Tall Order. Woodworking ideas for your home.

Ready-made columns can be a quick way to raise the bar on style

In the encyclopedia of interior features, there's nothing more classic than columns. Tall and stately yet quietly elegant, they can pleasantly transform a room. Columns are also versatile and easy to install: Cut them to size, apply stain and topcoat, put them in place and voilà, instant style. In the treatment shown at left, built-in shelves needed a little something more, and full-height columns created a triple-strength focal point with engaging colour. The unfinished oak was first treated with Minwax^® Water Based Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner to ensure even colour absorption, then it was stained with Minwax^® Water-Based Accents™ Hunter Green. Minwax^® Polycrylic^® Protective Finish in a semi-gloss sheen gave the colour protection and richness.

Wood columns can also be cut down and used as a table base or as stands for displaying collectibles or even as a large candleholder.

The stands shown here were dressed up with a few pieces of molding, stained with Minwax^® Gel Stain Antique Maple and protected with Minwax^® Wipe-On Poly Gloss.

The candleholder was cut from an old lathe-turned post, stripped of many layers of paint and then stained with Minwax^® Water Based Wood Stain American Walnut and topcoated with Polycrylic^® Protective Finish Semi-Gloss.

As you can see from all these projects, the columns make a regal statement.

Project Pointers

Columns come in several shapes, sizes and styles: round or square, straight-sided or tapered, plain-faced or fluted, narrow or wide of girth. Home centers and some lumberyards carry a limited range of sizes, although others can be special-ordered. For an even bigger selection, search the Internet for “columns” and you’ll find that most manufacturers not only have Web sites, but also direct ordering.