Welcome to the Porch

Monday, February 8, 2010

Thought I'd take you outside to get a breath of fresh country lake air........Ahhhhhhhhh.....nice.....

When we purchased our lakehouse in 2001, there was a small, very narrow screened porch along the back of the house.  I threw as much furniture as the room would hold back there and we used the outside room each and every time we were at the lake.  We ate our meals out there; we read out there; Chuck trimmed his beard out there; it was the dogs' "time out" room; it was Chuck's "time out" room; it was seriously the most used room in the house.

Well, when we decided to add the new Guest Bedroom onto the house (the one you saw the other day), the architect we hired also suggested we make a mirror addition on the other side of the deck to balance the house out; to make the house a "U" shape basically.  After I quit hearing the "cha-ching; cha-ching" of $$ signs, that's when the lightbulb moment came with Chuck and I, and we just knew it had to be a screened porch.  It would be accessible from the Master Bedroom instead of the Living Room as well as from the Deck.  The more we thought and planned, the more excited we got about the new Porch, more so than the new Guest Bedroom!  We knew it just had to have a wood burning fireplace with lots of stone and cedar with large unobstructed screen windows.  We wanted some way to "close off" the wind in the wintertime, so we found some indoor/outdoor blinds that, when down, can keep the warmth from the fireplace on the Porch in the winter, yet raised, keep a nice breeze coming in all other times.

Here's what we got.  We found the chandelier at Habitat for Humanity in Garland for $75 (HEAVY....); Chuck being an exceptional woodworker, turned each and every one of the cedar posts surrounding the lower half of the porch himself as well as all the cedar work on the walls; we found a guy working out of his garage in Sulphur Springs to do the screens which were a terrific price.  We used stained concrete for the floor; added a Sam's Club Futon for overflow sleeping; we made the tile mosiac coffee table ourselves from broken tile we purchased at a discount tile store & a planter base from Forney; paid WAY too much for the dining table and chairs (Very disappointed with myself on that purchase.....); found the TV armoire at a tent sale off I-30 in Royse City; and picked up the cow hyde rug from Canton at a negotiated price (FYI; you always get your best prices on Sunday).

We placed an inexpensive TV in the armoire; found the ceiling fans at Lowe's on sale; nick naks were found at garage and estate sales.  The French Doors lead into the Master Bedroom.  Chuck found this bizarre stuffed fish sculpture at Canton that personally, I just think is well......bizarre....that he insisted on hanging on the wall by the table & chairs.  Sometimes, ladies, you just have to "give in" on some of the less tasteful stuff he drags home.....My initial plan for the fish sculpture was the wind was going to accidently blow it off the stand he made for it, but he was a step ahead of me on this and screwed it to the wall.  An earthquake wouldn't take that thing off the wall.......

    I do have to admit we don't use the Porch as much as I thought we would.  It's just not as convenient as our other porch was and we tend to forget about it, but I got to tell ya, there's nothing like a nice Spring day sitting on the screened porch with a sweet breeze blowing through, reading a book.  Nothing quite like it.......