The Ol' Screen Door

One of my favorite projects for the porch redo began with a door
that was originally propped in the corner of the side porch. It was there because my client has
a love for old screen doors
and she had purchased this one to use as decoration. Without telling her my plans I kidnapped her door to give it a makeover.

(She gave me a budget and told me she didn't want to make ANY decisions!)

I dry brushed it to give it a real aged appearance
and show off the details.We purchased two sets of bi-fold doors from the thrift store. And added plywood and molding to make a shelving unit.I gave the outside a few coats of the exterior red paint
that was used on other porch projects. The interior was painted a calm gray.Now the ol' screen door is not just pretty to look at,
it's functional too.The perfect little potting shed!

A Flower Place

We really enjoyed building a few projects for my client's porches.
One project was a plant stand. We built a simple box out of MDF,
added some decorative molding to the front, and attached stair balusters for legs. To make it easy and inexpensive to change faux flowers seasonally,

I designed it with an interior board that rests inside the box. Holes were drilled into the board and it was covered with moss.

Flower picks are placed securely into the holes. If the homeowner wants real potted flowers,
she can simply remove the interior board and place them inside.But for now the faux flowers are
pretty and maintenance free.I think it looks perfect
sitting beneath the welcome sign I made.

This Old Window

Our client had this old window that she had carefully carried home from her home state. They had added a piece of wood to the bottom so it could serve as a display shelf. Knowing of her love for the window I wanted to give it a bit more importance in her patio design.
We added simple 1x3 legs and trimmed it out with molding to make it into an outdoor end table. I gave it all a couple of coats of exterior white paint.Because our clients raise chickens I thought it was only fitting to mod podge a piece of chicken covered fabric onto luan and attach it to the underside of the window to give it more depth and interest.The window table is now the perfect spot to rest a tray and have a sip of refreshing lemonade.

An Artist's Window

Over the last few months I shared with you a few projects we built for our friends cabin. We built a hall tree out of an old door,and changed the look of their fireplace from this...to this...
Across from the fireplace is an open staircase, a perfect little spot to tuck in tables an chairs for their grandchildren. To make it even more fun we created
an art center made from an old wooden window frame. One side of the window we made a chalkboard and the other side we cut a piece of metal to fit for a magnet board.We built and attached a little window box out of cedar to hold plastic flower pots filled with oodles of art supplies.

A perfect spot for inspiring little artists!

A Winner, A Follow-Up and a Tease

Hooray!

We have a winner of a beautiful Sodderbug charm made by Janelle.

It's Ashley Bray.
Congratulations Ashley!!!

Do you remember months ago when I shared a little project that my hubby and I worked on together for our friends cabin?
The original fireplace looked like this.I designed, hubby and I built, and I painted. Then the fireplace looked like this.Well here is a photo of the decorated mantle.I love the way it looks with the big mirror above and the wreath hanging in front of the mirror. Our friend said that she's replacing the small wreath with a larger one, so just imagine it looking that way now.
Isn't their cabin beautiful! Do you see the refection in the mirror of the gorgeous quilt? Our friend is literally the Queen of Quilting. This lady is talented! I am so lucky to know her. She is my inspiration, not just because of her creative talents. But because she is incredibly confident and caring. And she and her husband are two of the most generous people I know! Not to mention that they willingly put their trust in us to build them a few items for their beautiful cabin.
The mantle isn't the only thing we did. We built another item for their cabin too. We started with an old solid wood back door. Here's a sneak peek with more photos to follow soon.

Saturday Plans

Last Saturday we drove to a friend's beautiful, newly purchased, cabin in nearby state.

They hired us to build a mantle for the fireplace. (photographed with previous owners items)

I designed a mantle that would make the fireplace more of a focal point, something that would have a "wow" factor.

Hubby and I had a lot of fun! This was our first commissioned build and we couldn't have asked for better clients. We worked from early morning until late evening to get it done. It looks a bit odd right now, but imagine how stunning it will be with a huge black chunky framed mirror hanging in the middle surrounded by over-sized chunky candle holders or urns filled with beautiful red branches.