The Life and Times of a Back Porch Redo – Part 2

So the last time we talked, I shared with you my encounter with Earl.  Today let’s chat about what has become of that affair.

Spray painting the wicker made a huge difference in the mood of the porch.  I really like how it has turned out (although my beginner photography skills are not conveying the real color of the paint.  It is actually more green than gray…tilt your laptop monitor back some.)

If you read part 1 of this porch adventure, you might notice that the furniture has been rearranged among other things.  Our kitchen and dining room both open onto and look out on this porch.  Previously the view was of an antique wicker table.  I thought perhaps it would be better if you could see the sofa with all the throw pillows on it when you looked out the doors.

So the sofa was moved to the opposite wall, and the big cabinet was moved over between the doors.

This super useful cabinet started out in my daughter’s bedroom, but when we made some changes in the playroom, she inherited a cabinet from in there, and the back porch inherited this wonderful wardrobe.  So instead of holding cute little dresses and hats, it now holds baskets, lanterns, candle sticks, vases, and our ice-cream churns.  Everybody needs a cabinet on their back porch like this.

Next to the cabinet is my favorite wicker “wingback” chair (which actually started out in our sons’ bedroom.)

Behind the large wicker chair you will see a little desk.

When I was 13 years old, my mother took me to a flea market.  We spied this cute little desk, buried under a coat of bright orange paint and other layers of beauty.  I paid $10 for this treasure – yep, it’s true.   It was my first furniture purchase and my first experience with stripping.  (You know I am talking about furniture.)

Here is a little closer look at some of the things on the desk.

The very first thing we bought when my husband and I were married, was a porch swing for our then little screened porch.  We sat on it for many many years, but eventually it was no longer usable.  It was replaced by this wicker swing, and we love it.

Beside that end table is the sofa.  Here is another view of it…this one taken one morning.  It is really nice out on the porch early in the morning.

On the other end of this space is our porch dining area. We had a round wicker table and chair set there forever.  It was a set that I had driven 30 miles to purchase.  I had tied it onto the truck, and it flew out of the back on the way home – in the middle of the interstate no less. (Obviously, my rope skills weren’t very good!) Luckily enough, no one wrecked and a nice gentleman stopped to help me and tied it all back on.  Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!  Anyway, after 28 years of use, the table and chairs were pretty much only held together by spraypaint. It was time for something new. My husband had built a long table for our deck years ago.  The base was good, but the top was rotten.  So he reused the base and built a new much wider top for it.  This is how it turned out.

The chairs are antiques that we bought during the first year of our marriage.  They are not really sturdy enough for daily wear and tear, but they work for the porch use.  Here is a little closer view of what is on the tabletop.

And that brings us to the last stop on the tour.  This area is still not quite finished, and probably won’t be for awhile.

The table is the one that belonged to my husband’s grandmother, and it also has had a new top made for it.  It works great for a buffet.  This area is not finished because I want to find something to hang above the table…a cabinet…shelves…just not sure yet.  So now I can have fun hunting for it (whatever it may be), or perhaps sketch out an idea for my hubbie to build.

This ends our little back porch tour.  I hope there was something here to give you an idea that you can use in your own home – or maybe motivate you to buy yourself a paint sprayer.

Before I leave you, I have one other thing I want to do.  The other day Aimee from Sixteen Fourteen sweetly bestowed the Liebster Blog Award to me and my tiny blog. Aimee has a neat blog, a killer photo gallery in her husband’s office, wonderful Pinterest boards, and she just wrote a post about porch inspiration (that’s funny and inspirational!)  How’s that for good timing? You should go read it.

Anyway, “Liebster” means precious, and I want to pass this award on to someone who has one of THE most precious blogs around….

Elizabeth at  Lovely Little Parties.

Her children’s parties should be pictured in the dictionary next to the word precious. Love them!  You should go check them out too (and then get busy on your porch.)

Kelly