So happy :)

This is what we were starting from: the original beadboard barrel vaulted ceiling over the front door.
This was uncovered when we removed the steel siding and aluminum trim. I had seen it in old pictures of the house and wanted to put it back in place - luckily, it was still there! Dad attempted to remove the chipping paint, but this was more of a job than anyone wanted. So we installed new, freshly primed and painted beadboard in its place!

The underside of the overhang (and the wood face with the arch cut out) was wrapped in the same PVC I used for the trim everywhere else. This will be resistant to rot and will hopefully last a really long time!

After using a plumb bob to find where the center of the pillar would be, we got to drilling the hole for the lag bolt that would secure the base to the step. We actually just expanded the holes from the previous bolt holding the iron posts in place, which was much easier than drilling an entirely new hole in this solid old mortar.

One down. And the roof didn't even fall in! ;)

After bolting and gluing a piece of pressure treated (and primed) lumber to the step, we wrapped it in PVC and made this base to support the new pillar. We used a spade bit to drill a hole down into the base to receive a wooden dowel. There's a corresponding hole in the top plate as well. 

Voila! Snapped into place and fit perfectly on the first try!
We glued the dowels and pre-drilled and counter sunk four screws into the top and bottom of each pillar.
You could hang a (tiny) hammock from these babies!

On pillar (and day) number two, I started out solo when Dad was called into work.
Since we had already done all of the hard work in trying to figure out how best to do this job, the second pillar went much quicker!

My grandpa came over after we had lunch and helped me trim a half-inch off the bottom of the second pillar.
I failed to account for the the slope in the step from side to side to help with water runoff...so one of the bases is a tad higher than the other if you look closely.
No matter, though...we trimmed the pillar, installed the dowels into either end, and snapped this one into place all the same!

I couldn't stop looking at these yesterday - I was so happy with how everything turned out!

Mom and I filled the screw holes, sanded away any excess, and caulked all the joints or seams all around the ceiling, arch, and top and bottom of each column. After a coat of paint, this is going to look even better than it already does.
HUGE thanks to everyone who helped! This was the last big construction project around the house and it was such a weight off my shoulders to actually have these popped into place and finished that I was all of the sudden really inspired to throw down grass seed and start focusing on this ratty looking lawn of mine! ;)