When we moved to 21 Rosemary Lane almost 13 years ago we were thrilled with the idea of having a large bug free enclosure off of the kitchen. But the patio itself was in need of a little, scratch that, a lot of TLC.
Here is the Realtor's photo from 2002.
After four years of living with this rather blah looking space, in 2006 we began to work on freshening up the patio. The screens were somewhat compromised due to age but not so bad that we needed to remove them. So we painted. It had to be the hottest dang time of the year to attack this project as it was August and we wanted to have the painting done before Michael's 2nd birthday.
(Those are our two dogs at the time, Blizzard in the foreground and Sandy in the doorway. Both of them became doggy angels back in 2008.)
The finished space eventually looked like this.
And while I did like the space I had one ongoing problem. That being the dirt and mud tracked up onto the patio by kids, the dogs and yes, even Mr. Rosemary Lane. So to remedy the problem, in 2010 I repainted the floor, but this time I went much darker.
As you can see I changed up some of the furnishing with a few yard sale and roadside finds.
We only painted the floor this time although we could tell that the huge task of replacing the screens was going to be happening in the next few years.
And as predicted over the next five years the screens begun to seriously rip and disintegrate. So starting last month Mr. RL began the process of pulling off the exterior wood and removing the old torn screens.
Mr. RL also painted the ceiling in a pretty sky blue and then I repainted and caulked all of the interior white wood.
The floor also received a new coat of concrete paint. The color I decided on is similar to what I had used the first time I painted the floor. It is called Sandal and is part of Home Depot's DECKOVER floor paint collection. The floor will need one more coat before all is said and done. I decided it was OK to go back to the lighter color (of which I really preferred) because over the years we lost about 5 trees in the backyard, so the issue of dirt areas in the shade becoming muddy during rainy weather more or less went away.
And since we now have our big giant dog Buster who likes to create his own doggy doors to get on and off the patio, Mr. RL is going to build in an pretty architectural feature which will hopefully deter "The Bust" from using an unauthorized entrance onto the patio. (There will eventually be an "X" in each of the bottom sections.)
I plan to re-configuring the furniture yet one more time. I would also like to incorporate a rectangular table for this space so it will seat six comfortably. I have an old farm table base in our basement but the top is way to big, so I'd like to make my own tabletop in a 3 ft by 6 ft dimension. The rectangular shape should better maximize the usage of the space on the patio.
Now for the fun part, the decorating ideas! I think I am going to repaint both the natural color wicker love seat and coffee table in white. I love the crisp contrast of the dark blue with the white so this will probably be my jumping off point with regard to color scheme.
Here are some blue and white inspirational outdoor spaces I have come across.
source
source
source
I plan to re-configuring the furniture yet one more time. I would also like to incorporate a rectangular table for this space so it will seat six comfortably. I have an old farm table base in our basement but the top is way to big, so I'd like to make my own tabletop in a 3 ft by 6 ft dimension. The rectangular shape should better maximize the usage of the space on the patio.
Now for the fun part, the decorating ideas! I think I am going to repaint both the natural color wicker love seat and coffee table in white. I love the crisp contrast of the dark blue with the white so this will probably be my jumping off point with regard to color scheme.
Here are some blue and white inspirational outdoor spaces I have come across.
source
source
pinterest
As you can see I am really digging the blue and white stripes. I truly hope to get this project as close as possible to finished by September 1st.
Keeping "ma" fingers crossed!!!
(Yours truly is hosting!)
XO
oh Barb, I love this space! the blue/white will be beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful space. I have wanted a screened-in porch since childhood, if you can believe that!
ReplyDeleteBrenda
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI love my screen porch too...but I have a show coming up in six weeks and at this time it's full of furniture. LOVE how your ceiling is made and the new blue looks GREAT!
Blessings,
Linda
Barbara, I remember when you did the floor last and I still think it looked so beautiful but I know it will look that way again, with whatever you do. All of that blue and white is just beautiful, You couldn't go wrong with any thing like them. We have a perfect little back porch which we would like to screen in at some point but I'm certainly looking forward to seeing yours..xox Judy
ReplyDeleteBarbara - Looking good! I just recently had a screened in porch and deck built on the back of the house and am in the process of decorating it. So much fun. The blue and white looks wonderful. I'm thinking of using red and white. Enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteJudy
I look forward to seeing your finished porch. We replaced the screen door leading from our screened porch to the deck with one that has a dog-proof panel on the lower half. It's a stronger mesh covering that our dogs cannot push through. Got it at either Home Depot or Lowes. I like your X design for the lower portions of the porch itself.
ReplyDeleteSue P.
Such a great space. I love the idea of the blue and white, it looks so cool and crisp.
ReplyDelete