SUN PORCH
BEFORE AND AFTER
The sun porch... my absolute favorite room of the house, it's my happy place all summer long. This beauty got a wall treatment over the brick, refinished floors, fresh paint on the windows and trim, new caulking on the interior wall windows, a ceiling refresh, a new light fixture and refurbished patio set. This room didn't cost much money at all, just some blood, sweat... no tears required.
FLOORS
The first phase was getting that yucky carpet up and what was underneath? About nine layers of ancient paint! I just started stripping the paint off without discussing it with my husband first because I knew he would put a kibosh on it, saying it would be way too much work. Tip #1 don't consult with your husband first before you do things, haha. I follow this tip often and it works well for me. I just knew under all that paint was going to be a gorgeous floor.... and indeed there was! I stripped all the layers off with an excellent stripper I found from Menards called Back to Nature, Ready Strip in the purple tub. It's by far the best stripper I have ever used, I highly recommend it. Aaron then rented a floor sander and sanded the floors from there. We then stained and applied polyurethane and I couldn't be happier with the results. Sometimes projects don't require a lot of money, just a tone of work and they are completely satisfying afterwards. Those are the best projects.
GERMAN SMEAR WALLS
Another time consuming project, but it's completely worth it!!!
1. Tape over bricks that you want to show through the mortar with painter's tape. I found clumping them in clusters looked the best. Also lay down painter cloths because it's about to get real messy up in there!
2. Mix white masonry mortar to a peanut butter consistency and then make it just a titch watery than that.
3. Spread it over the bricks with a trowel. You don't want to spread it on too thick.
4. Remove tape and sort of blend the edges a bit with your finger, then gaze in wonderment.
5. Let dry and sand spots that are too raised or sloppy looking.
Boom done! It's easy, just messy and time consuming, but as long as you know that going into this you won't be surprised.
FURNITURE
The patio furniture was all hand me downs from my in-laws. They were white wicker and all they needed was a coat of brown spray paint. I replaced the cushions with a neutral cushion I found on clearance. WIN!
DIY LIGHTING FIXTURE
This is just a cheap fan I got from Menards and I added the cages and vintage light bulbs to give it more character. The cages were super cheap and I spray painted them matte black. You don't have to spend a lot to get the desired look.
And of course the most important part of every sun porch are lots and LOTS of PLANTS.