SUN AND SHADOWS; BLUE AND WHITE

At the first sign of warmer weather I hurry to open our screened porch.   It's our favorite place to enjoy the Spring.  As I noticed the sun and shadows flickering over the porch,  I

had to capture the way the light was working the room.  

SUN AND SHADOWS ON THE PORCH

I changed a few things from last Spring.   I moved the small garden table to the side of the day bed and added some ginger jars.  The Thomas Paul pillow has always been in this space.  It inspired the choice of blue and white for the porch.

GINGER JARS AND THOMAS PAUL PILLOW

The cloche with coral and a mercury glass bird has also been around for a while.  It changes locations frequently, but it remains a constant in the coastal room design.

CLOCHE WITH CORAL AND MERCURY GLASS BIRD

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CLOCHE

I added the elephant last year.  The covered bottles have been around for a while.

CHINOISERIE ELEPHANT AND VINTAGE COVERED BOTTLES

SUNLIT COVERED BOTTLES

A vintage factory cart is my coffee table.  It's the perfect solution for a room exposed to the elements.

FACTORY CART COFFEE TABLE

LOOKING DOWN ONTO FACTORY CART

What do you look forward to when the weather warms?

Last year I updated the porch by adding green to the space.  If you'd like to see that post, go here.
FYI, that post shows the other side of the screened porch.

HOW I UPDATED MY SCREENED PORCH BY ADDING GREEN AND NAVY

My screened porch has remained pretty much the same since it was photographed for a feature on Houzz several years ago.   It's a very neutral space with soft greys and some blues.  Since green has become my new favorite color, I couldn't wait to add it and some navy to the porch.  Below is how it looked before the changes.  If you want to see the less than lovely BEFORE pics, there's a link at the end of the post.

SCREENED PORCH AS FEATURED ON HOUZZ

 I kept most of the pieces on this side of the room.  I'll never tire of the day bed, the columns, or the factory cart.   I removed the bowl with shells and sea life from the factory cart and added this wonderful chinoiserie elephant and a grouping of vintage wicker-covered demijohns.

CHINOISERIE ELEPHANT AND DEMIJOHNS ON MY FACTORY CART

I also brought the garden table and chairs from the patio to the porch.   The seat cushions add the green I wanted. I introduced the color navy with the geometric poufs.  Poufs are great.  You can rest your feet on them, use them as extra seating, or, if you add a tray, they're a coffee table.

VINTAGE GARDEN CHAIRS AND TABLE

CHINOISERIE GARDEN CHAIR

I placed a demijohn cloche onto a carved pedestal and used it as the centerpiece on the table. 

DEMIJOHN AND PEDESTAL CENTERPIECE

I also brought the chinoiserie settee from the patio to the porch.  I added navy cushions and green pillows.

CHINOISERIE SETTEE

LOOKING AT THE SETTEE THROUGH THE MATCHING SIDE CHAIR

The elephant next to the settee has a flat surface.  He's our side table.

ELEPHANT SIDE TABLE

Here's the matching chinoiserie side chair.  It's very comfortable and has become my favorite spot for reading. The doorway is the entrance to my living room.

CHINOISERIE SIDE CHAIR

I was excited to find this garden seat in the perfect green.  It's seating or a place for my cup of coffee.

GREEN GARDEN SEAT

Behind the chair is a small garden table.  I placed some metal ferns, iron candleholders, and a cloche on it.  The framed ceiling tile is my "artwork" for the space.  When I have guests, I remove the decor and use it as a serving table.

GARDEN TABLETOP

CLOCHE ON MY GARDEN TABLE

Here's what the porch looks like from outside.

This porch was an absolute mess when we bought the house.  I've written a BEFORE AND AFTER post about it.  If you'd like to read that too, click on the highlighted here.

If you'd like to see my Houzz home tour, go here.

If you'd like to see my post about my patio (that's the post before I robbed all the funiture from there and put it on the screened porch) go here.

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Finds--Vintage and New Plus Shells for Summer @ The CoOp

We girls have been very busy pulling our sale together for this weekend at Buckeystown Design CoOp.  I always have a mix of new and vintage finds.  Since summer is here with all thoughts of the beach, I added some seashore decor as well.  

I think my favorite vintage find is this day bed.  It originally had pink and white ticking.  I used a dry brush technique to give it a weathered look and had it upholstered in a gray linen.

DAY BED IN GREY LINEN WITH WEATHERED FINISH

I also added a bolster pillow.

DAY BED WITH BOLSTER

Behind the day bed is an MCM buffet that's a perfect TV stand.  The top was chippy and crackled.  Since the paint on the base was in good condition, I was going to strip the top and then paint the whole piece.  I really liked the natural weathering, so I randomly applied stripper to the base and removed the paint in sections with no real pattern in mind.  After I felt it was mottled enough, I applied a gray wash and then waxed it to seal it.  It looks good with the day bed.

MCM BUFFET

I placed a paper mache vase on the top of the buffet and filled it with rolled up prints of shells.  It's from the 1920's and the pattern looks like something you'd find on a salt glazed pot.

1920's MACHE VASE

A few months ago I purchased large European bread boards. Fabulous patina.

EUROPEAN BREAD BOARDS

Some of them actually had repairs.  You can see the repair on the base of the one in this image.

BREADBOARD WITH REPAIR

I always collect empty frames.  I actually removed the mirror from the black and gold one.

EMPTY FRAMES

ELEPHANT BOOK END AND MAP OF PARIS

Here come the shells.

OCTOPUS PILLOW

SHELL PRINT ON BURLAP

This is the companion shell print.  I rested it on a vintage cupboard.

VINTAGE CUPBOARD AND SHELL PRINT ON BURLAP

These framed shell prints complement the vintage chest with its original color.

VINTAGE CHEST AND SHELL PRINTS

LARGE DOUGH BOWL, MIRROR, TRAY WITH CORAL

If you're in the DC area, please join us for our sale July 15-17.

Details here.

Finds--Vintage and New Plus Shells for Summer @ The CoOp

We girls have been very busy pulling our sale together for this weekend at Buckeystown Design CoOp.  I always have a mix of new and vintage finds.  Since summer is here with all thoughts of the beach, I added some seashore decor as well.  

I think my favorite vintage find is this day bed.  It originally had pink and white ticking.  I used a dry brush technique to give it a weathered look and had it upholstered in a gray linen.

DAY BED IN GREY LINEN WITH WEATHERED FINISH

I also added a bolster pillow.

DAY BED WITH BOLSTER

Behind the day bed is an MCM buffet that's a perfect TV stand.  The top was chippy and crackled.  Since the paint on the base was in good condition, I was going to strip the top and then paint the whole piece.  I really liked the natural weathering, so I randomly applied stripper to the base and removed the paint in sections with no real pattern in mind.  After I felt it was mottled enough, I applied a gray wash and then waxed it to seal it.  It looks good with the day bed.

MCM BUFFET

I placed a paper mache vase on the top of the buffet and filled it with rolled up prints of shells.  It's from the 1920's and the pattern looks like something you'd find on a salt glazed pot.

1920's MACHE VASE

A few months ago I purchased large European bread boards. Fabulous patina.

EUROPEAN BREAD BOARDS

Some of them actually had repairs.  You can see the repair on the base of the one in this image.

BREADBOARD WITH REPAIR

I always collect empty frames.  I actually removed the mirror from the black and gold one.

EMPTY FRAMES

ELEPHANT BOOK END AND MAP OF PARIS

Here come the shells.

OCTOPUS PILLOW

SHELL PRINT ON BURLAP

This is the companion shell print.  I rested it on a vintage cupboard.

VINTAGE CUPBOARD AND SHELL PRINT ON BURLAP

These framed shell prints complement the vintage chest with its original color.

VINTAGE CHEST AND SHELL PRINTS

LARGE DOUGH BOWL, MIRROR, TRAY WITH CORAL

If you're in the DC area, please join us for our sale July 15-17.

Details here.