Do you notice a pattern? Santi doing all the work? Ya right!! Its harder being brains than labor – us girls all know that:)
And lastly the 4th board was added to the other side, and WA-LA, instant beams!! SO easy huh?!
We did go back over all the nails with a little bit of stain so they blended in.
And, just so you can see the difference that these make – here is a before & after – I love how it broke up this huge room and makes it seem a little cozier. Plus, the runway lights were a little crazy – so this really helped it not look like an air strip.
Before…
After…
..…the 411…..
2×4’s – $130
Liquid nail – $20
Stain (Kona, by rustoleum) – $8
SO- $160 dollars and a couple of hours!!! love projects that are super cheap and have such a big impact!!
And notice my wall color has changed? I painted it Lattice by Sherwin Williams – SO.MUCH.BETTER.THAN.THE.YELLOW.
Where else can I put up some faux beams?! Hmmmm…….