Porch Progress!

After finishing the ceiling on Friday (!), we purchased some peel-and-stick "hardwood" tile flooring over the weekend. Why tile and not laminate or hardwood? We were encouraged to stay away from hardwood due to the nature of the porch - full sun, extreme temps, etc. The vinyl tile planks will weather better - not as good as, say, nasty blue carpet, but they sure look better for the short term while we figure something else out.

We peeled up the carpet on Saturday morning. Under the carpet was a thick layer of carpet primer/adhesive. Seeing as nothing in our old house is ever level, some spots had really thick globs of whatever this adhesive is and some spots had almost none of it. Saturday afternoon was spent sanding and scraping down the rough parts of the most obnoxious sections so that we could attempt some sort of leveling before the tiles went down. This included filling large sections of the floor with wood putty, which has to dry for six hours to cure. But...there was a big chunk of floor that didn't need any putty, so we decided to hedge our bets and dive into installation! (Yes, there are pictures of this step-by-step, however they are on my phone which is currently under construction. Sigh.)

These were EASY to install and way under budget, happily. We were looking at about $1500 for hardwood and this project came in under $200. A little sweat equity never hurts! This also makes us feel better about the potential for disaster out there in the elements - if this stuff doesn't weather well, we junk it next summer and go for something else. For now, it looks like wood, and let me tell you - the SMELL is GONE! Something about either the carpet or the ceiling in that room smelled musty and...gross...like when you get a new apartment whose former tenant never once cleaned the fridge, and you open it up and you're like ughhh worst. That's how it smelled and I am so happy to have it GONE!

So I know I've posted this a million times, but here's how it looked on the day we moved in:

And here's how it looks rightnow:

Bit of a difference, eh? Love it love it. Penny loves it too. Actually both she and Leo have been getting their 'floor legs' by running out there and skidding along the floor, forgetting that the carpet is gone. Hours of entertainment for us at their expense. 

So just because I am SO excited to have actually accomplished this, here's another before and after angle:

Before - old stairs, old paint, old porch. 

Approx. ten minutes ago. 

Now the challenge is...what do we DO with it? We sat on said porch and plotted this for quite a while into last night. What we came up is this: (crude but clear)

How awesome would this be. My plan for this space is to transform it from junk-collection to useful hangout. Note the additions for Chris' deep desires (TV and bar). We've asked for the help of Chris' fabulous interior designer cousin Debbe on this project and she thinks that this setup will be challenging at best. It's a weird space - 22x7 - so it might end up looking more like this if she gets her way:

I've been obsessively checking the internets for great accessories and furniture for this room, so hopefully it will be perfectly furnished for next season. I have become entirely obsessed with this rug (thanks to the fine folks at younghouselove) as well so possibly that will make an appearance in our new porch decor.

Can't believe I actually accomplished my summer goal and then some! And with two weeks still to go before school starts...what to tackle next?? Naptime sounds good...