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Column, half-column works perfectly well in English. Why look further?
Lingère (laundry supervisor) is, even by extension, somewhat missleading as the detail thumbnail illustration shows a colonne lingère with internal glass shelves and storage for a variety of objects, including hand towels, toiletries etc. On this basis wall unit (less cumbersome than other options), describes exactly what it is.
The difference between a colonne (column) and demi-colonne (half-column) is evident from the illustrations. Lin is a column; Nuit bleue, Anis and Blanc are half-columns i.e. tall and short wall (mounted) units, the short unit being half the height of the other.
Many thanks Alan - I wonder why I didn't come across this myself - I've searached all over sanijura. It's perfectly clear from the dwgs that height is the difference. By the way, the pdf loaded in a second chez moi.
It takes ages to load and doesn't doesn't have page numbers but if you scroll to the page headed RITMO Class you will find extremely clear diagrams of what Sanijura refers to as a Colonne and Demi-colonne. Both are 40 cm wide x 34 cm deep. The former is 147 cm high, the latter 83.4 cm. Both are wall mounted storage units of various configurations but within the same overall standard dimensions. On that basis height is the only difference between the two. The diagrams in the various calalogues available on the manufacturer's website may help resolve a few other translation issues for the same client.
It is I who am missing something - I looked too hastily at the 2 detail pictures. Clearly they're on different scales so the "half" does refer to height. Thanks Alan!
The picture reference given shows two wall mounted storage units of identical width, a tall unit to the left and half-height but otherwise identical unit to the right.
Thanks to all for your contributions. I'm tending to Michael's version, but may well check this (and a fair number of other equally baffling terms) with the client.
So, logically, a "demi-colonne lingère" would be something for keeping textiles in which is wall-mounted.
Your picture shows bathroom furniture, and the demi-colonne lingère is probably the big, cupboard-like item on the right of the mirror as you look at the photo. One term used in the UK for this is "linen cabinet".
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): -2
