Back Porch Makeover In Progress

Do you have that one space in your home that no matter what you do you just can not seem to pull it together and make it work? For me it is our back porch. When we were building we  choose to upgrade to a 550 sq ft outdoor living area since we always spent time outback at our old house. No, we do not have a pool here...yet (insert wishful thinking)... like we did at the last house but even before the pool we spent a lot of time out there. I had high hopes for the same here and well that just has not happened which is a shame because it is a great space.

I went digging thru pics to try and find ones that showed y'all how I have been trying to pull this space together. This is one of the few I came up with from last September when I was making a post for the bird house. I had just moved the back porch wicker chairs to the front porch and placed the rockers back here. If you look on the back wall you see my sad attempt at making a potting bench. It never materialized beyond the point of placing the cabinet and hutch there. I decided to abandon that idea after seeing how dirty it gets thru out the year especially pollen season. I didn't want to be  constantly cleaning it off and honestly I wasn't ever going to use it as a potting bench so it served no purpose except for a few birds trying honest on it every spring.
So that got me to thinking about what purpose we desired for this entire space. We needed a lounging area but Mr. Front Porch also wanted an eating area. We have an outdoor kitchen and we have never once eaten outside and this is our second summer in the house. We use to eat outside all the time.
I started pulling plans together to create an eating area out in the yard but it seemed every time I found a table I wanted by the time Mr. Front Porch and I discussed it they would be sold out. Total bummer. I really had high hopes of pulling the eating area and porch together by fall so we could enjoy it.

Fast forward a few months later, I do not spend much time on the computer these days. I only pop on every so often during the day and one evening I hopped on for a few minutes and I saw an alert pop up that someone in the neighborhood had sat a dining set out at the street and it was FREE to whomever wanted it. I hadn't been curbside junking in quiet a few years but when I saw the pic I knew it was worth trying to look at in person. I grabbed Oldest and Mr. Front Porch's truck and we hauled butt across the hood in hopes that we would get there in time before it was gone. In our old hood things like that would be snatched up within the first 5 minutes of somebody posting so when it took us 15 minutes due to following the Speed Limit to find the house I wasn't holding my breathe it was still there. To our surprise it was! Then I was thinking well there must be something wrong with the set for it to still be sitting there.

Turns out there wasn't anything really wrong with it other than it needed to be wiped down. So Oldest and I loaded up the HEAVY table with leaf...

and the SIX Fiddleback chairs. I was doing a happy dance because I had been trying to find Fiddleback chairs a few years back and never lucked up on any that were worth what people were asking and did I mention these were FREE!:)
I knew right away what I wanted to do with the chairs. The table I wasn't sure about but then I decided that it was the perfect size for the back porch. The challenge was to create a lounging area, a dining area and still accommodate a porch swing.
Fast forward a month later and we cleaned off the entire porch in the summer heat and I started to work some magic. I was hell bent on making everything fit and function. 

Here is what the space looks like as of today. It looks so much larger now even though it has more furniture in it. Funny how things work out like that.

The table received a makeover.

Of course I had to distress it. I love pieces that have stories to tell and honestly with it being outside I knew it would eventually see wear and tear anyways.

I had originally wanted to sand the top of the table and put a gray wash on it but with it being so dang hot out I just decided to paint it for now.

Do you recognize the wicker dining chairs? Yep, they are the ones from our dining room. They were perfect for out here and thus the Fiddleback chairs have a new home. I am still working on those but will share once they are completed.

Not only I was able to create a dining space but I was also able to pull this long side table in that will enable us to have a place to put food and drinks when we have get togethers. Still trying to decide on what color to paint it. 

The long side table use to sit right here beside our backdoor. Now there is a comfy little sitting area. The side table will be painted and the laundry baskets have been placed back in the back of the car for groceries. LOL. Just keeping things real. 

Back to the porch swing. This swing has been good to us. I received it as a Mothers Day present back in 2014. She has sat out by the pool two years then out in our yard here at the new house for a year till I decided to place her on the back porch so I could still enjoy her even when it is raining. The pup and I use this swing numerous times a day spending sometimes hours swinging. 

We just love our view and even though the swing makes it a little cramped out here it is a must have. With the swing showing signs of wear on the cushions and the fact that they do not sell replacement cushions that do not cost more than the swing did new I searched for an alternative swing.

I found this one on sale and after measuring I think it will be perfect for the space. We will no longer have swing frame to deal with so that will free up some space. Also when having get togethers we can always turn the swing around and have extra seating for guests. Here's hoping it won't be too hard to install. 

The space is still in the design stage but at least it is to the point where we can use it. I am planning on painting our ceiling blue and purchasing a new ceiling fan once it cools off. The rug that I have down there now is from our old dining room. I think it is too dark for the space but am going to try and work with it since rugs that size are big bucks. It is something like 12 ft x 7 ft. I am thinking about what to do with the khaki colored cushions. So stay tuned!