Porch Paradise

Here it is, the post you have all been waiting for. (ok, maybe I'm the only one that is really excited, but that's fine). After several months of daily Craig's List scanning, making Geoff come with me to look at Craig's List items and be around the house when I sell Craig's List items, painting, and Ikea shopping, the porch paradise is finally complete! Geoff posted a little preview in the King Jasper post, but I thought I would show you the rest of our new summer escape.

The only things we kept in the space was our 4 white rocking chairs (2 that my parents got us, and 2 that the previous owners left), and the 4 rocker dining chairs. After selling the old table and white chairs, as well as the old white iron glider furniture, I could begin to search for some new items. As always, I love the before and after shots......

Before (dining area):

Before (lounge area):

After (dining area):

The table was from a carpenter on Craig's List who makes picnic tables, swings, etc.. I was one of his few requests for a 10 foot picnic table without the seats! I am very pleased with the table, it is very sturdy, and will last for a long time. The price and quality were way better than anything I found in stores. You can see in the before shots that we had pushed 2 random tables together and had a mix of chairs. We splurged and bought 4 more of the Target rocker dining chairs (luckily they still have the same ones) they have lasted many years, and we really like them. I guess we like to rock! At first I wasn't sure that our chairs would match, but I think the black in the lanterns ties in nicely with the black in the chairs.

After (lounge area) I pulled one rocker out of the way so that the coffee table was visible:

The daybeds are a fun story. I found them as children's bunk beds on Craig's List.

As soon as I saw them I thought they were perfect... great quality and the style I was looking for! Although Geoff nor the people that I bought them from really understood what my goal was. They were especially confused when I said that we didn't have any kids! With Geoff's help, we nailed support boards along one side of each to create the 2 daybeds and a nice support for the new pillows I had purchased a few months prior. After I painted them with a mahogany outdoor furniture paint, they were ready for the outdoor mattresses that I got from West Elm, and of course the new pillows! I then added a decorative side to them. (made out of straw window blinds that I got from Big Lots and cut to fit)

Next up was the coffee table....also a craig's list find (that I thought would look great since it has the same shape as the table) that I painted to match the beds. After a few rugs and lanterns from Ikea, new cushions for the white rockers, some plants from Wal-mart, and string lights found online (the lighting from the fans was just so blinding that we needed something more relaxing) it was finally complete! Well, maybe not completely complete, but it is closer than ever before, and we totally love the results as we eat dinner each night on the new porch!