My first One Room Challenge! I’ve toyed with the idea of participating for a while now and have been in need of some motivation to get some projects done around the house. The One Room Challenge is a twice-annual event that encourages designers and guest participants to finish a room in 6 weeks, blogging about the progress weekly, so I’ve decided to challenge myself and attempt to get a project finished around here.

The space I’m tackling is one of my favorite in our new house. Deemed the “Sun Porch”, the room is a formerly open porch that was enclosed in the 1990s by the previous owners. It’s accessible through two sets of French doors from our living room and doesn’t have any AC or heat. The large picture windows overlook our backyard and the river (in winter and spring) and it’s a perfect spot to enjoy a sunset in the evening.

The finishes and architecture of the room are a little funky. The porch was constructed with a brick arcade, and the arches were filled-in with paneling and picture windows when the porch was enclosed. The window trim is a natural pine color and the paneling kind of looks like flooring. The ceiling fan provides critical air flow and light to the room but is looking dated. One of the house’s original 1960s exterior lanterns is still on the house wall. I don’t so much mind the look of orange peel texture floor but it is is impossible to clean and it really needs something else. The ceiling has a concrete skim coat.

When we moved in, we put our outdoor sectional in this space along with the dog bowls and not a whole lot else. The sectional wasn’t quite working for us, blocking the view and generally not being comfortable enough for long-term lounging.

The goal is to turn this porch into a comfortable reading/lounging/napping spot along with a place to enjoy meals, morning coffee, or a puzzle (because I am an old woman and LOVE a jigsaw puzzle). I’m going for something that feels organic and has a sense of age that will hold up well to muddy paws and wellies tossed by the back door.

My dream for this space is to replace the picture windows and paneling with steel casement windows/french doors that open to allow the room to function like a screened-in porch. But those windows/doors are pricey and we don’t know how a future addition would affect this room, so for now I’m painting the paneling and window trim black. I actually like the idea of painting the brick white but the boy is STRONGLY against it so the brick will remain unpainted. The ceiling will get a painted tongue-and groove paneling and the flooring will be covered with slate tile (hopefully…the floor could be an item that might not make it into the 5 week timeline but I’m going to try my best to get it done!).

I plan to pull most of the furnishings from places in the house where we recently upgraded pieces or reuse items that haven’t found a spot since our move from the previous house. The left side of the room will include a seating area and the right side of the room will include a round antique table with seating for four. The existing window shades will come down for painting and I can’t decide whether I should replace them with bamboo or just leave them off altogether. I’ll also replace the ceiling fan and add a little more lighting to the space with floor lamps and MAYBE a lantern over the table.

Wish me luck! It’s a busy month and I’m going to need to make the most of my weekends, but I think it’s doable. The ultimate goal is to have this porch ready for plenty of enjoyment in the warmer months.