reconstruction of a porch

Before we bore witness to any of the hideous interior design choices made by previous owners of our home, we experienced the enclosed front porch. This presumed "smoking room" had it all: weird stencils, a corny limerick above the door, a former parlor entry repurposed as a plant stand. 

Did i mention stencils?

The above and below photos depict a confounded Mrs. Rockey and our optimistic friend who helped us purchase this blessed beast. 

Thanks, Phil... I think.

If you missed the deconstruction of this enclosed porch or simply need to refresh your memory, you can READ ALL ABOUT IT RIGHT HERE. After being ripped wide open last Summer, the porch has been undergoing a slow transformation into one of our favorite features of our new home.

After purchasing a new bench swing for their backyard, my folks allowed us to take this decrepit piece off their hands. With a bucket of clearance rack stain from menards, and some scraps of lumber for the arm rests, we gave this old relic from my childhood a second life. MJ even crafted a couple of darling pillow cases to repurpose some old INHABIT pillows donated years ago by brother Jere.

After having some aluminum siding repaired...

(oooh baby. what happened to that decorative shelving unit?)

we pulled up the carpet (yes carpet), and painted the entire exterior of the house. That you can read all about RIGHT HERE. We ran the wiring for an exterior lamp and VOILA!

Hot cha cha. Our lovely neighbors gifted to us the old milk jug which we painted and repurposed as an umbrella holder. We suspect that we could also comfortably fit at least ten ferrel cats in that thing. Time will tell. The front door was still a piece of garbage, but brace yourselves for the big reveal at the end of the post.

Last Fall, after scouring craigslist for months, MJ found a couple of metal porch chairs (a bouncer and a rocker) for sale in Knightstown. I made the nearly two-hour round trip to claim those babies and returned home in one piece before dinner. For some reason, i took that photo of the sun setting on my drive home. Don't do as i do, kids.

We sanded the crap out of those chairs, primed them, and there they sat on our front porch all winter long. As the ice thawed and Spring began creeping up on us, we used some leftover paint from our clawfoot tub renovation to finish the porch chairs...

That table used to belong to a starbucks coffee that i was fired from years ago. 

I win.

Now about that door.

We installed a new front door, gave it a paint job and some dandy hardware, and...

BOOM.

Again, this big front porch has easily become one of our favorite features of the home. Hopefully, before too long, we'll have some tasty reveals of the family bathroom that has been nearing completion for a year and a half now.

Yikes.

As you were.

april, fools

Been awhile!

Happy new year, btw.

Now, let's get down to brass TicTacs(R).

Did we throw in the towel and abandon this oversized project that we took on almost two years ago? Did we cut our losses and chalk it up as a lesson learned? Did we decide to return to a new construction home in which we would no longer need concern ourselves with an endless list of home repair projects?

NEVER.

Not when the opportunity to destroy something else lies around every corner. Take the multiple sets of concrete steps to nowhere for instance. These dudes have been begging to be put out of their misery since we acquired this blessed beast of a home. 

After a few humiliating attempts at breaking down these slabs of concrete with sledgehammers and masonite drill bits, we decided to rent a jackhammer. 

Grrrrrowl. Amiright?

 What resulted was a Saturday spent cutting up concrete and cleaning up the yard on the  sunset-facing side of the house.

A big thanks to Dave and Vaughn for helping us pile and haul debris to the street for distribution. There are still plenty of jagged chunks of concrete available. Feel free to help yourself to as many as you can pile into the trunk of your fancy automobile.

Act now. 

Supplies are fairly limited.

Coming soon... 

RECONSTRUCTION OF A PORCH!!!

Alright, you can go about your day now.

Thank you for your time.