Screened porch updates

It's full-on summertime here in North Carolina--time for sitting on the porch and enjoying an evening breeze. I've already shared updates I've made to my front porch, and today I'll show you what's happening on my screened porch.



Yes, I know that we're very blessed to have more than one covered porch. This feature is one of the things that sold us on our house.

Here you can see the location of the porch. Our house is three stories in the back, so the porch is perched high. Sitting here is like being in a treehouse!



Our screened porch is not large, but it's big enough for both an eating area and a sitting area.

The dining table is not really an outdoor piece, but it's done just fine here. You can see here that the eating area of the porch is just a few steps from the grill on the deck.



Here's the view from the table out into the back yard.



I like to keep the dining table looking nice, but I'm not one for fancy centerpieces. These Ball jars holding hydrangeas are more my speed. I like displaying three of them on this tray I found recently on Decor Steals.



The small seating area is nestled into the other side of the porch:

The furnishings here are an eclectic mix: an old garden bench that I painted black, a very old wicker chair, an antique farm table, an ottoman made from a styrofoam cooler, and an outdoor rug from Target. If you follow me on Facebook, you may recognize the paisley pillows. I considered them for my new front porch, but decided that I like them better here.

A new addition is this darling galvanized table I found this spring at Decor Steals. 

For years I had a bookshelf in this corner:

I liked the bookshelf, but the whole area seemed a bit crowded. Solution: I had the bookshelf cut in half to make a compact sideboard.

Now we have a space to serve drinks on the porch, and the seating area is more open.

You can tell from the photos that the screened porch is shady, so even on hot days it stays pretty comfortable. Wish you could come sit here and drink a nice glass of iced tea with me!

I'm joining these wonderful parties:

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Thoughts of Home on Thursday at Decor to Adore
Share It One More Time at The Everyday Home