Porch Progress

Our house has a skinny front porch that is enclosed with windows. Unfortunately, our porch had turned into a parking spot for miscellaneous things we didn't know what to do with. One of my house goals for the summer was to get it in shape so that we can actually use it.  My budget for this project was around $100.

With the windows open, the porch is a pleasant place to sit and relax in spring, fall, and the not-too-hot part of the summer. In the winter it serves as an air lock, keeping the cold air from blasting right into our living room every time we open the front door. It also gives us a chance to clean off messy shoes before coming into the house.

As you can see in the before photo below, the porch has bead board above the windows (and on the ceiling) and brick below. The wall on the right is the outside wall of the house. The inside of the porch got a fresh coat of paint as part of our exterior house painting project.

With the walls and ceiling inside the porch painted, the next thing that needed attention was the floor. For many years the floor has been covered with a patterned straw matting. I really liked the matting but it was completely worn out. I couldn't find the same matting and it wasn't in the budget to replace it anyway. Paint seemed the logical answer,

Painting the floor and the inside concrete window ledges proved to be very easy. The floor had paint had been covered by the matting and there were a few places where the old paint was flaking off. I scraped those spots, scrubbed down the floor and let it dry very well. I used Behr Porch and Patio Floor paint in Silver Gray to give it a coat of paint. It went on easily and dried enough to put the furniture back in a couple hours. A simple coat of paint made a huge difference.

My plan was for this to be a use-what-you have project. The old wicker furniture got a coat of traditional white paint and new cushions here. A vintage, folding rocking chair that my grandmother used on her porch also got a new cushion. I sewed a couple pillows using fabric from my stash here.

Then I added a primitive cabinet that had been stored in the garage.

The porch still needs some accessories. I figure that if I dig around a bit more I can find some things that I can decorate with without having to buy much. So far I brought out a tabletop fountain (which is probably not "in" but the sound of bubbling water is so soothing). I also tried a vintage planter with succulents but some caterpillar-like bug ate the plants. It's too cold now for plants but next spring, I hope some plants will be in the budget. I did buy a cute little lantern at IKEA--couldn't resist.

I spent $92,70 of my $100 budget: floor paint $29.94 - $5 rebate, fabric and fiberfill for cushions $28, fiberfill for pillows $4.11, spray paint $25.68, lantern $3.99, and 2 succulents $5.98.

My to-do list for the porch still includes: touch up the floor (which got scratched when our new refrigerator was delivered), refinish the wall light fixture, replace the storm door, add a rug of some kind, and add some additional accessories. Most of these things will probably have to wait until spring because winter seems to have arrived before I could get this project completed.