Porch Makeover

I am so pleased to be able to finally be able show off our newly decorated screened porch today.

If you’ve been following along, you may remember I mentioned I had plans for the porch space in the post about our new home last spring. I admit its taken awhile to get it pulled together, but I finally think its ready to be shown off.

Here it was the day we moved in.

And here it is now…

I don’t know if I have shared that we rented this home sight unseen {long story, but competition in the neighborhoods we needed to move to for schools was fierce this spring} when a rental popped on the market in our first choice of neighborhoods, we jumped on applying, even though we were leaving for Disney the next day and couldn’t make a trip up to see it for ourselves. Terry walked through the house and sent me pictures of it, and I knew we could make it work. While the colorful decor was very different from our former home, I could tell from the pictures that there were a few things that made us take the chance on this house, and the #1 thing was that it had a screened-in porch.  So, fast forward to now living here, and its probably the most used space in our house.

So the only problem in decorating the porch is in not knowing if we’ll be here only a few more months, I couldn’t justify spending much money to make the space wonderful. I had the same chairs/cushions from our last front porch {see it HERE} and first planned to stick with the same black and lime green colors, until I stumbled on the pillow fabric at JoAnn’s. My wheels started turning and even though I knew I would have to sew pillow covers, and new cushions, the fabric was only $7.99 a yard on sale and it was so summery and fun, I just had to have it in the space.

I started the new color scheme by spray painting my chairs and my baker’s rack. I wasn’t pleased with the way the chairs looked after the first go round of spray paint–too shiny and gunmetal gray-so I took some french gray chalk paint to them and got a great vintage looking finish. I found the wicker settee and table on Craig’s List. I repurposed {yet again, see its evolution here and as a bar at this party here } my baker’s rack for a shelf and then hung some sheer curtains in the corners to make it feel more like a room.

The chest-turned-coffee table may or may not stay in the space permanently. I actually purchased that chest to remake it and sell it. It was in need of some love as it was covered in bumper stickers and tucked in a corner at a thrift store, but I knew it had potential. Once it was painted with chalk paint and stenciled for interest, I brought it out to the porch to photograph but immediately decided it needed to stay right where it was. It’s the perfect size to hold extra cushions, blankets for chilly nights and other things that should stay dry.  Of course, I still may sell it, since I may find something else I like for the space even more.

But for now, it is perfect to hold some afternoon lemonade {glasses and tray from HomeGoods}.

I hung my monogram {I ordered mine from HERE} out there as well.

A note about the carpet. I can’t go as far to say this was a “fail” project, but I saw various other bloggers had painted inexpensive Home Depot (or similar) rugs with great success. I picked one up, and just painted on some gray latex to outline it. We have a cheap rug out there for one reason and one reason only….

Here she is.

In a few short weeks, this carpet will likely be relegated to the trash, which is life with a puppy! At first I was a little bummed that the carpet didn’t look good once painted, but now I think its perfectly fine since its just a temporary solution. Next year we’ll invest in a rug, but for now, at least our loveable Lucy matches my porch decor 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!