Ever since we first finished the porch last year, we hemmed and hawed over whether or not to screen it in. That was the original intent, after all, but we loved how open it was without the screens so much that we put them on hold. But then flies kept eating our food and the mosquitoes kept eating us and the moths kept flying in the house… you get the gist. One thing’s for sure about the South – it’s nothing if not buggy. So,
after polling y’all and our friends and pretty much anyone with an opinion, we finally did it! Our only regret is not doing it a year ago! The screens are wonderful and nearly disappear.
Now, to make this a proper before and after, we originally had a deck in this space off the back of the house…
This was the look without the screens and before the paint.
…and now this is the new screened look. They are much more visible looking in than looking out.
The porch has a hip style roof in Owens Corning onyx black shingles to match the rest of the house. We went with 32” “x” railings that remind us of many Tybee beach houses and 10” wrapped columns placed 8’ apart to allow for open views. I adore the horizontal boards that our contractor used in place of where we used to have lattice work.
We widened the stairs going up to the porch to fill out the space between the house and the fireplace. Pots and glass water globes are from Target and battery powered lanterns from Wal Mart. I always plant potato vine in my pots because it’s pretty much the only thing I can keep alive. The
vinyl screen door is from Home Depot. I would love to have one made with the diagonal cross on the bottom but that’s a project for another day.
From just inside the door, you can see that the screens are barely there! WE LOVE THEM! Our goals for the new porch were to have ample dining space, a sitting area with room for games, music, a fireplace for the winter, a fan for the summer and a buffet table for serving and storage.
Double french doors from the
kitchen open up onto this part of the porch. Our contractor built the fireplace as an exact replica of our
den fireplace – right down to the antique bricks - and I ADORE it! The oyster painting is by
Angie Reuter and the plates are from Anthropologie. The sofa, chairs, baskets, curtain hardware and glass jars are from Target (I added chalkboard labels with leftover chalkboard vinyl from my
kitchen project). The garden stool, coral and mercury glass demijohn are from Home Goods. The fan is Harbor Breeze from Lowes. The
mapped out coffee table and
pin board frame were both DIY projects. The egret pillow is from
Jolie Marche on etsy. Mother made the zig zag pillows with burlap initial monograms and the curtains!
The other side of the porch serves as the dining area. I fell in love with the Avignon table on clearance at World Market because I could envision a whole gaggle of littles crammed on its sweet benches. The rainbow trout fish painting on reclaimed wood is another gorgeous piece by
Angie Reuter, and is hung with
dock cleats and nautical rope. The
slipcovered chairs,
oyster shell lantern,
shell centerpiece and
mercury glass hurricanes were all DIY projects.
The
DIY skirted table has smartly served as both a buffet for entertaining and for general storage underneath. Lanterns are from Home Goods, aqua cups are from Target and melamine tray is from Macy’s. The seeded glass lanterns are from Ballard Designs and the mercury glass shell is from Pottery Barn. A vintage refrigerator basket from Habersham Antiques serves as a magazine rack. The chairs were recovered and appliqued by Mother and myself.
Sources:
- Paint - Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (walls and brick fireplace), Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments (ceiling), Benjamin Moore Rhine River (doors) and Benjamin Moore White Dove (trim)
- Rugs - Indoor/Outdoor Leopard in black by Ballard Designs
- Fabrics - all by Premier Prints in Village Blue (Chipper, Zig Zag and Towers prints) - I ordered from various sites and paid under $8 a yard for each
- Contractor – Shawn Reuter / SLR Construction / 706-254-0231
With that, it’s high time for me to hit the porch with a sweet iced tea!
xoxo
Excited for the features at
Elizabeth and Co.,
Be Inspired, and
Our Southern Home!
