Whether you use columns as a supporting element or an aesthetic design element, fitting columns into your architectural plans will improve your home. Interior columns can be used as an architectural or decorative element to offer a timeless beauty. There are many great ways to display them proudly. Below are tips to use decorative columns as design features in your house:
Consider Structure First when Designing your Home
Spend time talking to your structural engineer and architect about options to address columns. Ask the design experts if you can plan how you will use the big spaces such as the living and family rooms or open kitchen so that big columns are not stuck in odd places.
Add Columns to Add Luxurious Details
Much like ceiling medallions, adding columns can add grandeur and scale to your interiors. You can display classical columns that have attractive capitals as Tuscan and Doric style with simple lines. Also, you can be as elaborate as a Corinthian style that has intricate leaves, detailing, and swirls.
Cover It Up
A big column can be covered with an accent material such as brick, timber, stone, wallpaper, or timber strips. The material will help in spiking some interest in the room and will transform the column into an accent feature. Also, the furniture pieces can be anchored against an accent column. This will work for areas such as the kitchen nook or bar, TV space, entertainment center, and display shelves.
Mirror It
Wrapping an existing column in floor-to-ceiling mirrors will make the column seem to disappear by reflecting the visible surfaces around it. If one side of a huge room has a wide column, the space can be balanced visually by putting up a floor-to-ceiling storage cabinet on the other side. Ensure the column is finished in the same material as the new storage space. You break the monotony by using a combination of materials when you deal with bigger scaled features.
Use Greenery Around Exterior Columns
Columns can serve as creative focal points, especially on a terrace or outdoor patio. Talk to a landscape designer to know the kind of foliage to use for climbing or clinging onto the specific exterior materials. Choose plants that can be used vertically and horizontally in outdoor applications.
Pick the Right Column Material
Depending on your interior design style, think about the kind of material that will work best in your house. For a lot of chic urban lofts, exposed steel columns have an appeal that many homeowners love for their industrial-inspired homes. If your house lends itself towards traditionally appointed interiors, use drywall wraps around columns to finish off a big room or open basement.
Build Around It
You can make the column look as if it is part of the plan by adding storage space on its sides. It can be used as a support or an accent. Also, you can use shelving that surrounds or embraces a column or extend narrow or shallow columns to align with the furniture’s width.
