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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I Love Z Gallerie

Over the years I've found many wonderful items at Z Gallerie.  I like items that are sea-life related and they never disappoint.  One of my favorite finds is this faux coral that currently is on my mantel.

They now are offering it in indigo  and  turquoise as well as ivory.

Last week I was checking out their new stuff and found this porcelain octopus.

He will be a perfect centerpiece when I use my Home Goods plates.

I can't wait for the warmer weather so I can uncover my screened porch furniture.  I think the place for him when he's not prettying up my table will be on my factory cart.

 He ties in so well with my Thomas Paul sea life pillows too.

So who's ready for Spring and lounging on the porch?

Lime Washing My Factory Cart for a Belgian-Furniture Look

Several months ago I bought a factory cart and wanted to use it as a coffee table on my screened porch.  Let's just say the price was right but the colors weren't.  It was only $100.  I've seen them as high as $600.   Ever the bargain hunter, I decided I could do something with it to make it work for me.

Here's what it looked like.  Red, green, and a touch of yellow.  Yuck.

The equally attractive under side.  It looks like a dead bug.

First,  I bought some environmentally safe paint stripper to remove the Christmas colors.  

Either I wasn't patient enough or it didn't work.

Plan B.  I used a stainless steel paint in a flat finish.  It was something my husband had on hand.  His hobby is working on vintage cars and this paint was manufactured by Eastwood, an auto parts restoration company, and is sold for painting cast metal.   I liked its flat finish.  I sanded and cleaned the entire cart and applied the paint to all metal surfaces. Yea, colors were gone.
I think that any gray paint in a flat finish that can be used on metal would work just as well.

Next, the liming.  I went on line and was ready to buy a very expensive liming kit.
I read a little more about liming and found out that all a liming finish is is diluted white paint which settles into and accentuates the wood grain.
Oak is the type of wood you most see with a lime wash because of its very deep and visible grain.

How lucky am I?  The wood on my cart was oak.   I decided I wanted to use some very light gray paint.  The closest color would be Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray.  Or, you could just use white.

Instead of mixing the paint with water, I saturated the boards with a wet cloth, painted on the gray, then followed with another wet cloth, wiping off the paint.  It worked!  The paint stuck in the wood grain and lightly coated the rest of the surface.

Here's what it looked like when I finished.  The paint accentuated the grain and gave a translucent finish to the smooth  surfaces.  It didn't even take an hour.

This is the wood top.  The paint very easily filled into the grain.
I need to mention that this was a raw wood surface that I sanded.

In place in the screened porch.

A  View from the Top

Give it a try.  Easy Peasy.

Kathy

Completed Porch

If you missed the original screened porch post, go here.  If you missed final results of the posts on the screened porch, go here for view one, here for view two, and here for view three.