New & Improved Screened Porch Plans!

I’m really excited to share my new porch plans with y’all today!  I got the opportunity this spring to work with some other bloggers on a design challenge for Color Lovers and we would all do an update in our homes. This group loves color and we are not shy when it comes to using color in our homes, so I hope you enjoy this one. We could choose any space we wanted to make over and we’re working with 3 sponsors to get this accomplished, so it was up to all of us to shop for our spaces and choose what we wanted to refresh and update our homes.  A big huge thanks goes to Birch Lane, The Mine, and Minted for their help on this project!

It took me a little while to come to the conclusion that it was time to update and improve my screened porch. Duh!!  I love that porch and have so enjoyed the hours spent out there, but the loveseat and 2 chairs that started on my old deck in Birmingham that I wrote about in 2010 (7 long years ago!), the ones that came from Big Lots, they really weren’t practical for lounging out there.  When I moved in this house almost 5 years ago, of course I used all the furniture I had, adding a few things along the way.  And reusing my wicker and my old breakfast table and chairs out there was definitely the way to go.  I already had it, it fit my porch and so, there you had it….a screened porch was done.  It was comfortable and homey, but I had always longed for something that we could really lounge on.  I wanted a porch for napping!  When this opportunity came along, I jumped at the chance to get new furniture out there and spruce this space up, making it even more enjoyable for outdoor living.

Here’s a reminder of what my porch has looked like for 4 years now.  We finished this porch after I moved in and it was completed in June of 2013.

This was the latest version of it last summer.  It has been a cozy and sweet spot to chill out, but time for a change!

After I got my furniture plans in place and decided the color I wanted to use out here, the green walls had to go.  I got out my Alabaster paint (by Sherwin Williams) that I used on all the trim out here and painted over the green. It was pretty while I had it, but white is so fresh and clean.

The porch was dirty with pollen and winter yuck and it was time to clean it too, but first I got those walls painted and ready for my new look.

I picked up this mold and mildew cleaner to use out here and it worked pretty well for sprucing up my porch.  I’ve learned in the last couple of years that the easiest way to clean this porch is to drag my hose up here.  It will reach from the side of the house and come right in the door, so I moved everything off and got to work.

My old Big Lots wicker pieces will not go to waste. They are going down to Louisiana to my niece, Lauren, for them to use by their pool so I’m happy to pass them on for more use. They are sturdy and have held up great.

After painting the walls Alabaster, the space looks so nice and fresh.  Time to clean that floor and windowsills.

I sprayed everything down with cleaner and got a bucket of water and a scrubber and went to work.  It really didn’t take too long to scrub down the sills and the floor.  I used an old nylon broom to scrub with since I didn’t have a long scrubber handy and that broom worked fine too to scrub the muck off the floor.  That yellow pollen we have is nasty and gets everywhere so it’s nice to get it all off the porch and everything scrubbed clean again.

The floor doesn’t getting perfectly clean but better than it was.  I shared how I painted this floor with gray and white diamonds 4 years ago and love how it turned out. Of course, wood floors will scratch and ding a bit but overall it’s holding up well.  I did touch up the paint after I scrubbed it down in a few spots.

The glass table was wiped down and cleaned too, ready for another summer on the porch.

My patio was the holding spot while everything got clean.  I keep it covered up during the winter and bring all the cushions up to the porch and cover them all during the winter months. This really helps protect everything and keep it looking nice for much longer.  During summer, I just keep this big tarp over it and when it rains it keeps it dry and clean. It’s easy to fold back the tarp and put it away when we want to use it.  Those wood chairs I’ve had forever got a makeover too.

I didn’t share my color scheme, did it?  I’m going with navy, white and kelly green out here for a really fresh look that I adore.  This fabric is going on the chair seats.

I got busy and changed out the fabric which is really easy to do.  I think these chairs have been covered at least 5 times in their 20 years that I’ve had them.  Sturdy chairs last a long time and you can keep freshening them with fabric!

I’ve shared a few times how I cover chair seats, so check that out if you’ve never done it before. Very easy with an electric stapler and it doesn’t take much fabric.  I bought just over a yard for these 4 chair seats.  You can see the chair seat covering tutorial here, which is the same chairs, 3 fabrics ago.  That’s what happens when you’ve been blogging for 10 years!

This garden stool got a makeover too.  It was a great color out there with my other fabrics, but time for a Kelly green now.

I picked up Rustoleum Meadow Green gloss and first sprayed it with a primer and then 2 or 3 coats of the deeper green and love it!

A nice refresh for my new porch!

It should hold up great out there as a side table.

Last but not least, here’s my mood board for the new porch!  I can’t wait to show it all to you and I’ve already been enjoying the new look and feel.  Adding a sectional was the best thing I could have done and it’s so nice to spread out and have so much room.  Room for a nap now!  And 2 people can recline on here at the same time.  I’ll share all the pillow sources with you too.

A big huge thanks to our sponsors that are behind this Color Lovers refresh! We couldn’t have done it without them.  The sectional is from The Mine .  It’s been such a pleasure working with them and this sectional will be the perfect fit for my back porch, adding so much additional seating.

All the accessories, except a few pillows are from Birch Lane, a company with affordable decorating options.  I’ll share all the details and sources with you when I post my big reveal in a few weeks, on June 27th!  I’ve been dying to share this with all of you and had to wait for the right timing, so soon, soon, I promise!

The art folks, Minted, provided an allowance for art in our spaces and I love what I got from them, so stay tuned for all the details very soon.  It’s a complete overhaul on my porch and I adore it all.  It really was nice to do a refresh and get my space even more functional, beautiful, and comfortable to use during the summer months. I am a total porch person and spend so much time outdoors during the summer!

Kelly Elko / In My Own Style / Inspired by Charm / Tatertots and Jello / DIY Showoff 

Fox Hollow Cottage / Four Generations One Roof / Jennifer Rizzo / Duke Manor Farm 

I’m joining 9 other color loving bloggers who will all be sharing an update in their homes. I know you will be inspired, especially if you’re a color lover too.  Neutral is so prevalent in decorating these days, but there are many of us out there who love to express ourselves in color and let it shine in our homes, so stop by and visit all these fun bloggers to see what they are up to on this collaboration!

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