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This post is a slight detour from my usual posts about sewing clothes. Today I am taking a look at my upcoming project for the blog, my Front Porch Refresh Project as part of the Room by Room Challenge. Now, of course there will be sewing involved because I am, after all, a sewing blogger, but this sewing will focus on home decor rather than clothing. Please read on to see the sorry state of my current front porch and what plans I have to give it a little bit of much needed curb appeal.
Let’s start with the before picture.
Ok, it’s not the worst thing ever. I mean, there’s some seating (although covered in bird poop) and I threw a rug down to look like I tried…LOL. But, clearly it has been neglected. I have had every intention of making this pretty for the last few years and then I had my fourth child and my life went all kinds of crazy for awhile. I feel like I am slowly making my way back to the many undone home projects and finding the Live Free Creative Crew room by room challenge is the helpful push I needed to get going. So, now I have committed. It’s written on the blog, so no turning back now! Let’s have a look at the new plan:
I started with thinking about how I could use all of the things I currently have and pair it with a few new things to give it an update. I always thought I wanted beautiful curtains and an outdoor chandelier and then we had a crazy Colorado windstorm and I realized that was just an impractical wish so…here is my current plan.
Front Porch Refresh To-Dos:
- Spray paint the sectional a darker color. My husband made this for me about 7 years ago. I will add the tutorial information to the blog soon. And I have to be honest, I never loved the brown that he picked for the paint. In my head it was supposed to be a dark espresso finish, so I will be giving it a quick spray to help achieve this.
- Clean the cushions and add ties to the back of the cushions. My original drop cloth cushions that I created years ago bit the dust awhile back. I have since made new covers using a Target table cloth and a much easier process. However, I need to fix the ties that were on the back of the cushions and serge the inside seams to help keep them from unraveling in the wash. The ties are essential to surviving a windy Colorado day as I have had to go hunt for them down the street several times already!
- Make throw pillows. See I told you there would be sewing involved. I am using fabrics all found at Joann’s fabrics (Leaf print, green dot, green solid). I picked these up during their recent 70% off outdoor fabrics sale and I found the striped fabric in the remnant bin during the sale making it a little over $1.00- SCORE! However, I was a little dissappointed when I found almost the exact same leaf print on a pillow at Walmart for $2.50 on clearance. You win some, you lose some I guess.
- Recover the footstools….Yep, more sewing. I am planning on making those solid black but went back and forth when deciding on a color. I originally wanted something with a small pattern but couldn’t find exactly what I wanted so I went with a solid in the end.
- Purchase a side table. Add a little touch of decor and a super cute boxwood topiary that was graciously provided to me from Silk Plants Direct by csisoundcore.com I will give more details and a product review on that fun addition soon.
Then there is the beast of the front door area:
I don’t even know what to say. It’s just embarrassing that it looks like this and has for a very, very long time. I would like to find a dwarf blue spruce to put in the pot in front of the window. Update my sad attempt at a no soliciting sign (also created during the haze of the newborn days).
Put down a new door mat and give it some other little decor touches, I just haven’t quite figured out what yet. So, there you have it. My somewhat simple porch refresh that has sat in this sad state for years. Let this be my promise to myself to stop procrastinating and get this done. I am excited to post this in a facebook group as well to have the support, encouragement, and motivation that it takes to complete these tasks and to see all the other transformations that people are posting. If you need a little motivation in decorating and finishing rooms in your house, check out the facebook group: Live Free Creative Crew for more details.
Until next time…Happy Sewing