I want to update you on one of my favorite rooms (or space?) in our cozy little bungalow...the screened-in porch! To jog your memory, this is how it was looking after the makeover on the outdoor couch mentioned here and here:
Not bad, but not great either. I needed some change! Of course, this feeling hit me about a week after having Reynolds. See, when I'm stressed, I stress-clean. I guess that's better than stress-eating?? When I came home from the hospital, I came home without my baby - enter "stress."
Somehow I found time to work on this project, even though I was visiting the NICU 3-4 times each day. But while I was home, by myself, I needed some distraction. The screened-in porch was the lucky recipient of my stress relief. :)
For starters, I painted the flooring of the porch. It had been dusty blue, the same color as our house, but the paint was so badly chipped in places, it was kind of sad-looking. I used the rug above to hide a lot of the chippiness, but this rug had gotten nasty from the weather, dogs, etc... So picture me, 1 week after having a c-section, on my hands and knees, painting this floor. I justified it to my worried husband that I would still be sitting down, just on the floor instead of the couch, and that my arms weren't needing to heal from anything. I doubt my doctor would've approved but oh well...
The next thing on the agenda was all of the wood work. We had all of the white wood exterior of our house (i.e. windows, trim, etc...) repainted this summer and it looks so much better. However, we forgot to have the painter include the porch. :( There is a lot of woodwork out here and I knew I couldn't handle it this particular week so Matthew's dad graciously volunteered to help us out. He and a friend came one morning were finished shortly after lunch. Now that I think about it, they actually did this before I painted the floor; I didn't want them to have to be super careful about dripping paint.
So at this point, the 2 big projects out here had been taken care of... yay! Next on the list was the outdoor couch. I must've been feeling extra colorful the day I first painted this. Remember this is what it looked like when I inherited it from my mom:
Then I spray painted it teal:
Well I decided to jump on the ORB bandwagon and go for a nice neutral oil rubbed bronze. (note to self- I've kinda been on this bandwagon for a few years now). Anywho, after a few coats of spray paint and updating the throw pillows, here is how she's looking:
We also scored this outdoor rug on clearance at Target for $30 (marked down from $90) and I think it really defines the area better than the previous one. I also replaced the large coffee table with a smaller trunk so there would be more space and threw in some new accessories here and there. .
See how the fresh white paint pops off the black floor. Love.
Side note: it's been over a year since I made the seat and back cushions for the couch (see that project here and here) and I must say they are holding up quite nicely! :)
This space instantly became much more inviting and I love spending time out here. I'm trying to convince the Mr. that a small flat-screen tv would be perfect out here, don't you think? I'll let you know how that turns out, ha! :) I think these 2 really love the new space; can you say spoiled?
Well, that's all for today. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!
How beautiful!!!!! You're coming to my house soon, right?
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