Relaxing on the porch

Kimba at A Soft Place to Land is hosting a Garden Party today. Of course any party at Kimba's is going to be good, so I'm excited to join the fun.

First I should tell you that for years I had a nice little screened porch, but I suffered badly from Porch Envy. All I had managed to do was to find these cool candle lanterns at Target, which I hung from plant hangers,



and put an outdoor lamp from Home Depot on a little antique table. Otherwise, though, about all I did was grumble that my porch wasn't big enough to have what I wanted--an eating table and a seating area.

Even when I got a new table for my kitchen and decided to put my old table and chairs on the porch, I still didn't have what I really wanted. I just had a square porch with a table in the middle in it.

Then this spring it occurred to me: if I turned my table on an angle, maybe I could have a sitting area! I decided to dedicate $100 to this project and see what I could come up with.

The first thing I wanted ate up a hunk of the money: a rug. I really wanted an area rug for my sitting area. Target had just the right size for $59.



Unfortunately, that left me with just $41 to do everything else. So I went to the cheapest source of goods available: my own house. I shopped the house.

This bookshelf was languishing in our bonus room holding a motley collection of board games. I moved the board games and had my big strong sons move the shelf down to the porch.



This bench was hiding out in my back yard, pretty much unused. So I hauled it up to the porch.



I'd had this wicker chair for years; it's comfortable and seemed to be begging to be on the porch.



Now for the fluff:

I painted a cute little chair from my boys' old play table. I love it holding this birdhouse.



I grew the hydrangeas with my very own hands. (If you don't already have some hydrangea bushes in your yard, I urge you to get at least one. They're so easy to grow, and they make the most beautiful arrangements.)



I shopped the house for most of the stuff that I used to dress the shelves. I walked around looking for things that just seemed to say "porch" to me. For instance, the lamp on top of the bookshelf I stole from a little table in my guest room. The topiaries were in my dining room years ago. The black tray is one I made with postcards and Mod Podge.

I did buy a few things: the blue and white pillows on the bench I found at TJMaxx for $16. The red and white plates I found on clearance at Pier One; the four cost $6. The scrolly candle holder hanging on the wall above the bookshelf was on clearance at Target for $9. The remaining $10 I spent on plants.





And ta-da! The porch I'd been wanting!







Now a couple of questions for you. I think I want to paint the bookshelf and the bench. But what color? I'm wondering about black for the bench, since the chairs around my table are black. And I'm thinking maybe green for the bookshelf, but green is my favorite color, so I'm always thinking green. Have any suggestions for me?

Be sure to check out Kimba's Garden Party for more outdoor projects. Thank you for hosting us, Kimba!