Lisa and her husband George had owned their home for over a decade when the pandemic hit the scene. It was an adorable 1930’s Craftsman bungalow in the heart of Bexley, with steep gabled roof lines, wood shingling and mature trees up and down the street. But as lockdowns went into effect across the country, the couple found their little home to be a tight squeeze, especially when juggling their daughter’s schooling. So they turned their attention to the small side porch as a possible extension of their living space.
The original porch was crowded with oversized furniture and had no protection from the elements.
The couple had decided to turn the small side porch into a three seasons room using the EZ Screen system from EZPorch.com. They both wanted the new room to be an auxiliary living area for the family and a space where - someday - they could entertain guests on a small scale. Opportunities to nap, to neighborhood watch and to eat meals together were all on the wish list. But as to the exact look and style of the room, they were stumped. “We can point at something and say “I like that,” but we haven’t got a clue how to create it,” said Lisa.
So I started Lisa on an inspiration hunt, with instructions not to think about whether something could or couldn’t be done in her space. “Just send me photos of sun rooms and porches that you love. The more you send, the better off we’ll be.” As Lisa began to send photos my way, a pattern began to emerge: a traditional aesthetic but with clean, open lines; soft, muted wood tones and natural fabrics; and the color blue appeared again and again. When I pointed this out, Lisa was surprised. “Blue? I didn’t even notice that. I’ve never used blue before."
The palette choice would turn out to be a boon, since the porch was quite small - a mere seven feet wide - and every trick in the book was going to be needed to make it feel larger. The length of the room was nearly double the width, with doors at either end that needed to remain functional, thus making furniture placement a major challenge. We would need to be very intentional with the size and location of the largest pieces, especially in terms of depth, and would need to make use of foldaway or convertible furniture options as well. Fortunately the increase in small space living over the past decade has created a demand for low profile furniture pieces, so we had a lot of resources at our disposal.
Once we had settled on a palette and room layout, we were off the the races. First the space was painted a clean, matte white. The texture of the wood shingling plus the detail of the many windows made it important to find a single unifying color to help reflect light as much as possible and make the room look uncluttered. We chose a shade just slightly darker than the window frames, to help set them off without creating too much contrast in the room. We then painted the board and batten ceiling a lovely muted blue, which drew the eye upward and reminded one of the summer sky.
Water resistant luxury vinyl planking was laid over a thin underlayment to help insulate the room from the cement floor underneath. George and I went through several rounds of sampling to find the perfect color and type. We needed something bright enough that it didn’t look too jarring next to the original wood floors of the house, but muted enough that the gradual bleaching effects of sunlight would not make a noticeable difference.
Oreo approves of the new LVP flooring.
Next came the sofa for naps. Lisa’s biggest wish was to have fully upholstered furniture similar to what you would find in an indoor space. At first I was concerned that might not be possible… upholstery does not typically respond well to high humidity, which is a hallmark of outdoor spaces in the midwest. But then I stumbled upon Room and Board’s line of outdoor sofas and sectionals. We chose the 72” Oasis Sofa, in a muted blue/gray tone to anchor the room. Next came a lovely outdoor armchair and a narrow wood console table from Wayfair. Then we filled in with a pouf, nesting side tables and wooden folding chairs to give the room as much function as possible.
The Room and Board “Oasis Sofa” in Mist Gray was the perfect anchor piece for the room. And a great place to take a nap in the sunshine.
When it was time for the finishing touches, we already had a few pieces set aside from the original porch. An old, rusting decorative thermometer that no longer worked was retained just for its character and charm. A small copper wind chime and wrought iron bracket was also set aside. Items like that are so essential to help connect a new space feel like home. Too much of the brand new can make us feel like we live in a magazine article. And people pay a lot for patina these days, so why not use your own!
An old thermometer, and copper wind chime already owned by the family help make the space feel more like home.
I was excited that Lisa wanted to come shopping with me for the remaining decor items. I love decor shopping, and I’m good at it, but shopping WITH your client is far more efficient and fun than shopping FOR them. And my favorite part of shopping is when a client makes a personal connection with an object. You usually end up learning something amazing about them, and they end up with something in their home that speaks to who they are and to their history. That is worth far more than the price of the item in most cases. For Lisa that moment came when she laid eyes on a large gold scarab beetle.
She literally gasped.
“What?!”
“Oh my gosh, this reminds me of my childhood! My dad studied bugs my whole life, and my house always had things like this in it.”
“That’s awesome! We’re buying it.”
“Oh, we don’t have to if it doesn’t fit with the other things we’re getting.”
“We’ll change the other things if we have to - we’re buying it.”
Months later, when Lisa’s parents came to visit, her father noticed the scarab. He picked it up and immediately launched into a description of its habitat, characteristics and cultural significance. How’s that for a new family memory!
The final porch is light and airy, with beautiful windows and a calming color scheme.
I didn’t get a chance to come out and see the completed space until nearly three months after that trip, due to an unfortunate backorder situation with the legendary couch. But Lisa reported in occasionally, saying that she was spending nearly every day in their new room, that it was their favorite room in the house, and that coworkers were stopping zoom meetings to ask her where on earth she was. When the couch arrived and I made my final trip, the transformation really was breathtaking. The room was light, airy and open, yet inviting and cozy too. A great addition to a family home.
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