Porch Progress

Here's what we started with when we moved in.  This picture was probably taken around February 2012.  By summer time, my vintage glider (that doesn't glide) was placed along the railing on the left of this photo.  It was always in the blazing sun every afternoon when I wanted to sit in it.  The dining table was placed on the right side because I feared the cushions would get wet from the rain.

February 2012

By the end of the summer, I was sick of not having a shady place to sit.  So, with the help of my mom and aunt, we worked to rearrange the furniture to make it more functional.  

It was very lacking in the furniture department.  Use your imagination.

August 2012

I found this great faux bamboo chair at a thrift store for $10.  The coffee table is a tree stump that had been rotting in our yard for a year or two.  

September 2012

We moved the dining table to the other side, and with the chairs pushed under the cushions are pretty safe from the rain.  The chairs are covered with outdoor fabric to resist fading and mildew, but I also sprayed them with scotch guard for further protection.  The grill was placed in the far back corner where both sides are exposed to rain.

I've own the glider for over 5 years.  It got painted green way back then, but it's been siting out by the fire pit in all the elements for at least 3 years.  It really needed a new paint job.

I decided I was going to go with aqua and paint the side tables coral.  My other thought was to make throw pillows in the same fabric as the dining chairs, but that fabric was discontinued so I found this as a similar alternative.

After one coat, I realize that this color was way too bright.  You can't really tell from the photo, but I took it back to Sherwin Williams and had them tint it with more umber (it's a brown pigment).  In a side by side comparison, it made a huge difference and was so much better.

The glider got painted solid this time (instead of contrasting squares) because I was planning on adding a cushion to the bottom.  I was lucky enough to find one the perfect size online.  It was around $60, but since everything else came from a thrift store, I figured I could splurge.

Somewhere around this point I started getting very stressed about what colors to paint the other furniture.  All the colors had to be inspired by this cushion (from Pier 1) that I bought way before any of this started.

Enter Photoshop.

Being a very visual person, I needed to SEE the colors before deciding.  This next series of photos shows all the color combos I was playing around with in photoshop.  

I actually painted the above color scheme (with cranberry tables and gray chair) and it stayed that way for the winter.  But I was still on the hunt for throw pillows.  Ideally, Pier 1 would sell throw pillows to match the cushion, but they don't.  The rest of the furniture really needed to draw some of the colors out of the Pier 1 cushion.  I needed some fabric that had yellow or green in it.  And in real life, the aqua with coral, with whatever color pillows I add (like yellow) was looking way too circus (blue, red, yellow).  

So the tables got painted for a 4th time.  They aren't matching tables, but I got them both at Goodwill for $5 each.  I think some kind of stained wood would look nice since there is a lot of painted furniture going on.  But it's too much work to strip them.  I painted them a wood color called "brilliant oak" with a $3 sample pot from Lowes.  Such a calming effect compared to the cranberry color.  If you are still on team cranberry, just trust me on this one.  I bought and tried yellow pillows.  It was crazy-town.

Then something amazing happened!  After looking for the Pier 1 fabric all over the internet, and determining it's not sold anywhere.  A few month later it popped up on Fabric.com under their "just arrived" fabrics for $6/yd.  Made my day!!!

So I ordered a yard and recovered two pillows I already owned.  And found two aqua pillows at walmart for $7/each.

I'm still not totally sold on the white bamboo chair.  I tried yellow but it wasn't working.  I almost tried green, but thought it would be a waste of $5 spray paint if I didn't like it.  White is safe.  White also looks great as a photo prop in a field.

So there you have it.  It took me a year, but I can basically put the "done" stamp on this project.  

Oh, I didn't show you what I found at a thrift store last time I was visiting my parents.  This pair of concrete planters that welcome you as you step up onto the deck.  Classic.