Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 My Finished Project! I absolutely love it!

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Here is a view from the back of the wall/shelf. Because the shelf is being used as a "wall", the back (which will be exposed) should also be finished. Depending on the type of shelving unit you use, some come with finished backs and others do not. My shelving unit did not, and so I needed to finish off the back with oak board that I cut to fit the exact measurements of the unit's back. I,then, nailed into place and painted it out white. This gave the "wall" a nice finished look on the back, as well.

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

View looking into the room that needed the separation from my foyer. (Pic taken from my foyer)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Here it is all finished and accessorized, serving the purpose that I intended it to...a stylish partial room divider, adding a bit of architectural interest to my home:)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Finally, I gave the Pillar a good two coats of white paint to finish off the look.:)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 One last touch to the shelving unit was to add 3/4 inch molding to fit around the base of the shelving unit and to replace the molding that I needed to remove in order to install the unit flush against the wall. You will need a Miter Box to cut the trim so it will fit nicely around each corner. I picked up my own Mini Miter Box and saw at Menards for $6.00. It is just right for me and my projects, and I LOVE IT!

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Once the post was ready for paint I could go ahead and add calk to the side of the shelving unit that sat flush to the wall. I added the calk where the top of the unit met the wall and also all the way down that same side of the shelving unit to the base trim on the wall. By doing this, I was able to fill any small gaps that were exposed, and it gave the unit a more built-in seemless look.

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 The next step was to cover all of the imperfections of the post (knot holes, gouges, splits, nail holes, etc.) with wood putty and then to sand it all down nice and smooth...ready for paint!

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Here is the trim at the base of the Pillar all installed!:)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 To finish the look of a pillar I added trim to the top and bottom of the post that I installed. Now...pay attention because I was thrilled to find this trim. It comes all cut and mitered and ready to fit around any 4 by 4 square post!!! These are awesome...all you have to do is pull one side off and fit the other three sides of the trim around the post, fit the fourth piece on, and then glue and nail the trim into place around the post. I use finish nails because you can pound them in without any nail head showing and cover the rest up with wood putty if need be. I found this trim at the outdoor fencing/post section at Menards for about $4.00. That plus the cost of the 6ft. 4 by 4 post, which was $7.00, and I made my own pillar for just over $10.00!!! Gotta love that!!! :-)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 I wanted pillar attached to the "wall" to add some architectural interest to my room, while at the same time acting as a partition between my foyer and my family room. I looked all over for manufactured pillars to use, and I either did not like the shape, or they were too expensive. I wanted a very simple, understated pillar (nothing too foo foo:). Then, I thought about making my own...less expensive and I could make it simple! I went to a home improvement store and found a 6ft 4by4 raw wood post, which was more than enough in height that I needed from the top of the shelf to the ceiling (Measure twice...or in my case 3, 4, or even five times, and cut once!:) I cut it to fit the space, and used shims to give it just a bit more height so that it was a tight fit between shelf top and ceiling. The Shims also helped to level it off more for me at the top and the base..because my cut of the post was not perfectly flat. It took a bit of moving and tweaking to get it in just the proper place so that it looked as straight as it could be. (The truth is, it will never be perfect because I was working with a wood post used for construction that was not cut perfectly to begin with, but I am ok with that...it works for me;). I, then, nailed the top and bottom of the post to secure it to the shelf top and the ceiling. Tight and Sterdy!

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 LEVEL Pony "Wall"/Shelf!!! :-)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Not only did I need to prep the shelving unit to fit into the space, but I needed to prep the space to fit the shelving unit. This included taking up a bit of the carpet tack strip that you can see in gold here. I just measured how much floor space I would need to fit the unit , and then pulled up and cut off that portion of the metal strip. (I was able to do this without tearing up carpet with just a bit of elbow grease and a box cutter for cutting the carpet from the strip). This removal of the metal carpet strip was important in order to create a flat level surface for the unit to sit on, considering my pony "wall" was going to be sitting between two floor sections (carpet and wood).

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 Here I am showing a close up of the cut out that I made to the base so that it would fit around my floor trim. (I was not about to start pulling up floor trim on that whole wall for such a small section. This worked just fine, and I didn't have to destroy my walls! ;)

Mock Pony Wall/Shelf and Pillar

 I have a room in my home that is quite exposed to other rooms, and I was looking to create a more closed in look and feel. (Not too closed off...but just enough to delineate it as it's own separate space). I tossed around the ideas of half walls (pony walls), and decided I would like to create the "look" of a pony wall and pillar to add architectural interest to my home (plus, I love a little bit of traditional mixed with contemporary, and this 1/2wall and pillar would fulfill that aspect). I did not have the skills to make a REAL pony wall with two by fours, Sheet rock and such, nor was I sure I wanted it to be that permanent. So I settled on creating the look out of a solid shelving unit (TaDaaaa! Pony wall already built!) and a pillar made out of a raw wood post and trim. This picture shows the shelving unit that I chose to use (It is really helpful to choose one with flat sides that will sit pretty flush up against a wall). All I needed to do to prepare the unit for install as my pony wall, was to...1.) cut off the legs to give it more of that built-in look, and 2.) to trim out a portion on the base to fit around my floor trim so that the unit would sit flush against the wall.

Large, Meaningful Wall Art

 I needed a large piece of art for my foyer wall. So, not wanting to spend too much, I found a very ugly, but very cheap picture (with a beautiful old barnwood frame) at the Good Will store. I turned the ugly print around and on the cardboard backing, I wrote song lyrics from my wedding song. Simple and Meaningful! Love it!

Sister's Project

My sister asked me to see if I could find a piece of furniture to fit underneath her large flatscreen TV that they had mounted to a wall in their living room. The piece needed to act as a place to house their TV components, and it needed to have a lot of storage for movies and games.  It also needed to be fairly large because their TV was such a large size.  So I started my search...

Sister's Project/Before

The Find!!! You won't believe it, but this piece was found at a local GoodWill store for a total of..... $11.00!!!  I couldn't pass it up. It had the exact measurements that I was looking for with my sister's project (at least 6ft in length and no more than 3 ft high). This piece was 61/2 ft long and just shy of 3 ft.  FYI:  It helps to have friends act as your look-out for finds, as well. I wasn't always able to search everyday for that one perfect piece, but this one was found by a really good friend who new what I was searching for.  It's wonderful to have friends who like to shop for bargains, too!!!

Sister's Project/Before

The two bottom doors open, revealing the two pull out drawers behind : )