thank you very much to everyone who responded! I'll look into espresso and charcoal grays. As well as the steel backplash. Emmarenes, I'm living abroad in India, and the only granites in my budget are the local ones. I was advised against the gray and white local ones because i was told that they would not hold up well in the kitchen. I could have gone with a black galaxy as well but i have that granite now and despise it because of the way it hides ants and bugs so well. we live in a tropical area and there are always critters here and there. My first choice was a Brazilian white granite but it was triple the price. This granite is called Shiva pink, so it has a pink salmon and gray look to it. Im really hoping I don't hate it once it's installed. The stoneyard was a 9 hour trip up and down and i was just pressured to make a choice after several undecided trips. And I'm getting new cabinets put in. but I think I can wait for them to put the slab before staining the wood. Thanks for that idea :)

Hi Esha, One option is of course to highlight it, as rightly pointed out by Hyphen Designs. The other is to add more beams to the ceiling and turn it into a design element for your space. Attaching some pictures for your reference. depending on the look of the space - you could choose how rustic you want to go with the kind of wood you use. you could clad the existing beam in wood and add maybe 2-3 more to introduce a pattern through repitition. if you find solid wooden beams a little too heavy, you could let them be finished in POP and paint and add some wood only at the base - just to create that highlight. and if you're ok with the wood - you could also probably add more beams than just 2-3 and give the ceiling a distinct look - like in this picture depending on the furniture layout you could highlight the singular beam in your room by painting it another colour or better still - i would stick to wood and maybe hang some lights or a nice installation that would add character to the space. if you dont like the wood.. you could probably add split levels to the ceiling coming out of the beam and highlight them by introducing some indirect tray lighting that would accentuate the levels. hope this helps!

Jai, It looks recently repaired. please check with the contractor about the feasibility before you purchase. The swing hooks come with 4 anchor bolts each side which will be sufficient for the requirement . Thanks. Amit Cornerstone Designs, Bangalore

Hi, you don't always need to hide the beam .....if treated well it can be part of space like vintage homes.....forcefully trying to cover it up also not work always...make it work by just fixing mirror on it so ur ceiling length doubles up or as suggested by someone earlier putting rafters is good idea. hope this helps