Tag: porch

A Porch for Cozy Outdoor Entertaining

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I don’t think I’ve shown this porch much since we moved in. Come on out! It’s a small but comfortably cozy area. It fits our family of five perfectly, and after the kids go to sleep, me and Brandon can hang out back here with a few friends.

It looked like this before. Squished!

It’s a tiny space, but it felt even tinier with that little gap to squeeze through between the loveseat and the chair. Those big pieces came out right away after we moved in. We replaced them with a few things we brought with us from our first house, but did little else until now. I spent the weekend cleaning it up a bit. It looks pretty good outside for a 125-year-old house and I may try gently scrubbing the siding (I know you’re not supposed to pressure wash it), but I’m worried it may hasten a paint job.

Avoiding opening that can of worms, I stuck to sweeping out the dust and dirt, and turned my attention to maximizing the space. I added a wooden bistro table to a pair of metal chairs we already had. The small size of the table is better suited to the space, making it feel larger, and a bistro set is more useful than another armchair.

The color scheme is a little kooky with the stained glass. It’s an odd addition that doesn’t really go with the rest of the house, but the privacy is nice. I didn’t want to add a lot of competing colors, so I kept the furniture and accessories mostly neutral, and brought in some natural textures, wood tones, and brass accents to warm things up.

The lounge seating was on the porch at our first house. Half of it was reused here on the front porch, and the other half here. I got that pink polka dot pillow maybe five years ago, and the woven pillow is new.

I got a matching outdoor pouf too because the kids were super into it. It’s too bad I only had room for one because they’re kind of fighting over who gets to sit there.

We weren’t using this spot much at night because it was too dark, but it will be a whole lot nicer now that I hung string lights. I used removable hooks to test out the placement because I wasn’t sure if I’d like them to be swagged (as they are now) or pulled taut. What do you think?

I popped back out at night to take a few shots of them all aglow.

Candles help with the ambiance too. We have a hanging candle holder with open sides out there (came with the house), and you never realize how breezy it is until you try to keep an unsheltered candle lit! I bought a set of LED votives for the first time (along wtih a few perforated gold votive holders), and they are so much easier to deal with. No worries with kids around, I can put them anywhere without risking a fire hazard, and they don’t blow out with the slightest wind.

The table is just the right size for two people. I brought out our patterned plates, gold flatware, and our everyday pressed glass tumblers, and added cute polka dot napkins to tie in with the pink pillow. And of course, there’s the brass Nate Berkus vase that has been all over Blogland. It’s the perfect tall vase for big floofy flowers (hydrangeas, peonies, dahlias, you get the idea).

This little porch looks and feels so much better now. Having breakfast out here, late night drinks, coffee and a newspaper… I can’t wait. It’s such a special part of the house, and we’ve already been enjoying the spruced up space!

May 24, 2016
A Groovy Kind of Porch

We reused what we already had for our front porch, and it looks pretty good out there right now. We’ve been sitting out there a lot though since I set it up, and it’s clear that what’s missing is a comfortable chair with arms and a back high enough to rest one’s head on. Everyone appreciates a comfy seat, yes? Like, maybe a hanging swing type of seat?

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I like the idea of something that hangs from two ropes or chains, as I imagine less crashing into the house possibilities with the kids around. Serena & Lily has a hanging rattan chair that I’ve admired for a while, and now they have a wider double version too. Then while I was out walking in the neighborhood, I spotted a version in the window at Pier 1. Turns out, they have several “Swingasans” to choose from right now. Anthropologie has one too, but it’s a little too mod for me. Because yeah, turns out I’m kinda into seventies’ and eighties’ style wicker and rattan for the outside of the Victorian.

Peacock chairs are so trendy right now, but they really would work well here. There’s a house nearby with a set outside that has a his-and-hers vibe with different bases. There are plenty of new and vintage options online and locally to choose from.

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I know, that second one above (the Handwoven Boline Chair) isn’t really a peacock chair, but it is pretty amazing. Or ZOMG, something like this, below, would be adorable! Actually, it wouldn’t really work out front — I just wanted to share this pretty picture, ha! Anyway, I saw a vintage set of these years ago, cheap, in Palm Springs. I doubt they pop up that often here in Chicago.

More realistically, I still like these chairs that I blogged about several years ago. Here are a few similar styles. Only some have a high-back, but even just having a chair with arms would be an improvement over what we have now.

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What do you like? A hanging rattan swing, peacock chair, or the more simplified style of the last set of chairs and benches? I’m about to leave for a trip and won’t be back for a couple of weeks, so I’m going to take a little time to think it over.

June 12, 2014
The Clubhouse

The back of our house has a two-story porch. Beneath the bottom one is a short space that was filled with gardening stuff left for us by the previous owners: plant stakes, watering cans, bags of potting soil, and the like. We were straightening up out back and then it started to rain, so pardon the lack of a zoomed-out photo here, but I wanted to at least snap quick photo so you could get an idea of the space.

Brandon took the kids to IKEA yesterday to pick up a play table and chairs, to turn the storage space into a clubhouse. He chose the MAMMUT series even though he wasn’t nuts about the look of it because it was plastic (to hopefully stand up to the elements) and it looked like it would be fairly stable on uneven ground. I would have researched this to death, so sometimes it’s nice to have someone who just goes and gets something done. He came home, cleared out the space, and set things up.

It looks a little rough, but it’s safe. No nails sticking out, exposed wires or insulation or anything, and the kids can stand up with a little headroom to spare.

My inclination is to really do it up in there (paint! curtains! string lights!), but of course Eleanor and August love it as it is. Their first rule? “Leave it messy. No cleaning up allowed.” They also made it clear that both food and books can be brought in. Oh, and then there’s the matter of the sign out front.

Eleanor and her friend are both big sisters to sometimes-annoying little brothers, so that’s where that came from. Eleanor later conceded that August can still come in though. And her daddy. And her friend’s little brother. So that leaves out… who, exactly?

Have you made a little club/tree/playhouse for your kids? How involved in setting it up did you get? Tell me I’m not the only one that gets the urge to sew little gingham curtains for the inside that would likely not be appreciated.

June 10, 2014
Giving a Little Attention to the Front Porch

I’m hosting a Garden Party with The Home Depot on May 10, as part of their #SpringMadeSimple events. There’s going to be a chef with garden-to-table ideas, an expert gardener to answer questions, and we’ll get some ideas and help with a few gardening projects.

Since I’ve been in kind of an outdoor mindset, I figured it was time to give a little attention to the front porch. It was so pretty when we first saw this house last summer! The garden was green and lush, and there were roses arching over the entry. It was kind of ridiculous how pretty it was.

Nothing is in bloom out front yet though, and it’s pretty apparent that the porch is lacking when not surrounded by greenery. It curves around the side of the house, but then stops short of actually being a wraparound, so the layout is a little funny. Right now, it’s furnished with two Adirondack chairs that were left by the previous owners, and an empty black planter. That’s it.

It will be much nicer when the trees leaf out, but man, how I wish I had these crazy benches right now. Or an insane peacock chair or two to go out there. Really though, those Adirondack chairs aren’t what I would pick but they’re fine. I think a couple of pillows, plants, and a new doormat could go far, plus we have some stuff from the last house that might work.

I’m going to go pick up some plants tomorrow so the house will look nice for Eleanor’s birthday party this weekend, and I’ll spruce up the front porch a bit. I’ll share the space again next week, after it’s done! And then next weekend, I’ll be at the Chicago store on Lincoln & McCormick from 1-4. You can find out more and RSVP. It’s going to be fun, and I hope to see some of you there!

Sponsored by The Home Depot

May 1, 2014
The Victorian House: Kitchen, Bathroom, Office, and Back Porch #1

Here’s the rest of our new house’s first floor! Think of this as ‘The First Floor: The Wallpapered Edition.’ (There will be more upstairs, too.)

You’ve seen a glimpse of the kitchen already. Here she is, in all her glory.

Tin ceiling! Not original, but period-appropriate.

The stove is not vented. It’s wood burning on the left, gas on the right. We immediately blew out the pilot light five minutes into owning the house, and had to run to a neighbor for matches. Then it happened again, and again (but at least we had the matches to relight it). Good times!

Here you can see the house’s back stairs on the left, and the bathroom on the right.

The bathroom has a small-scale geometric wallpaper above white beadboard.

The bathroom upstairs on the second floor only has a tub. The kids take baths, but Brandon and I usually shower, so this may be our primary bathroom.

Here’s the room that will become my office. It slopes down considerably, but when we had our home inspection, I also brought in a structural engineer to assess this room and a few other spots. His verdict: it’s an old house with some quirks, but it is structurally sound. (In fact, he placed it in the top 10% of homes he has seen and was impressed by its good condition.)

It leads to a little porch (and I do mean little) that can only be accessed from the room. Such a great spot!

You’ve seen the entire first floor now, between today’s photos and the ones in yesterday’s post. Tomorrow, we head upstairs!

August 27, 2013
Hold on to Summer

October in Chicago is funny. The temperature is in the high seventies this week but we could just as easily be thirty degrees colder, so we’re spending some time outside and enjoying the warm weather while we can. Wouldn’t one of these rattan chairs be cute on a porch or patio (like Jaime’s below), or in a sunroom?

Such a sweet chair.

• Photo by Raya Carlisle for Prudent Baby. Rattan chairs from Anthropologie and IKEA.

October 5, 2011