Screened Porch Makeover

While everyone is posting beautiful pictures of their Christmas decorations, I'm still working on finishing touches and finding time to shoot pictures of it all! This week and last week have been super busy at work.

In the meantime, I finished updating an empty room that only took until this August to finish, having started around LAST August! Then I just took pictures of it in September. If blogging was strictly about real time I'd be worse than I already am!

Anyway, here are some before, during and after pictures with brief explanations of all that went down during our screened in porch makeover. It is located through the french doors off of our breakfast nook in the kitchen with a small deck directly off of that.

These are the shots I grabbed but the movers had already unloaded this stuff. On the deck are the matching lounger and loveseat. Those felt more 'outside' than inside so we kept them out there and pulled the bar inside.

Since we did not have a screened porch in our old place, we had no furniture for it except for the bar and stools. We ordered a Martha Stewart loveseat and chair from Home Depot, delivered to the door. #gottalovedelivery



Cute kitty with his Summer Lion's Cut not included!



Mr. NW&TOH showing his furniture building skilz.

I found this cool chandelier at one of my local consignment stores and thought it would work for this area as a non-electric one. There are already cool laterns on either side of the french doors.

I also added a little trim to this shade I got at the same consignment store.

Then I did a little LOT of sewing (spread out between last summer and this summer) to make pillows and cover an old love seat cushion as well as cover the pillows that came with our loveseat. There is one lesson that can be learned here regarding online ordering. NO Matter how close something looks in the pictures, it is usually NOT the same. The pillows that came with the loveseat looked exactly like the fabric I got by the yard at the Home Depot (did you know you could do that?), online. However, when it all came, they were not the same. Though you would have to be really paying attention to notice AND they'd be on the loveseat on the deck, I covered them anyway. #callmeOCD

 

A pattern created from graph paper



Using two coordinating fabrics, I made pillows for the furniture and then made cushions for the bar stools . I ended up with back cushions when my attempt at seat cushions using poly-fill were too thin. That's about the time that winter hit allowing me to set this project aside. Then Spring hit and we realized the downfall of a screening in porch (other than not being able to use it in the winter): POLLEN can get thru the screen!

See the too thin 1st attempt at seat cushions.

Enter Spring/Summer of 2012 and the nice weather had me craving a cold beverage on our porch. After emptying the whole room and hosing down everything from furniture to candles and anything that was out there to the room itself, we began again.

Since the bar furniture was clean and sitting in the yard I stained it and the matching loveseat and lounger. It had been a few years since it was given attention so it was time. 

Then we put the furniture back in the room, I ordered a lounger cushion since it was cheap and easier than trying to cover the old one, and headed back to the sewing machine. There I created new seat cushions for the bar stools using 2" foan instead, created a cover for the loveseat and covered the 2 pillows original to the new furniture. Then finally took pictures of it all!

Here is the deck directly off the porch, then shots of the porch:







playing with new Nikon P&S







Chandelier finished in Lagoon



Side of the room opposite the bar



Here's the finished lamp shade.

 


Look at the awesome ceiling!

 

Spray painted the side table by the chair from
white to black to match the lights and shelf.



I love the orange accents spotted around the room
and on the deck.



I really love this room. After using it for a couple of seasons I think I'll order the ottoman that is still available at the Home Depot come Spring. I'd been holding out for an orange pouf or a ceremic garden stool, but I have not found a good enough deal to do it.  We will add a small mounted flat screen in the corner above the bar next year.

We would also love to get panels to put in the window openings but they are crazy expensive. We may go the trailer trash route and put up the plastic ones that use a hair dryer to seal them to the wood. At least it would keep it usable for longer and keep the pollen out this Spring.  (There may be a bigger reason, like this is where we would like to set up the bar for our Christmas party next weekend. Yes, there's that.)

Linking to: 

A Glimpse Inside

Fireflies and Jellybeans

A Little Paint, A Load of Personality and A Lot of Pinterest Inspiration

UPDATE: I'm linking up to Roeshel's DIY Project Parade! AND I bought furniture this weekend but I need cushions and that debacle is a whole other post!



DIY Showoff

I read the wisdom of an interior decorator somewhere very recently:

"The front door is always the most impactful place that you can apply a coat of paint and completely change the personality of your home."

I'd say!! I'd also say some cool house numbers and a coordinating flower pot wouldn't hurt either.

A bit of elbow grease, some ketchup and then some Barkeeper's Friend on all the handle, knocker and kick plate really cleaned up the old antique brass.

Here is where the Pinterest Challenge comes into play. Here is one of the many pictures I have in my 'For the Home - Exterior' folder of house numbers.

A plaque from Hobby Lobby, Rustolem black gloss paint and 3D house numbers from Home Depot were used to create a 'pinspired' way to display our house numbers. It is hard to see in the pictures above but we had small, [ugly, shiny] brass 4-inch house numbers on the door.

     

 

This door-color decision-making process started out [last year about this time] with about 20-30 sample cards taped to the door, ranging from every color of the rainbow and then some. Each day we would pull off a bunch that we were not feeling. Then we narrowed it down to this one and a deep purple eggplant color. Then winter came and it got too cold to paint outside. Now that summer is here and the pollen has stopped falling, I tackled this in early June. Four coats later, new pretty door!

One last task is to take the mailbox off and paint it
and add some rub n buff to the top. I may also rub n buff the
house numbers so that they match all the old brass.

Now I am on the hunt for some furniture. I don't want to spend too much on it since the front porch is completely exposed to the elements. I hope that won't be too hard since summer is half over and things should be going on sale!One day we plan to make it a covered front porch but that is so far in the future that the furniture would last.

I am linking up to the Summer Pinterest Challenge over at Kate's and Sherrie's blogs.

Kitchen Redecorating - Backsplash or Part 2

This post is definitely not timely. In fact, we ordered our tile at the end of December and probably finished installing it by the end of January or early February. Touche'.

Anyway, after buying a bunch of samples from The Home Depot and Lowe's we really did not find anything that we felt was just right. We found ourselves at The Tile Shop in late December with a fantastic '20% off' offer. Plus, I asked if he could add in the Young House Love (YHL) 10% discount. He came back with 5%, giving us 25% off everything. I'll take it! It was a difficult decision but I think part of it was because the one that we liked the best was $23.99 per sheet (a far cry from the most expensive 10.99/sheet from the big box stores). Then we rationalized that the tile was to be the "bling" of our kitchen, what we look at every day and here for a very long time. So we put the cheap aside and ordered 4 boxes and all the proper materials and grout. Our tile is called Black Shimmer Magic.

I will forgo giving a step-by-step tutorial on installing a tile back splash because it has been done a million times. We followed the steps on YHL to gain the confidence needed to start and just dove in. I will of course give a run down of what we did do that turned out to be very helpful and what we would do differently if we "could turn back time." [Now Cher is blaring in my head....]

• Lay tile out on counter as if it were going on the wall - a 2 person job. One person holding a piece in place on the wall and the other getting beside and placing next piece and making the proper cuts as you go.

•  Mix only a small amount of your thinset so it does not set up before you finish placing your tile.
• Do not put too much thinset on your wall or it will ooze between your tiles.
• When you think you're done with the wall, go back after a while and check it to make sure none of your sheets of tile have slipped and that everything is still lined up. 
• Grout. This is a 2 person process. One person applying and the second person washing down the tile before the grout dries to a cloudy miss. Once relatively clean, go back and clean more detailed, but getting the grout off before it completely dries is the key to your sanity. 

•  SEAL. Definitely invest in the sealer and apply it after the allotted amount of time. We waited a week or so to make sure the grout was fully cured. The sealer is good for all types of stone so we also did the concrete countertops while we were at it.



I see these happy little owls from Guten Tag
Fiber and Clay on Etsy everyday at the sink!



I finally found the size table we wanted from Walmart and made
 pillows or bought them from Little Peeps and Wild Blossoms Designs on Etsy.
Need to make or buy 2 more in orange.

 So, what's left on this project that is taking way longer than I thought? You can see Part 1 here for the overall list and the paint.

• Make Roman Shades in a charcoal fabric using a couple tutorials. I am afraid of starting this and messing up such expensive fabric. I have the fabric, backing and blinds and am frozen from fear to start!! HELP!
• Add a couple more orange pillows in one of the patterns already on the bench.
• Touch up the small messes I made when doing the stencil.

Delivery Date Set!

There has been a lot of anticipation since December 16th around here. We finally decided on and ordered a new sectional couch on that day. Because we picked a color that is not a 'stock color', the turnaround time would be 5-10 weeks. Well, this week we finally got the email to set up the delivery and it is coming tomorrow!



The Amafali Sectional from Havarty's.



But in this color...Mocha, and a lounger instead of cuddler, but on the left!

 We also researching gas logs. We're finding they're pretty expensive for our local Patio and Hearth store. A bit over $2000. SO, we'll be looking at some other local shops to see if we can get a better deal. YIKES. After that, we have to be at a stopping point for a little while so our bank accounts can catch up! We plan to save up and look at rugs and plantation blinds for the room. We may paint it too, but for now we are undecided and do not dislike the tannish beige color that is in there now. So even though this room will be a 'work in progress' for a while, I will do a before and after post, but instead of before and after, it should be before and in progress!

In other news we are in the grouting stages of our tile so I should have another Kitchen Post Number 2 coming up soon!

Happy New Year!

WOW. Is it me, or did 2011 fly by in a matter of minutes? I can not believe it is over already. I wish I could find the secret to slowing the months down. Maybe I'll make it my personal goal of 2012 and then share that secret with everyone.

While I took a break (I know, shocker) from blogging over the Christmas and New Year holiday, I was busy lazy with laptop on couch reading all my regular favorites. I loved reading the recaps of favorite posts of 2011, and the New Years Resolutions here and there. I am working on mine right now and will post it later this week. Commitment phobe, right here.

We were actually busy on the 30th and 31st preparing for the 6th annual New Year's Eve dinner party with close friends, which we hosted at our new house this year. In the past, we've had a theme and each couple makes a dish and pairs a wine and presents it to the group in a friendly competition. This year we pared it down and had teams and you could choose not to enter the competition. The theme was Hawaiian and the food was great. We have some really competitive and accomplished chefs in our group of friends.

Of the seven dishes, four completed. To change up the competition this year, we added a Chopped/Iron Chef element. Competing teams had to use one or more of the following secret ingredients: Pineapple, banana leaves, ginger, macadamia nuts, Taro, Sugar, Seaweed, Puna Goat Cheese, Fish: ahi, shutome, opah, or opakapaka OR [wait for it] SPAM!!

We ended up with 3 appetizers (all entering the competition): 1) a rumaki, 2) a spam sushi roll with tuna poke and 3) a pineapple risotto with tempura shrimp and Spam), an Ox Tail soup, Salad with papaya and avocado, Entree of Kalua Pig with pineapple and Spam rice and Dessert of grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream, macadamia nuts and a rum sauce (also in the competition). While the Spam was no one's favorite, it came out surprisingly well.

Setting a table for 21 was a bit challenging when it came to using what we had. There was definitely a Hodge Podge of differing lace tableclothes, 3 styles of napkin rings, 2 different sets of dishes, 2 different sets of flatware, 21 wine glasses, 21 napkins, 21 champagne glasses. All in all in still looked nice. Three dishwasher loads full and an awesome time had by all.



One of the three appetizers being plated for presentation, which took 2nd place to Dessert.

 

Salad preparations (YES, on my new bench cushion!)