Easy decorative faux-stone column

Almost any room can benefit from a few large, impressive accent pieces, but home accessories like these tend to be expensive. These inexpensive columns are made from building forms - or the tubes used to roll carpets - plus terracotta flowerpots and saucers. You can use a jigsaw to cut the tubes shorter if desired.

 

The columns look especially impressive when they’re grouped together. We used a set of them to add Old World charm to a previously boring corner.

DIY TIP:
Get in touch with your local carpet dealer for carpet tubes, or find them on your local Gumtree.

First, turn the terracotta saucer upside down, and then adhere the lip of a terracotta pot to it with No More Nails adhesive. Apply more adhesive around the flowerpot and set the cardboard tube into it.

TIP
If you can't find terracotta pots to fit, substitute with plastic pots and pre-paint with Rust-Oleum to the desired finish.

Next, apply a bead of No More Nails adhesive to another terracotta pot, and set it into the top of the cardboard tube. Remove the excess adhesive, and let the parts dry.

With the column assembled, you’re ready to add the texture. Use a sponge to dab Polycell Finishing Plaster onto the column. Once you’ve covered a small section, gently drag a putty knife across the surface of the drywall compound. Repeat until the column is covered. Let the finish dry overnight.

Give the column a base colour by lightly brushing paint over the entire surface. To “age” the column, dab on random spots of broken white and watered down brown and rub the spots with a rag to soften the look.