The beams are pretty great - i would leave them alone. If it were me I would pare down all the small things and focus on larger-scale storage and decor - I think if the rooms leaned more minimal, the beams would shine

Hydrogen peroxide and lye are used to bleach wood lighter. you might have to get a stronger formulation than the 3% usually seen but its nice that you have some pieces to play with.

A whitewash with heavily thinned paint is the classic move here and your painter is on the right track. Test on the cut-offs until you find the ratio that lets the grain show through. I'd keep it sheer so that original texture stays visible.

Since the surface of the beams is rough I'm thinking even a thinned paint would not work so well. A chemical lightener might yeild better results. A combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium peroxide is what I'm reading is a good lightener. Of course, being somewhat a "do it my own way" person, I would probably just try concentrated household bleach. If you can scrap pieces your painter can try a combination of things. Just have him do it in a well ventilated area.

My concern is you take natural looking neams and the cure is worse than the disease and you ruin them and leave yourself no choice but to paint. In my honest opinion, nothing good is going to come from your idea. Just my .02.

I agree with all above. The beams are beautiful as they are, and I wouldnt ruin them. They are historic, and should stay the color they are. A whitewash would look cheap and bleaching would ruin them. I would be happy to have historic beams like that, that also look as good as yours do.

Diana Bier Interiors gave you some good advice. I would follow it.

You could cover the beams with a thin oak veneer that matches the other trim. It would be removable in the future without visible damage.

You can test the lighter oak look by applying some inexpensive removable wallpaper in an oak pattern- see how you like it for a week or two. A few inevitable wrinkles in the paper where the beams are uneven will not matter at all in a test.

"the cure is worse than the disease "

Exactly what I have been worried about for the past 18 year since we renovated it and removed three layers of drywall and plaster to give us better ceiling height.

The idea of using paper as a temorary test for possibly cladding the beams is giving me ideas for test runs.

I am only talking about the floor joints/rafters, not the cross beams/vertical supports, which were added for structural reasons when we renovated/rebuilt the original camp.

Don’t kill me here, but I think the beams aren’t the problem. Your windows are white vinyl looking with brown wood surrounds. I’d paint those sills and trim white, along with anything else that you can that is causing a choppy effect. What Diana shared was lovely. I’d try to neutralize what you can in the space and embrace the beams.

I'm with Diana Bier, lala girl, and millworkman on this. Leave the beams as they are and focus on the window trim and room decor. Also, if you try some sort of chemical treatment like bleach or lye (sodium hydroxide) -- you will run into big problems. Those are strong chemicals that will break down the wood fibers and weaken the wood as the chemical soaks in. When used outside (on wood siding, for example) those (basic) chemicals have to be rinsed off and then neutralized with a weak acid like oxalic acid and then extensively rinsed to get the chemicals out of the wood. Even then, there will be some weakening of the wood fibers. What I'm getting at is that I don't think it's even feasible to do a bleach treatment inside on those beams. I could be wrong but I'm speaking from my experience with those chemicals used on wood.

What are the short pieces of wood lying on top of the beam in the second picture?

Another vote for leaving the beams as they are. westy

“What are the short pieces of wood lying on top of the beam in the second picture?”

rechargable LED lighting strips. since thrown out.

For me it is not the beams it is all the other dark pieces of decor, especially the dark framed mirror, the dark shelving where the bag is hanging, the dark decorative R, etc If you had a less cluttered look and more light pieces of decor I think the over all look would be better and the beams highlighted in a good way instead of just being more of the dark objects.

I agree with @doods and others who suggested lightening up the decor and adding more lighting to the space. Painting the trim is a good idea as well. I'm curious-are you required to have some sort of railing on your open staircase?

the decor stays, its a cabin and we arent going to invest in new furniture. the wall rack is a dumping ground for coats, bags, etc. its small place and we dont have any other options like a mudroom.

The suggestion of painting the window trim has been tossed around in the past.

Paint can change things quite a bit, example the dark wall rack, the dark R painted a fun light colour, mirror frame, picture frames etc, If it were me I would find that easier and more pleasing than changing the colour of the antique beams.

Leave the beams.

Those stairs terrify me.