Gardenia / Begonia owners .. Post or no post
 

For those of you with a Gardenia or Begonia....did you add the post the living room/dining room? Are you glad you did or did it become more of a distraction? We like it, but are concerned. Candid thoughts are greatly appreciated.

We had the pillars in our home in Hadley and thought they added a lot of architectural interest. I decorated that home in a cottagy, beachy type feel with white and medium brown furniture and lots of light teal and pink. Shells, sand castle, swimmers from the thirties in pictures and figurines.

BUT the pillars also look well with traditional and transitional...my opinion. I am not a "real" decorator.

I'd vote no if you are doing clean lined contemporary. ...

Not an owner but we both didn't care for them, they looked out of place for this size home.

We have a gardenia and love the look. We feel it is rich looking, and like the feeling of separation it gives the great room - gives it a feel of a dining area, but without the walls.

pillars
 

had first house w/pillars second w/out makes that open look much bigger w/out.

We are building a Gardenia and didn't get the pillars. We felt it limited how long a table you can put in the dining room. Also it seems to block some of the view out the back from the kitchen. We liked the open feel of the room without it.

We added the pillars
 

We put the pillars in and love it. It defines our space. We took out the dining room and made it a sitting room with a fireplace. We love it! We felt without the pillar the room would have been boring. Each to their own!

love them
 

We have a Begonia with the pillars. It gives definition to the room, but it still feels open. We have put our dining room table both ways and had plenty of room either way.

Another vote for the columns, we just like the architectural interest and room definition they create.

I don't have a Gardenia but my friends do and I think the are lovely.
They do provide that architectural interest.

We have a Begonia and decided not to have the columns --gave us much more room for a large table in the dining area ---

Good luck

Pillars
 

:agree::agree:

We likely will be building a Begonia; our friends have a Gardenia. I really like the architectural interest of the columns, as my design esthetic tends toward more traditional tastes. Furthermore, we intend to use much of our existing furniture, so when we got home we scaled out on graph paper how it all would fit. Before we decided to stretch, we came to the realization that the posts did not work well with our planned furniture placement. Since we now intend to stretch, we haven't re-figured the floorplan. However, I've now gotten used to the idea of living without the columns, so it's likely we will not add them. Then again, so many decisions to make when you build, I could easily change my mind. Just my thoughts.

Here's a picture in our Gardenia where the columns are showing. We're happy to have them and have not had the feelings or concerns others have had about space, views or open feelings!

Love your use od color!

We have a Gardenia and do have the columns. We love that they define the dining area from the living room. Great architectural detail!

Gardenia columns
 

I have a Gardenia with the pillars and would like to take them out. I don't like the way they cut up the view when you look out from the kitchen. When we replace our carpeting, we will be removing them. (We can't do it now, because we don't have any extra carpeting.)

They are pretty if you like a more traditional style.

walkr

Like your paint job, skyguy!

We bought a Begonia and decided on one with no pillars. I like the openness, and our furniture, while not modern, is casual and goes well with the "great room" look. (Is that even a look? Who knows.)

TY! The painting was done by Tom Campbell (Heads a group of Senior Residents) 352-430-1102 and his wife Carolyn was our color consultant who recommended the colors you see in the photo as well as the rest of the rooms in our home!

Thanks for the painting recommendation. We are so ready for some color in here and need advice on what color. Plus I granted my husband a reprieve from painting chores years ago. We had a baby grand piano once and he had a bucket of paint, and, and...

We have the Gardenia, no columns. We love it. We purchased a spec house, so had no choice. The spec house was extended with hard wood floors in living room and dining room, tile in kitchen and halls. I think the columns would have detracted from the openness of floor plan.

OMG... Baby Grand Piano abuse! :oops:I hope he never suggests that you go with him to "paint the town red!" We'll all need to hire guards to protect our homes.:a20:

BTW, the color consulation was a paid for service. Just want to make sure you realize that!

That's good to know. I think it would be worth some $ to avoid a costly mistake. (There was the Westinghouse Electric blue bedroom error back in the 80s.)

We are building a Begonia now and didn't care for the pillars
But it what you want .

We built a Gardenia w/out columns. No columns and tile floor (everywhere except bedrooms) really, really opens up the house; gives the illusion of the area being larger than it actually is. The openness extends through sliders that "disappear", into an extended lanai.

we have the pillars in our Gardenia and love how it defines the space. We will be moving to a new home soon (larger, different model) and it doesn't have the pillars and really needs something to define the space so we are getting a contractor to put some in.

We are building the Sunflower, same interior as the Begonia. We are not putting in columns so we have more space for the table when the whole family is there. Also felt they would be in the way of the breakfast bar where we seem to congregate in all our homes! But as said ...to each, their own!
Either way, love the floor plan!

This is exactly how we felt...there is a nice openess and more flexibility but it comes down to your own personal preferences. Best of luck!

We have a Begonia, no columns, desk in the breakfast nook, love it!

I have a gardenia and love my columns :smiley:

When we were looking, we found a Wisteria that had all of the options that we wanted and I was sure that we were going to buy it, although we really liked the Gardenia. Our sales rep showed us a Gardenia that was a neighborhood "close out" which did not have pillars (the first we ever saw without pillars) and we grabbed it. We like the openess of the "great room" and feel that it gives us many options in decorating. Bottom line though is that you should go with what you like best-as you see, there are differing opinions! :thumbup:

Begonia columns
 

We have them and really are happy with them - I have a fairly large dining table and it is not problem at all. Just seems to give a seperation pont from the living and dining area.

I am looking to upgrade from a ranch to a designer. The Begonia is my favorite because of the pillars.