A Southern Porch Makeover

A  Southern Porch.

I don’t know about you, but just those three

words elicit all kinds of emotions in me. 

 Family.  Relaxing. Memories. And Sweet Tea.

And, boy oh boy, my sweet friend, Suzy, with

Worthing Court has one fabulous porch.

It didn’t start out quite as fabulous – but I can’t wait for

you to see the Before & After and hear her story. 

Before & After:  

A Southern Porch Makeover

 

Hi everyone.  I’m Suzy from Worthing Court and I am thrilled and honored to be guest posting here at my sweet friend, Barb’s, today!  I’ll never forget the day that I ran across Barb’s blog, well before I had one of my own.  I adore Barb’s style along with her sweet, sweet spirit and was hooked right off the bat!

We’ve been remodeling a mid-90’s home that we purchased last summer.  So far we’ve completely gutted and remodeled the kitchen and the master bathroom.  Those two room still aren’t completely finished, but we are so close!  Every single bit of the home was dated and has been undergoing a cosmetic facelift.  You can see more of what we’ve done by clicking HERE.  I’m hoping to reveal either my drop zone or laundry room this week.  

It’s outdoor weather right now, so let me invite you to come tour our screen porch.  With so many huge projects going on in the rest of the house, the porch seemed to be a long time coming.  The screen porch on this house was one of our favorite things about it and now it’s finally ready for us to use! 

We moved into this house last September, when it was still plenty warm enough to enjoy the outdoors.  I wanted to do something to make the porch usable, but I was so, so busy with unpacking and dealing with the remodel that the porch took a backseat and became a hodgepodge of all of our outdoor furniture from the last house.  Not pretty at all, but at least it was good enough for sitting outside.

 

So, are you ready to see how it looks today?  Let’s start with the wall that is immediately to the left as you walk out of the back door.

I posted on Facebook, that I was looking for some shutters or bi-fold doors and wondered if anyone knew where to find some.  Thankfully, a sweet friend alerted me to some at a Goodwill near me and I rushed right over to grab them.  I had intended to use them above our fireplace, but they wound up making the perfect backdrop for this little chest and a piece of art.  And bonus – no painting needed!  The shutters aren’t even attached to the wall.  The chest holds them in place just fine.   

A free printable was exactly what I wanted for some art on the porch.  I used PicMonkey to enlarge it to fit into a frame that I already had, downloaded the re-sized image to a thumb drive and took it to my local FedEx for printing.  I planned on making my own burlap covered mat, but found out that Hobby Lobby carries them and would cut it while I waited. The picture is held in place with Velcro Command Strips.  You can find the printable HERE.

My gardening hat hangs right beside the backdoor so that I can quickly grab it when I’m on my way out to work in the yard.  And I love the North Carolina HOME sign that I found at a recent barn sale! 

One of the holdups with getting the porch pulled together was making a decision about some outdoor wicker chairs that we already owned.  I hated to spend money to replace them because the frames and wicker are in good shape – plus they’re very comfortable. But the cushions looked awful and were an odd shape that I couldn’t find replacements for.  I first tried spray paint on the cushions (cause I’m a lazy painter), but one whole can of paint wouldn’t cover the print on just one the cushions. Chalk paint to the rescue. Two coats of ASCP in Duck Egg took care of faded and grody, old, ugly cushions.

Adjacent to the wicker arm chairs, are wrought iron rockers that lived on the deck at our last house.  All they needed were some new cushions from Lowe’s and throw pillows from Target to give them new life.  A couple of outdoor poufs from Target are good for putting your feet up or act as extra seating.

A friend gifted a candelier to me that she was no longer using.  The garden stool that it hangs over lived in the foyer of our former home.  The addition of some round wicker trays to the columns helps to give some definition to the area and makes it feel more like a room instead of a wide open space.

And here’s my spot – the chair on the left.  It’s the place that allows me to look out over the backyard and the flowers and feeders on the deck.  It’s where I put my feet up at the end of a long day and enjoy some of my favorite magazines.  Can you spot my little photo bomber?

Pookie and I eat a lot of meals out here on the porch.  Believe it or not this round table used to live under a tablecloth and served as a large end table in a corner between a couch and a chair in the basement family room at our last house.

 

The last wall of the porch looks out onto our deck.  I didn’t place any furniture here because it acts as the walkway from our back door out onto the deck.  A rustic grapevine wreath helps to define the space though.

Thank you for having me over to your lovely blog today, Barb.  And for everyone else – come on by anytime to ‘set a spell’ and enjoy a glass of sweet tea!

 

Thanks Suzy for sharing your beautiful porch with us.

And if y’all think her porch is beautiful, wait until you see her KITCHEN!

  You can also follow Suzy here at:

BLOG  |  FACEBOOK  |  PINTEREST

TWITTER  |  INSTAGRAM

We would both love it if you

would PIN this image to your fave Pinterest Boards.

(scroll your mouse over center of image and click the “P”)

 

Thank you for spending a few

minutes of your day here with me. 

 

You can follow along with

The Everyday Home here….

PINTEREST      FACEBOOK

TWITTER      INSTAGRAM

GOOGLE +     HOMETALK

BLOGLOVIN‘

 

xxoo, Barb

Here are some of the Link Parties I may be sharing this post with.  

You can find more parties on my Linky Party Page.

Metamorpis Monday | The Scoop |  Do Tell Tuesday  | homework |  Get Your Shine On

Inspire Me Tuesday |  The Handmade Hangout |  Share Your Style 

French Country Cottage  |  Inspiration Gallery |  Tatertots and Jello