These are pictures of my front and back porches. The front porch runs the whole width of the house. I thought when we built the house I wanted a wrap around porch. I live in the south after all. In retrospect I am glad it isn't. As much as I love the porch I don't use it as much as I would like to and if it were bigger that would just mean more square footage to sweep. The back porch is screened in. Essential for porch sitting in NC. Anytime the temperature reaches 70 degrees we have mosquitoes that look like small birds! The floor of both porches is concrete. A little stain and some pin striping tape and it looks a lot like tile. Mitchell and I did the back porch first. He did the measuring and taping. (the hard part) Then we just rolled on the stain. I used a product specifically made for concrete. It's a stain not paint. I sponged on a lighter color to add some dimension and love the results. Kelli and I did the front porch and the lines are not nearly as straight but it looks good none the less. The stain seems to be holding up well to the weather. It has been at least 4 years since we did the work and it still looks great. You can click on the flickr thing in the left column to see these pictures with some notes or to see more stuff we've painted around the house. And yes those Christmas pillows are still on the front porch. I am thinking of buying a cheap plastic table cloth to make some summer pillows. You know the kind with the flannel backing you can get at walmart for less than $5.00. I make pillows to go on that porch every summer because the sun fades them so bad and they get really dirty. My thought is the table cloths come in decent looking prints and since they are plastic they won't fade and can be wiped off to clean. What do you think??
ohhhhh, can i come for a visit? i could sit on the porch, reading, sipping tea or lemonade, and enjoying the rocker.
your pillow idea sounds great!
Posted by: la vie en rose | March 02, 2006 at 04:56 PM
Love your porch just as I always imagine one should look.I can't believe you don't use it much!
Posted by: kristy | March 02, 2006 at 05:41 PM
The tablecloth idea is an excellent one - I've been tempted to pick up one of those cute pastel striped ones that wal-mart is currently carrying. Another idea is oilcloth, if you can find it, but the table cloths would be much cheaper.
Your porch looks to inviting!
Posted by: beki | March 02, 2006 at 10:38 PM
You porch is perfect for sipping tea in the summertime while relaxing in those rockers!
The tablecloths come in cute patterns--Target has them too--I would definitely go for it!
Posted by: Randi | March 02, 2006 at 11:37 PM
What a gorgeous porch. And your stain/paint job could have fooled me. It really looks like tile in the picture. You folks are just too creative!!!
Posted by: joanna | March 03, 2006 at 01:06 AM
What an absolutely lovely porch! How fortunate you are! I love all your furniture and all you've done with your "not so little" corner. Lovely!
Posted by: Gillian Greding | March 03, 2006 at 02:56 AM
those tablecloths are perfect for that kind of thing. I use them for all sorts of 'sewing' projects - kids art smocks, outdoor cushions, they hold up well and are easy to sew.
I am deeply envious of your porches.
Posted by: Karyn | March 03, 2006 at 04:45 AM
Hola, chica!
this week has been v. hectic - so what a treat to get a chance to stop by here today and see what all you've been working on this past few days....
Your porches are gorgeous, and I am so impressed with the work that y'all did on the floors, they are so professional looking! Would never have guessed that they were not tile...
I also appreciate the tutorial on keychain making! I can't sew to save my life, but I always appreciate people who take the time to teach me new stuff. So thank you, thank you, thank you....
Things seem to be better for you? Sometimes a girl needs to throw a little pity party, but so often we forget to pull ourselves out of it! Glad to see that you seem to be on the up now!
Enjoy your weekend and thanks for brightening my days with your wonderful posts!
Posted by: LLA | March 03, 2006 at 09:39 AM
You outdoor spaces a really lovely. I just wanted to let you know that I have tried to sew those plastic table clothes from Walmart before and they gummed up my needle. I guess they sort of melt when you do it. I think I may do some more this year but try to glue them or hand sew them. Just a tid bit.
Posted by: Dana | March 04, 2006 at 06:55 AM
What a pretty porch! It looks really welcoming and like a great place to sit with a friend and have a chat and a lemonade...
Posted by: megan | March 05, 2006 at 07:33 PM