Decorative sleeve for wooden beam

A method of protecting or enhancing an appearance of a beam structure, the beam structure being a component of a building structure, the method consisting essentially of:

• providing a sleeve including a sleeve rear opening on a rear side of the sleeve, the sleeve having a textured outer surface;
• inserting the beam structure into the sleeve through the sleeve rear opening, such that the sleeve fully covers an exposed surface area of the beam structure and a perimeter of the sleeve rear opening directly contacts a wall of the building structure;
• and
• driving a nail or screw through the sleeve and the beam structure at a top side thereof to secure the sleeve to the beam structure,
• the sleeve being a hollow, single piece encasement that conforms to the exposed surface area of the beam structure,
• wherein a cross section of the sleeve and the sleeve rear opening have a common perimeter defining an outermost side boundary of the sleeve,
• wherein the perimeter of the sleeve rear opening does not include any peripheral flange projecting outwardly therefrom, and
• wherein the textured outer surface of the sleeve integrates with the wall of the building structure such that the sleeve is visually undetectable as a separate covering over the beam structure.