One down....

My parents have a three season porch and it is one of the best places to be on a summer day.  It's shaded by the giant silver maple tree in the front yard and when the windows are opened, gets a pleasant cross breeze.  It also hasn't been painted or had any real attention paid to it since before my dad bought the house in 1977!  A lot of damage can be done by the weather over time as you can see:

I had a feeling it could look a whole lot nicer and be more inviting for someone to enjoy the space as an actual room.  This was my first project I took on.  Like most projects, it ended up being a lot more work than I originally anticipated.  That was of course because I decided not to just paint over the crackling paint and the grime that had accumulated over nearly 40 years, but to really attack it and get it closer to it's condition when it was new.  Not wanting to use harsh chemicals or be scraping for eternity, i decided to fill the cracks.  I hope the material I used will stand up to the extreme temperature changes, I guess we'll see.  The process was about as fun as you might imagine- not very.  Nearly all of the wood trim and original siding had defects that needed filling.  I ended up spreading the compound on pretty much all of the surfaces and then sanding most of it back off again.  That was THE BEST.

I also haven't been able to escape masking (obviously), but it helped a lot that I had such a sunny and cheery scene to look out on.

I consulted with my mom about colors and we decided on something I think of as "warm biscuit" for the walls.  Using a technique I picked up from Kristina, the wall paint was a color I threw together from a handful of mistinted paints.  It ended up costing next to nothing.  We went for a simple white semi-gloss for the trim. 

Finally, the floor.  I admit I was a little anxious when the paint went on the floor.  The previous color was a dingy gray that was indistinguishable from the dust that was on it, so I think any color would have been a startling contrast.  The ceiling of the porch is really one of it's best features.  It's a lovely dark wood that's a little on the reddish side, so I thought a green floor with some blue in it would compliment it well.  Well, paint never seems to look like you imagine it to be when you see the swatch, but I think it looks pretty alright.  Maybe it will mellow with time?

And now a couple of before and after:

I deem it a success.

Upcoming projects: Next up is the bedroom that I had while growing up.  There are a lot of cracks from settling to deal with and the last of the pastel heart wall paper to be scraped.  The big bathroom remodel at my Grandpa's old house may now wait until after the holidays, but there could be another super secret project in the meantime!  I'll keep you posted.

In the future I intend to post throughout the process so that progress can be measured in more or less real time.  Then you can see how fast (or slow!) I work.

Until next time!