Screen Porch: Construction Complete - Finally!

I am happy to say that the porch is finished.  We added about 40 square feet but it feels like we doubled the size.  It's aaaaaamazing.  I love it and I want to sit out there all the time.  It gives me a reason to walk through our living room!

As a reminder, here's the before (which doesn't look all that bad just smaller and not as bright)...

I attribute the better feeling to the ceiling most of all. Having a cathedral ceiling with loads of light pouring in through the open gable end and skylight seems to make the whole project worth it.  Although it wasn't the quickest project, I think the end result is worth it and Jim pulled it off in the end.  Of course, I'm already thinking about tiling the floor down the road but that will have to wait for Handy Hubby to recover from this event.

This also highlights the need to get some more screening landscaping between us and our neighbors.  We love our neighbors but not their air conditioners and trash cans!

Next up bringing the furniture back in and getting a new rug and dining table.  Mmmmm... shopping :)

Screen Porch: Lighting

Had to share a quick lighting update because I am sooooo excited about it.  The combination of great looking lights and affordability are so rare.  For what it's worth, I tend to like the style of Lowes lighting as opposed to Home Depot when I'm not looking to break the bank. If I am looking to break the bank, Restoration Hardware all the way.

First the below lanterns are from Lowes.  Sorry for the blurry pic!  Hard to beat the $29 price tag.

The fan is from Home Depot and it's their basic Hunter Bay indoor/outdoor fan. We had intended to use our old fan but it did not survive the renovation so we had to get a new one. Probably a blessing because I like the cleaner lines of this one and it's actually meant for outdoor use whereas our other fan was not.

Still struggling over the lamp outside the back door. So far I haven't found the right thing but I'm hoping I run across the right solution soon!!

I'll share some finished porch pictures really soon!

Screen Porch: Paint Problem Solved

Our paint problem got solved mid-week last week with some simple paint matching.  Of course, finding a piece of existing trim that could be removed and replaced easily proved a bit of a challenge but one of the base pieces of the front porch columns did the trick.  

Here's what was greeting me when I got home on Monday night last week. 

By the end of the week, everything was repainted and it now looks like this...

Still to come - lighting, screens, and floor paint.  We're so close I can almost taste it!

Hope everyone had a beautiful Mother's Day! After an absolutely jam-packed Saturday, Sunday was so relaxing!  I spent a great day with my kids, starting with a mouth-watering brunch at one of my favorite local restaurants, Liberty Tavern, followed by a relaxing day at home.  My father-in-law snapped this picture on our way to the restaurant.

Happy Mother's Day!

Screen Porch: Paint Problems

UGH.  That's pretty much all I can say right now.  We were sooooo close to having this whole porch renovation done this week but now I think that's in jeopardy.  I'm still holding out hope that it will be done in time for Alex's birthday party on the 20th but even that seems like a big hope.  (for the full play by play, click here).

So what's the hold up? Paint of all things!!  Totally not our contractor's fault. I had the original paint can from when we renovated 2.5 years ago.  The painters bought some more based on the formula and they started putting it on the porch and it didn't match the existing trim!  Huh???  I could imagine this happening if the paint was 5 years old but it's not even 3 years old. The color is really off and not even something I can live with in the short term because it's so obvious.

Here you go...

So the painting stopped which means the gutters are held up and the last of the woodworking and the screens...

I had forgotten how the details at the end are all so dependent on each other so one hold up, puts everything behind.  

Still looking forward to painting our porch.

Screen Porch: Ceiling, Oh the Ceiling!

If you've been around a while following the progress on our porch, you'll remember that the porch ceiling was a source of some angst for me.  I debated paint and stain in several variations.  Ultimately stain seemed the right way to go, so I sought out a white semi-transparent stain.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but I did find several. We ultimately went with Cabot brand.

Here's the result...

Here's what it looked like before.

Still a little bit rustic but still traditional and fitting for our house.  I love it.

Some other details have been added now as well including this upright in the peak.  

You can also see the first coat of paint but I wish it was a simple story which had already resolved itself, but it's not. More to come on that...