All over North America, developers are building condominiums with big rounded concrete pillars smack in the middle of the room.
These columns block the view, block the flow and aren’t practically useful for anything – you can’t even screw shelves into them!
Here is a list of ideas for what to do with that Big Hulking Column in your life:
Mount a TV on it
This is the #1 most common use for the pillar that I’ve seen. Condomounts.com supplies these strap-mounted TV brackets for attaching a TV to pillars:
They also supply these little strappable shelves:
Tie fabric around it
In this Reddit thread, user simon1024 shared that they tied fabric from IKEA around the column using a rope. In the photo, you can also see that the clock is held up with a string that goes around the column.
If you are looking to attach fabric to the top of a column, consider using baling wire, Strapping (requires special tools for tensioning and sealing), an Endless Ratchet Tie-Down (doesn’t require tools) or even jumbo Velcro straps. Leave extra fabric at the top of the column, and fold it over the strap to hide it from view.
There are also cheaper options.
Colour and texture
You can paint the column. Especially if it is bare concrete.
Things get more interested with wallpaper. You can surround it with removable wallpaper or even cover it with vinyl tile wallpaper for an effect like this:
Make sure to test with a small-ish patch to make sure the vinyl tiles are flexible enough to bend around the pillar’s diameter, while sticking firmly. You could also actually tile the column if you’re some sort of Mr. Moneybags 😝
If you own the unit, you can use adhesive to wrap rope all around the column. Use an appropriate adhesive – likely Polyurethane construction adhesive – to glue the rope in place. Consider also threading hooks through the rope. They can serve as points to attach baskets or hanging plants.
Go wild by creating a “Michelin Man” effect around the column by purchasing a lot of Pool Noodles, gluing them around the column and painting. Be sure to test the glue and paint on the pool noodle, because the may contain chemicals that’ll dissolve the noodle.
You can go further and surround the pillar with flexible “acoustic wall panelling” like this product from MSI Stone:
Finally, you can spice up a plain column by gluing flexible mouldings around the base and top to make it look like an ancient Roman column. Look for a product called “flexible cornice” or “polyurethane moulding”, and make sure it is the flexible variety that can curve to any diameter.
Climbing plants
If you decide to cover the pillar with jute or rope, then you’ll be able to add climbing plants in pots at the bottom. The rope will allow the plant to easily climb up the pillar.
Use this fantastic reference from Fassaden Grun to pick the appropriate type of climbing plant. You could skip the rope altogether by planting a Self-Clinging Plant like Engelmann Ivy! (note: it will permanently mar the surface of the column)
Objects around / against the column
Prop a “shelf ladder” against the column. Think of ways to attach it to the column in a stable way. You may need to use a saw to cut an appropriate-diameter indent in the shelves so that the ladder doesn’t slide off the column’s cylindrical surface.
Depending on the diameter of your pillar, one of these furnishings could fit neatly beside it. You can use them as seating, as a on-level bookshelf, or stack them vertically to create a tall semicircular bookshelf.
You can raise the table’s legs by attaching additional pieces and painting the whole thing.
You can also create a frame that’s suitable for attaching shelves by a children’s “Climbing Arch” sideways. The key is to make sure you have the right diameter for your pillar.
Cover it up
You can glue 2″x4″ bits of lumber to the column vertically, which would allow you to drill into the wood and hang pictures, add hooks and lightweight shelves.
You could also fully cover your column with wood up to the ceiling like this:
You could also use plywood panels or acoustic panels.
If you “box in” the column completely, with panels that screw into each other on each side, then that could support sturdy bookshelves.
“Straparound” shelves
Use a combination of ratcheted tie-downs and loose shelf supports to create a shelf all around like @thesorrygirls on Instagram did in the linked video.
You don’t have to mess with custom-made semicircular wooden shelves like they did (Mr. Moneypants 🤑). You can install more brackets at waist height an stack books flat on top of them – in that way, the surface of the books will become the bookshelf itself.
For a more basic “straparound” setup, use a Timber Hitch Knot to hang up “sliding kitchen hooks” around your column.
You could also go real deep and design a sort of product prototype around all this 😁:
Thanks for reading!
If you want more ideas, check out this great thread on Facebook.
Note: I don’t have a rounded column in my own home. I’m just shocked at how many of them I see in high-rise units. I’m hoping this page of tips will improe the world by removing a little annoyance from a lot of people’s lives.
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