Painting - painting wood beams and stained wood ceiling

Hi, my friend just bought a 60's house and wished to paint the dark wood stained ceilings a 'white' as well as the beams which are made of a cheaper type of wood and have already been painted brown. I suggested doing a 'bleached' or 'whitewashed' effect so it would add a little class. In some of the rooms, the beams have already been painted white and it looks terrible and cheap. How would you go about doing this?

Thanks,

Trish

Its not easy to bleach a sealed surface such as a stain varnish (gloss finish) If the finish is a plain matt finish you will have a better chance. Experimentation is the key and you will have to thin some white oil based or waterbased paint very thin and paint on using a 2 to 3 inch brush....Then with a lint free rag wipe off the surplus.
Try the water based version first as this is easiest to clean off immediatly if not satisfactory using a clean damp sponge.
Do this in a small area and aprove the results before applying this finish to the rest of the ceiling. There are products available that are tailor made for the job,but it depends on where you are based because of availability.

Good ideas from Toptosher, when I whitewash finished wood I will sand lightly with a 220 grit, apply an oil based paint thined about in half with paint thinner, then wipe it back off with a clean dry rag before it has a chance to dry, doing it in sections, one or two slats at a time. Basically the same as Toptosher mentioned. Allow to dry and finish with an oil based clear finish of choice.