Calisthenics and Bodyweight Fitness

I like the idea of body weight routines, but when I've tried them in the past it's usually meant that I tried to convert my apartment into a gym. I try to turn a corner, the sink lip, the floor, the walls and more recently a pull up bar into a sort of "gym" and it's never worked out for me.

I started paying for a gym a while back and have been going almost every day that I can and I've found it a lot easier to help me get into routine to the point that I think trying to start out with bodyweight was a mistake.

As a (perpetual) beginner I've always struggled finding the right intensity and variation of workout. I find the gym equipment lowers that difficulty. I can spend 20 minutes on a bike (no hills, no traffic, no stop signs, no people, no weather) and then stretch using a roller and a pad, then hop onto a machine having never used it before, glance at the instructions, pick a weight and go.

I've just noticed this over the last few weeks and I guess what I'm wondering is if you think calisthenics is appropriate for beginners or is something more suited to people who have 'graduated' from the gym.