The Porch is Finished!

I have actually been enjoying it

since mid July.

All the work was completed then,

except for the arrival

of a new door from the living room

onto the porch.

That got installed last Monday.

 So nice to see this summer's project

come to completion.

 This stone kitty, 

who actually belongs to my sister Nancy,

has found a corner for herself

for the time being.

I brought my porch furniture

up from the basement, 

where it has been waiting patiently. 

It used to grace the front porch 

of my Pine Street house.

I made new cushion covers

from an outdoor fabric

with a fun and colorful bird motif.

I love this sheep, but until the porch,

could not find a place for it inside the house.

So, it's very nice to now be

able to find a home for it.

What would a porch be without

a swing?

As I said earlier, I've been enjoying

the porch since mid July.

My favorite time is early in

the morning, watching my street

come to life as I have my first cup of coffee.

I think it almost looks as though it has always been there!

Now, time to start planning

for next year's

home improvement project...

Almost Finished...

The work on the new screened porch

continued last week 

and the end is in sight!

My initial plan was to use the wood floor

already there.

But after thought and discussion

it was decided a tile floor

would be more durable.

So I chose two I liked,

in a light gray.

Looking at them side by side,

they look almost identical,

but there were some subtle differences.

It helped to place them in the space and decide.

In a short while,

the chosen ones were in place 

with spacers.

Then grouted and finished!

The covers for the electrical plugs were also installed.

The ceiling fan has been installed.

The black channels you see above will hold the screens

in place and be finished with a white cover.

The last bit of progress last week 

was that I ordered a replacement door

for the entrance to the porch.

It will not be ready for four or five weeks.

I am hoping the rest of the porch 

will be done before then!

The only real remaining job

is the installation of the screens.

Then, the real fun starts,

decorating it!

Porch Progress Report

Work on the new porch

has continued steadily all this week.

Remember last week when the old ceiling

had been removed and I mentioned

I played with the idea of leaving

the ceiling open with the rafters exposed?

After about two seconds I decided,

although I liked that look,

it really wasn't in the spirit of

the "cottage look" of my house.

So I continued with the original plan

of a bead board ceiling.

That has now been installed.

It will be painted white.

I love the look of the brick wall.

The porch is now completely exposed

and all the supporting posts are up.

To avoid future painting maintenance,

the posts have been wrapped with white aluminum.

The old vinyl siding was removed from

the eave of the roof line and covered

with a moisture barrier.

New vinyl has been installed 

at the top of the brick foundation.

This shot makes the porch look massive to me,

but it's really a fairly small one.

All in all, some good progress this week.

What's remaining is a final coat of ceiling paint,

fan installed and

the floor addressed 

(still considering that one).

Oh, and the screens need to be installed!

Hope your weekend is a good one!

Big Do'ins at the Cottage

When the initial renovations

on my little Cape Cod were finished,

I decided perhaps one big project 

a year would be manageable.

I have passed my one year anniversary

in the house

and the time has come

for this year's project.

See the small white addition

on the side of the house?

This addition was a small

paneled room just off my living room.

Since I have only used it for 

storage since moving into the house,

I have decided the space
will be much more usable to me
as a screened in porch.

After planning and discussing 

this project with

my contractor, Jim

since early this year,

the project finally got started this week.

Jim has been stripping 

away the inside paneling.

The above pictures 

are how the room/porch

looked at the end of Day One.

By the end of Day Two

the ceiling had been stripped away.

I excitedly "played" with the idea

of leaving it open.

More on that later.

My original plan was to leave this 

wall covered with the paneling

and paint it.

 But after seeing the exposed brick

once the ceiling was gone,

I decided I like the

idea of it rather than a painted wall.

By the end of Day Two

we were down to exposed studs.

On Day Three
Jim began removing the
vinyl siding from the outside 
of the addition.

I have a small black room on the side of my house!

Yesterday, on Day Four
the walls actually started 
disappearing.

By the end of the day,
everything was clad with plastic.

I have a plastic room on the side of my house!

We are now on the fifth day of the project
and I can hear Jim hammering
as I type.
I'll keep you informed how we progress...

In the meantime,
have a lovely weekend!