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.

Pillows for the Porch

One of my current projects is to spruce up our front porch. The front porch is enclosed with windows that we keep open from spring through fall so that it functions as a screened porch. I didn't get started on the project in time for enjoying the spring weather this year but I did get the wicker furniture painted (you can read about that here) and back on the porch in time to take advantage of some lovely summer days and I hope to add some finishing touches just in time for fall.

After painting the wicker furniture and sewing some quick and easy cushions for it, I decided that some throw pillows were needed, both for comfort and for style. Since I have given myself a budget of around $100 for this project I went to my fabric stash to see what I could find to work with. I paired some vintage ticking stripe fabric for the fronts with a blue print on a red background for the back.

I was inspired by this photo of a pillow made out of ticking fabric that I found on Pinterest to turn the stripes in different directions. That simple idea really adds a lot of interest to what would otherwise be a pretty plain pillow.

For more inspiration follow Better Nesting on Pinterest.

Before and After: Quick Update of Wicker Furniture

One of the projects that I have been working on this summer is a re-do of our front porch. I want to, mostly, use furniture and accessories that I already have and spend no more than $100 in total for the porch makeover.

Years ago when I first bought the house I considered looking for vintage wicker for the front porch but opted instead for a 3-piece set (settee and 2 chairs) from, if I remember correctly, Walmart.

The new set had some advantages over vintage wicker. It was easily obtainable. I was able to walk right into store and purchase it, as opposed to searching through flea markets, antique malls, yard sales, etc. It was a small scale that worked on the small porch. And, I was worried that something more valuable could be stolen off the porch.

Fast forward a bunch of years. I still have 2 of the 3 pieces. One chair broke and was discarded long ago. The remaining chair and settee are looking pretty dirty (although they have been scrubbed down and hosed off many times) and somewhat worse for the wear.

I want to spruce up the porch and for the same reasons that I bought this wicker set in the first place, I want to give it a quick, cheap make over with some paint and new cushions and re-use it. After considering some bolder color options, I decided to go with traditional white paint.

After giving the furniture a good scrubbing with soap and water, I hosed it off and let it dry thoroughly before painting. I knew that the unpainted wicker would really soak up a lot of paint, so I started with a spray primer and then followed with regular white spray paint.

I also sewed some simple cushions since the last set was long gone. To do the cushions I made a quick pattern by tracing the shape of the seats onto paper. Using the pattern I made, I cut out the top and bottom of the cushions. I sewed them together with the right sides of the fabric facing each other, left a opening, turned them inside out, pressed, stuffed with fiberfill, and then sewed up the opening. Nothing fancy, but they do the job.

Total expenditure on this project = $53.68

Spray primer and paint was $25.68. I made a note of the amount but not of how many cans of paint I bought. It was 2 cans of primer and either 3 or 4 cans of regular spray paint. I really could have use a bit more paint but I concentrated on the fronts which will be seen and figured that to keep the white paint looking fresh they will need to be repainted often anyway.

2 1/2 yards of fabric and 1 large box of fiberfill was $28, exactly, from Hancock Fabrics. The fabric and the fiberfill were both on sale and I had a coupon from completing an online customer survey. This was enough fabric and filling to make the cushions for wicker settee and chair as well as another chair that will be used on the porch).