With lots of pics on my computer of my old house in Georgia, I sometimes look at them and enjoy my old rooms all over again. Such is the case with my old screened porch. It was very small, just a tiny little area that was left from the large deck that got enclosed for a sunroom and this portion was kept for a screened porch. Just big enough to cram some wicker furniture into. I still love looking at these pics all these years later. One of these days, I’ll have another screened porch and I’ll be able to use all my wicker again (Lord willing). It’s all stored here in our garage.
This is an old antique wicker sofa that my sister passed on to me years ago. It started off white and when I did my porch makeover, I sprayed it black and it looked so good with the green and black fabrics I picked up to use out there. Again, my sweet mom made all my cushions for me, recovering some old stuff and refreshing this space and I just adored it when it was all finished. I still have all these pillows too, packed away in the attic. I think I did this porch back in 2003, if I remember right.
This little iron table was a yardsale find for $5 and it currently resides in my livingroom on one little wall. You’ll recognize that old iron urn, another $5 find from long ago. In fact, I still have all this garden stuff and still enjoy it.
It was hard to take pics of this space, it was so tiny. You’ll see that the floor got painted in a black and white checkerboard pattern, one that I still love. And that’s one reason I went with the black and white peel and stick tiles in my laundry room here. That leopard rug was a yardsale find too, as well as the column and all this furniture.
I found this table and chairs one Saturday while I was out yardsaling in Marietta. I got the table and chairs along with the teacart for $125, if I’m remembering right. Where you see the black, it was a dark green and I painstakingly painted it black with a paintbrush. This is stored in my garage here in AL too. You’ll notice 3 old stain glass windows hanging up and I still have those too, stored in their boxes. One of these days, they will come out again!
Mom covered the cushions that I found at a yardsale with leftover fabric. There was originally indoor outdoor carpet out here and I got really tired of that, so when I decided to redo this space, I ripped it all out and just used the plywood subfloor as a base for my black and white pattern.
Painting the floor tips:
I looked at a magazine article at the time and they added a black border all the way around the edge (about 6″ or so). That makes for a much neater look, I think as you can see by the door going outside. By painting the border and then adding the squares on the diagonal, by starting in the center, the squares will all come out evenly all around. Not that they are complete square, but they are even at least, so I followed their instructions. Painted it all white to begin with, marked the squares with pencil, I used a cardboard template for the job. And then went back and painted every other square with black. Didn’t tape off the squares as that was much too time-consuming. I used a small artist’s paintbrush for the edges and then a small roller for the middle and it went surprisingly fast. I would do this again in a heartbeat! I think using a Sharpie for the lines would also work good.
The teacart that came with my table and chairs. That’s an old stained glass window with a light behind it that my ex built and I left it with the house. I used the same color as my kitchen paint, Laura Ashley Olive 4 out here. It’s such a fresh green and looked great with the black and white. So, you can see I’ve been enjoying these colors for a few years now.
My new life is in Alabama and I couldn’t be happier with where we live, but a porch is definitely on my wish list for future.I know I would use it almost every day, especially with Fall coming. Screening is essential here in the South with all our bugs, so that is a must.
How about you…do you have a porch or favorite outdoor space?
Linking to DIY Day at Kimba’s.
Thanks for stopping by! I'm Rhoda, from Atlanta, GA and I love decorating and DIY projects. Decorating a home doesn't have to cost a fortune and I've spent years thrifting at antiques markets and yardsales, finding those treasures that make a home unique. I'm here to inspire and encourage other women to find their own inner creativity. Won't you join me? 
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my, this is just lovely. I adore the black and white tile. I wish Id done that in my laundry room now that im looking at it…and the rest of it is just amazing….
Rhoda, I really like the coordinating colors or your porch pillows. I don’t blame you for hanging on to that great wicker. We are going to enclose our lania one of these days and I am looking forward to making it an extension of living space. Thanks for posting all these lovely pictures. Marla
Love the antique wicker sofa…I have one just like it! I also have a matching rocker..both are black. I painted mine a couple of years ago for my screened porch at my beach house….sold the house last June and now they are here on my new porch…I just love them!
Blessins,
Linda
I love your porch! Thank you for sharing it! I recognize and love the little iron table and urn-what great finds! I can’t believe that you did that floor-my jaw dropped! All in all the fabric, furniture, decor-perfect then and now, too.
~Nancy
Rhoda, I really have enjoyed your blog and your decorating style. I have been using a stained glass window on the wall for years and want a light behind it (it’s now on a brick wall and doesn’t show up very well). Please let me know what type of light you used behind your window. I’m going to try a battery operated holiday light strand, but I’m not sure it will work. I don’t have an outlet available. Thanks so much! Annette
It was gorgeous! I would have never gotten anything accomplished if I had a porch like that. I would stay out there all day!
This post couldn’t have come at a better time! I just had a contractor out to look at our sunporch. I am so tired of the indoor/outdoor carpet and have been trying to come up with another option. I love the idea of just painting the plywood subfloor! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
I so enjoyed seeing this. I have a love affair going on with that green/black combination and love how you painted the floor. It is so fun looking at pictures of former houses.
Very pretty, you must miss it greatly at times…
Gorgeous space Rhoda. I don’t blame you one bit for missing it! You certainly had some great finds and makeovers to share.
I hope you have had a wonderful week,
Jennifer
Thank you for the inspiring post! I am currently restoring my teeny tiny 100 year old porch..which is coated in decades of chippy paint.
: )
Julie M.
I love the green and black and if I recall {without going back to past posts of yours} you used that color scheme somewhere in your current home – office? It’s too bad you have to store all this, but I’m sure at some point you’ll be able to bring it out again.
I have a screened gazebo but we don’t use it as much as I’d like so I never went too far with the decorating of it. My daughter hates spiders {which it does get – it is still outside after all}. Hubby doesn’t like to eat in it either, but my son has hung out in it with his friends and I’ve sat in there to read. I stapled white Christmas lights along the perimeter ceiling/wall so it would look pretty at night {which it does} and I have an all-weather wicker rocker and chair with cushions – love them. Seeing that you painted your wicker black I’m wondering if that would work on these since they are not real wicker {and they are coming with me when we move}.
What a cozy little hideaway! I’d love to curl up with a book and “pretend” to read while I’m really taking a nap!
How sweet! I would love to sit out there, open up a copy of Better Homes & Gardens and relax on a sunny afternoon. Beautiful!
I came by earlier and revisited your porch. Then I showed it to J, just now. I liked that porch from the first time I saw it.
I joined GI in the summer of 2002. It must have been the next year you did your porch. Love it, still! This would fit into small space style, easily. Shows what you can do, even with a small space.
Oh I am with you. I would love a really large screened in porch, but all I have is a small patio. I guess I will have to make do with that. YOur porch pictures are just gorgeous. What a nice area. Hugs, Marty
I love all of the stained glass windows. I collect those. Just love them!
How beautiful! You have excellent taste, such a classic and pretty porch.
This is exactly why I love taking photos…it’s so much fun to bring them out and just remember!
Hugs!
Kat
Rhoda, I love the green and black together in the room. The fabrics on the pillows are gorgeous. The floor is fantastic, too!
Jane
This looks great! It has such a finished, tied together look.
I can see why you miss your porch Rhoda! I would love to have a screened in porch this time of year also, temps getting cooler!
Blessings…
I can imagine curling up with a book on your old porch, very inviting.
My favorite outdoor spot is my front patio. Funny, because the back yard has the view of the bay, but that view gets monotonous. I like the people watching that the front offers.
What a great porch. I love checkerboard floors! We had one in my first house (in the kitchen) and it just made the room feel cheery somehow.
I had a porch at my last house and still look at photos of it now and then, too. I miss it! We just have a deck here, and the bugs can really ruin a nice afternoon outside on it.
I absolutely ADORE this screened porch area! It is BEAUTIFUL and so pulled together!!
I’m loving the porch Rhoda! That’s my mission next spring to work on mine. Money has been way too tight lately, and it’s not good for me! Hopefully, I will finish this MT course in the next month and find a great job. That might really create a major monster…me with a full-time income? Oh my lawdy!!!!
Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!
~Misti
Hi, Rhoda! Your blog has always given me such inspiration, especially now! Next week we are starting an addition to our 30 year old home: a sunroom, small screen porch (loved your post today!), powder room and laundry room/pantry. I am getting so many ideas from you and your excellent decarating taste. I, too, am a yard sale “junkie” and find lots of goodies there. Thanks for your help and inspiration!
I love your porch pics…I would love to have wicker. I would love to have an area like that. Love all of your yardsale finds you decorated with.
Your porch is stunning, Rhoda, and I hope you get to use all of your beautiful wicker in your new home. Your mom was so sweet to make the cushion covers for you. I have known about the beadboard wallpaper for about a month now, but haven’t ordered it yet, so I better get going if I want to join the party…and I do! I can’t wait to see what people have done with it. I need to my kitchen walls, so time’s awasting…so glad you gave us the tut on how do it, otherwise, I woudln’t know about it, let alone attempt to do it myself. Shari from My Cottage of Bliss reminded me and said it was easy,,,so nice of you to tell us all about it! Have a great day!
Mary
I can feel all the love in your descriptions – it makes me nostalgic too
I hope you get to enjoy your furniture again soon.
I love what you did to your porch. I have a full length screened in front porch and I love it.
Remember that porch the girls & I built hubby for Father’s Day? We use it nearly every day. It’s not screened in, but we find time for a cup of coffee in the morning or eat dinner there in the evenings. It was the best investment I’ve ever made for family time.
However, soon we will be building a 48 ft. long, 10 ft. wide porch all along the front of our house. When that porch is built, we will finally screen in the smaller one in the back of the house.
You’re right about those bugs, though. I’ve not seen them this bad in years — which makes for icky croquet games. Hope you have a wonderful day, my friend! Stop by and sign up for my Purdy paintbrush giveaway.
Too much beautiful, just like everything else you own or touch! ;0) We have a large wrap-around porch on the front of our house and a deck on the back. I like the front porch best because it has a swing that my dad built. However, I’m not able to get outside much to enjoy it due to my illness. Plus, neither area is screened so that makes both much less desirable anyhow. I DO NOT like the bugs either but the sure do like me!
Hope you’ve been enjoying these cooler days we’ve been having over the last week or two. I’m just itching for fall to get here. Oh, and for SEC college football to kick off this weekend!
WAR EAGLE! ;0)
Teresa <
30 Thing You May Not Know….
http://toomanyheartbeats.blogspot.com/2009/09/30-things-about-my-illness-you-may-not.html
That porch is amazing!
I loved everything.
But especially the tea cart.
So southerney.
Sweet dreams.
What a welcoming porch! We have plans to build a screened porch, but right now we just have open ones–and lots of mosquitoes to go with them!
Rhoda your porch was just gorgeous with beautifully serene views. I see why you miss it. Love all the pretty greens you used. ~Lovely decor’ throughout. ~Blessings, Melissa
I love your old home! That porch is to die for with the green and the beautiful foliage through the windows!
love, kelee
I love this! especially the floor – that makes the whole porch. I love to see pictures of your old houses (esp. that kitchen redo!!!)
What a sweet space! I love the floor!
Oh wow! This brought back memories – it seems like only yesterday that you shared this beautiful porch with us on our old decorating board – yet ages ago at the same time. I loved it then and I love it now! Thanks for lettiing us visit this charming place to nest again!
xo,
Kim