The Porch Transformation: A Place of Many Rooms

I stepped out the back door and saw this:

a little slice of heaven.

When we bought our farm almost about 8 years ago,

the scenery drew me like a ripe tomato draws fruit flies.

This view from the back porch was one of my favorites.

Great memories have been made on this porch:

lots of projects worked on,

lots of special events.

A few years ago,

my husband's parents gifted us with getting the back porch finished.

Oh to have that space all year long!

I can't tell you how exciting it was to watch it happen.

I even sneaked a photo of the Amish men working.

Shhhh. Don't tell.

Windows.

Must have windows.

After the basic work was done,

I painted the walls and ceilings,

and my husband added the woodwork.

Then it was time for the flooring.

Not being sure if we would keep the porch heated all winter,

our flooring decision was limited.

I finally decided that, for now, I would just go ahead and paint it.

We rented a drum sander but the sand paper ripped up as fast as we turned it on.

After hurrying it back, we exchanged it for a belt sander, but it did the very same thing.

(We kind of got the feeling that the sanders we rented were too old and over-used to be any good,

but who knows.

I say that because I had read on other blogs of sanding a sub-floor for painting this way.)

The point of the matter was, we were stuck with a floor that needed sanding,

and I was sick of it not getting done,

so,

I did the unthinkable.

I will never do that again
(I know..."Never say never.")

I had a mask on and ear plugs, but,

let me tell you,

I was afraid my wrist was going to break right off.

After a few days of recovery

(and after my Farmer had caulked all the cracks carefully,

so they were flat with the floor)

I got out the primer.

The whole floor got a coat of sealer,

and the marks were done another time or two,

til I could no longer see them bleeding through.

Then I painted the whole thing with two coats of floor paint in a shade of white.

As much as I tried to keep her out of the room

 I occassionally had a visitor who wanted to come sit on my lap

and discuss how important her book was.

She also found it necessary to make sure her favorite nursery rhyme CD was kept on.

Hurray.

The next step after the floor was thoroughly dried

was marking it for the diamond pattern I had decided on.

Using my husband's crosshair laser level tool,

I marked the line along the wall as straight as possible,

 afterward measuring to the opposite side and marking it so it would be evenly spaced.

Straight lines across were carefully measured,

and then meeting points where the diamonds would have their points.
It was difficult because everything needs to be precise,
although I won't allow any visitors to get down and measure all the diamonds.

(My math and precision are not worthy of perfectionism, I'm afraid.)

 

 Once that was done,

the very light greenish color was carefully painted on.

 

 Once there were two coats of the paint on the diamonds,

it was time to seal it
(I barred all children from entering when this process was started
and closed all windows and doors to the inside of the house.
The fumes were horrendous, but I have a charcoal mask or I may not have survived).

I purchased some vinyl confetti-type substance used on garage floors,

and threw pinches of it up into the air,

once the floor polyerthane had been painted on in segments.

 

 A few days and coats later
(waiting a few days in between coats),

the floor was finally completed.

I gave it a week to cure before moving everything in.

 I am really not sure where we lived life before we had this room.

It is such a relaxing place to be.

 Somebody is always on the couch;

she seems to think it's her school reading corner.

(The couch also turns into a bed,

so this serves as our guest room,

if you'd ever care to visit).

Violet's daily school books are stored in the white box by the big hutch.

We find it is easier to keep hers all in one place

in an easily accessible container.

Inside the base of the hutch,

I keep some extra-curricular work, art lessons, our CD's

and some of everybody's supplemental reading to be used during certain weeks.

 Levi's Kindergarten books and supplies are kept on the little shelf under the keyboard.

If you would care to see the transformation process on the spray-painted wall decor,

just click >HERE<.

The transformation of the sewing machine table

may be viewed >HERE<.

The bookshelf was one of my most recent changes

and can be seen >HERE<.

The ceiling light was a simple gold one

that found a new life >HERE<.

The wall shelf was also recently added >HERE<.

And the "What-is-it" Kids' book shelf came into being >HERE<.

My green metal vintage display rack

 is transformed >HERE<.

And the pieced together hutch from the barn

entered our lives >HERE<.

I talked about creating new cushions for the chairs

in this place >HERE<.

This room has become our dining room,

schoolroom,

craftroom,

guest room,

and entertainment room.

 And I still feel like it's one of my favorite places to be

on our farm.

Thank you for joining me on the lengthy journey of our porch room.

What is your favorite room of your house?

Linking up to:

Betweennapsontheporch
Funkyjunkinteriors.net
Missmustardseed.com
Gnowfglins.com 

Homesteadrevival

Kellyskornerblog.com
Titus 2sDays @ Time Warp Wife
 Far Above Rubies: Domestically Divine 
{Dot} {Dot} {Dot}: Try it Tuesday 
Hip Homeschool Moms: Hip Homeschool Hop 
The*The CSI Project

Tip Me Tuesday - Tip Junkie
Not Just a Housewife - Show Me What Ya Got
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Wearethatfamily.com
Raisinghomemakers.com
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