You have to follow your instincts, your heart, when renovating an old house.

I spent the last few days tearing down almost half of a ceiling in our main “demolition” room. Our plan is to expose the old oak rafters and build a ceiling about a foot or more above the exposed rafters. The beams will be sanded down, lightly sealed, and the age and rough saw marks will be evident, not hidden.

When a house is in process, it’s often hard to describe the intended final outcome to visitors. “What about the resale value?” some ask. Others just nod and wonder, “Do they know what they are doing?” Still others join in with excitement and interest. Most are just happy they are not doing the dirty work and can walk away, unburdened, by such a big project.

But the whole endeavor of renovation has to be about what you want, about your aesthetic — and happily, Paula and I share the same tastes: half “authentic rustic,” half “clean contemporary,” with an emphasis on re-used or re-purposed materials. We’ve lived in houses that are predominantly standard drywall, standard colors, and they make us uncomfortable after a while.

For the ceiling above the rafters, we’re looking at using 29-gauge corrugated steel. Another head-scratcher for some, but in the Summer 2013 magazine, “Houses,” published by Fine Home Building, which featured the 2013 award-winners, we dog-eared this page:

And a search on the web provides more examples of uses for corrugated steel, both new and salvaged:

Weathered steel can set too rustic a tone, moving down the “salvaged” path a bit too far for my tastes. But new steel, used sparingly, can be a visual surprise. It’s about texture, in the end, and using varying textures to compliment and contrast with each other. Rough balancing smooth, old balancing new.

Move too far in one direction and monotony takes over, and contrast is lost.

Yet there’s no accounting for personal taste: one man’s “visual surprise” will remain simply glorified shed roofing to others. Seek personal satisfaction. Cultivate an aesthetic that feels comfortable to you. That’s all that matters.