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Back Porch Remodel

Here is a sneak peek...Scroll down to see the how-to and more pictures of the finished product!

My mission if I chose to accept it... turn a dirty, dingy, cluttered mess of a porch into a beautiful sitting room that reflects the style that we have throughout our house... As my sister would say...CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Here is the before...I am ashamed to admit this was our back porch for over a year.

The concrete floor was painted by the previous owners and was scratched, chipped and permanently discolored.  I hated it! I bleached and bleached and it never came clean!

I started by prepping the floor. I vacuumed, mopped and thoroughly dried the floor. I planned on epoxying over the whole thing so I opted for a basic exterior porch/floor paint for a base. I let the paint cure for a couple of days while I planned out my pattern...yes, pattern! We wanted a rug but with two big dogs it is impossible to keep a rug clean and I didn't want to fight that uphill battle.  With that in mind, I decided to paint a rug :-)

Using a ruler, chalk marker and painters tape (yes I went old school on this one.  No fancy laser levels here.) I created a chevron patterned rug.

I then painted on my two other contrasting colors and pulled the tape....Slow and steady and at an angle worked best.

Ta-Da my new floor is born! I adore it!!!!!! To protect it, I used Valspar Clear Epoxy Garage Paint with non-slip grip.  I am so glad I used the non-slip additive because when this stuff gets wet it is very slick!

I added some comfy outside furniture and romantic lighting and we have a new sitting room!  The couch was my Christmas present from Andy.  We found it on Craigslist for 80 bucks and I sanded it down stained it Kona and recovered the cushions with...you guessed it...painters drop cloth canvas!

The bench was my first reupholster job ever.  It was left by the previous owners and was a terrible dark red and had chew mark where their dog had gnawed the legs.  I filled the holes, stained and recovered with outdoor fabric.  I works perfect as an ottoman.

 We had the curtain rods from our old townhouse and I am so thankful I kept them.  The curtains are just 6'x9' canvas drop cloth (that I use for everything) I just measured 5" folded over and ran a seam.  I then tie them with regular ol' rope and enjoy the breeze. 

The wood art over the door is the last remaining piece of the dead tangerine tree we cut down in back.  (The rest we used inside and the stump we turned into a table for the fire pit seating area.)  I hung it with rope from the ceiling with eye hooks.

We are really enjoying our new room even in the winter! We just close the curtains and pin them together to keep the frigid freezing cold chilly Florida air out ;-)

So in review....

Before                            After

 

Our Quaker, Oliver, is VERY happy now!

I know some of my how-to was not very detailed so if you have any questions about how, why or what color etc. feel free to ask! My next few posts will be all about garage organization and factory cart refurbishing!!!!! Please come back soon to see our progress! Until then ...wear eye protection ;-)

Rope Curtain Rod! AND DIY Curtains!

Two posts in one! This week I decided to update our master bedroom curtains...they are only a year old (how old is too old for curtains?) but I will be donating them to little baby Aubrey's nursery since they match so perfectly. I have been searching blogland for unique curtain ideas that are also thrifty. I found exactly what I was looking for on the blog Vintage Revival.  Mandy created an amazing look by using rope and eye-hooks for the curtain rod and canvas drop cloth as the curtains.  This is how it went...

This is what I bought to create window treatments for TWO windows: (L)-Lowes (H)-Home Depot (W)-Walmart (BBB)-Bed Bath and Beyond

2- 4'x15' Canvas Drop Cloth (L) Cost-$37.96

4- Galvanized 1/4 Hex Nuts (L) Cost-$0.56

20' of Rope (L) Cost-$11.60

2-Sample jars of paint in your color choices (L) Cost-$5.96

6- 3/8"x6" eye-bolts with nuts (H) Cost-$6.66

 12- Fender Washers 3/8 (H) Cost-$3.00

6- 2"x2"x1/8" HG Anchor Bolt Square Washer 5/8" (H) Cost-$1.68

2- 6" Boat Cleat (W) Cost-$5.52

Spray Paint-Oil rubbed bronze (W) Cost-$3.67

3- Curtain Rings set of 7 (BBB) Cost-$25.65 (price reflects 20% coupon for each set)

Total Cost: $102.26 (I had a $25 gift card to BBB so the cost was actually less. Make sure you take all of your coupons and gift cards with you to save money!)

You will also need some heavy duty mollies and screws to hang everything. We had those already so I am not sure how much they cost but I know Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart all carry them.

 I bought 4 cleats but only used 2...I am sure I can find a use for the other two... :-)

Here are the mollies and screws I used to hang everything.

First, Curtains...

 First I washed and dried the drop cloth. Then,I laid it out flat and folded it in half. I cut the two halves apart making my two curtains. I folded the cut edge and hemmed it...

I did this for both halves and then did the same for the second drop cloth making a total of four curtain panels...

I then LIGHTLY starched and ironed the panels.

 I laid the curtain over a table (make sure it is a table or floor you can get paint on...the paint will bleed through!)I measured and taped off my stripes. 

I then started rolling out the paint...

There are so many things you could do here...stripes, circles, stencils...You name it! And that's it! Your curtains are done!!!

Next, Rope Curtain Rods...

***Before you assemble the eye-hook apparatus drill two holes on opposite corners of the square plate for mounting.  Then spray paint all parts bronze (including boat cleats.) Then assemble eye-hook, nut, round washer, square mounting washer, round washer, nut.  Tighten and cut off excess from eye-hook with bolt cutters. Now that all eye-hooks are assembled, you are ready to mount.  You will need a drill, large drill bit (big enough to create a hole for the rear nut to go into, so mounting plate will lay flush), a level, screw driver and hammer (for the mollies), measuring tape and pencil. Decide where you want them above the window (I went higher since the curtain rings hang down a couple of inches and I didn't want the top of the window showing.) Drill the center hole, put up eye-hook flush and mark where the mounting screws will go.  Then hammer and screw in the mollies, put up eye-hook flush, level and screw in! Do this two more times(measuring and leveling between each) to finish one window.  If you have a second window like I did, repeat the above steps for the second window :-)

Next, cut the rope in half to make 2- 10' pieces. Tie a knot in one end of the rope and string the rope through the eye hooks (it's a good idea to add the curtains rings onto each side at this time)Run the rope completely through and let hang while you decide where to put your boat cleat.  MAKE SURE YOU MOUNT THE BOAT CLEAT WITH MOLLIES(if it does not screw directly into a stud!) If you do not, the boat cleat will rip out of the wall! Mount the boat cleat and secure the end of the rope by wrapping the rope around the cleat. I tied a knot at the end of the rope and frayed the end for and extra touch :-) Now you are ready to clip on your DIY curtains you made and you are done!!!

UPDATE 2016

We decided to freshen up the master (when we replaced the flooring) by adding new curtains with grommets and they look AMAZING on the rope rod!!! Plus, it was SUPER easy to change out the curtains! Just unloop the rope off of the boat cleat and run through grommets.

Wa-La a fresh new look!

This week I also created a fun Chevron sign to hang above the couch...tutorial on that coming soon!

Until then... get creative!

~Jen