The Cedar Porch

Here in Minnesota if you have a 3 season porch, for the 4th season it becomes a walk in cooler.  Great cold food storage when you host a holiday - I never have to make room in my fridge for a turkey.  The porch doesn't get used from November to April, unless you have a warm March like right now.  All the bugs freeze and drop dead in wait of the thaw for spring cleaning.  The cleaning came early this year, due to the Route 66 cabinet redo.  That cabinet holds summer towels and lives in the cedar porch.  Once it was painted I had to clean the porch - just in time too, we had unseasonably warm weather.  It's not the summer kitchen I was dreaming of like here at the SavvyCityFarmer but I am going to take a couple ideas from her porch yet for mine, like the tin awning where the stuffed trophy fish is/was.  Bet you wish you had a stuffed trophy fish.

BEFORE

He's been hanging there for a long time.  I hate him, but if used as the pillow he was intended to be, it works pretty good for an afternoon nap.  The picture is of a cart with flowers - so faded all the colors are the same.  The porch has needed - and I have wanted - a redo for years, but it needs new windows so I told myself when that happens we will freshen it up.  It still needs the windows; not in the budget.

BEFORE

The furniture is 25 years old.  The cushions are still firm and the frames perfect but everything out there was the same wood color so it got sprayed espresso to change them up.  The ticking fabric needs to go... that isn't in the budget either but I actually like how it looks with the dark stain.  We didn't spend one cent in this room, and that IS in the budget!

We changed the arrangement to allow for a path from the deck door to inside without cutting through the sitting area.  Works much better and everyone can put their feet up on the table now, not just those taller than 5'2".  I gave the wheelbarrow a coat of AS dark wax and it made a big difference.  I think I'm going to paint "flowers" on the side.  Brawn made it years ago when he caught me looking at one in a catalog that cost a couple hundred dollars.  Thank goodness he never knew how much the furniture cost 25 years ago, but I'd say we have got our money's worth out of it.  The cushions have been ticking for at least 15 years and the valance is ticking and fabric with little porch chairs. No... not in the budget and I can't sew anyway.  My favorite part of the room is the old milk jug table, I love it.  I think I even love it more than my Route 66 cabinet.

Inside of the Wheelbarrow

I love what the dark wax did for the finish

I sponged a checkerboard on the top of the ice cream table, dark waxed it and sanded.  I couldn't find any checkers so if you want to play you have to use chess pieces.   We won't talk about the math it took for me to line that part up.  In fact we won't talk about if it is lined up either.

The table sits below the chalkboard now

I used ASCP in old white on the pine frame and painted chalkboard paint right over the glass.  It came from Pottery Barn.  Tuff.

Each window has a roman shade that I never use.  The dinner gong says come and get it, and clangs just like when the cook would call everyone for chow.  The idea was when the kids were little I could alert them to lunch being done if they were swimming.  It was easier to just yell LUNCH!!

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway..... RamSign going on here at my lil 'ol blog.

 

Linked the transformed from pine to espresso chair at

The Bloggy Olympics @The Bold Abode

Linked the chalkboard to:

Sunday stop @ Joy2Journey 

DebbieDoos Newbie Party

Furniture to:

Nifty Thrifty @ Coastal Charm

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