Spilled Dirt Leads to a Remodel (Updated)

When our daughter was almost a year old we turned our old falling down back porch into our own personal oasis. My husband who at this time had no construction experience tore down all the existing walls, braced the roof and began to rebuild with help from our neighbor who works as a contractor. Once the new walls were up all the windows that we had so carefully stored were replaced into their sills supported by strong well built walls rather than the flimsy fruits crate and cardboard that had held them up before. After that wonderful man of mine had ensured me of this integrity of this new structure we decided to mix by hand with hoe and wheel borrow roughly 30 fifty pound bags on concrete to level out the center of the concrete floor which had cracked and sunk down several inches.

After all of that was done carpeting was placed and decorating began. I allowed my husband to pick the wall because this back porch was his dream. He chose this terrible salmon/peach colored paint for the walls. I was not a fan but hey. This room became our "Florida" room due to the peachy orange color and the pink, blue, and white bamboo furniture that we inherited from my husbands grandmother when she moved to an assisted living facility. It was our joke that since having a child we were probably not going to be taking any exotic or tropical vacations anytime soon so we may as well have our own little get away right out side our door. The room was bright with windows on all three sides and definitely Florida looking (in a Golden Girls living room kind of way).

The porch all dressed up for a kids party.

Yesterday that era came to an end. Little Guy was playing out there and knocked some dirt out of a potted plant by accident. He ran into the house to tell me and excitedly help me vacuum up the mess. ( I am not sure when this cleaning enthusiasm goes away but by 8 years old it is long gone so I'll enjoy it for now.) Vacuuming lead to steam cleaning all the carpet which lead to rearranging the furniture and when the husband got home from work we decided it was time to repaint the room. So like any rational group of people we decided on a color in literally two minutes and went to the store to pick it up. Within an hours we were painting and did so well into the night until we ran out of paint, this is what happens we you leap into a project. I guess the long hard winter had us seeking change and we were subconsciously looking for a project that could get us out of our winter rut. We had a fun time painting as we always do for some reason. We like to have a drink and listen to music while we paint. We also tend to have really good and fun conversations while we work on a project like this, it is a good bonding time for us.  I hoped to have photos of the completed room to share with you today and to be able rave about our success but instead I have a room that is one pint short of being completed and a pile of furniture in the middle of the room. Hopefully tomorrow I will  be able to update with finished photos. I am always amazed at what $20 worth of paint can do to a room and how color has such an effect on our moods the room makes me feel completely different when I walk into now. I feel calm out there now as apposed to the monic feeling it used to evoke in me before. I am so excited to see what it looks like when it is all put back together. To think it all started with a little dirt spilled on the carpet.

All most there!

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UPDATE:

A special someone decided to lend a helping hand when it came time to do the last coat.

Here is the finished product. We have been spending a lot more time out there. It is so calm and relaxing. This is a great spot to seek shelter from the heat of the day and share a snack.