Skip to main content

Screening the Sun

Front PorchThe summers here in the eastern part of TN can be kinda hot… and steamy. And while I can’t do anything about either, I do try to make the best of it! Our front porch is AWESOME! Truth be told, it is one of the biggest reasons we bought the house (that and the fact it has a pot rack hanging in the kitchen!) I like to spend time on the front porch in our rockers, I eat my dinners out there when I can. I like to take a book or magazine out there and enjoy the space… BUT… there was an issue with the late day sun, not just on the porch, but it would beam into the living room and make sitting inside (in the air conditioning) blinding!

So needed to find a solution. I have played with the idea of hanging a drop cloth type curtain on the end of the porch. Maybe I could grow some vines, wait, scratch that… I needed something that looked like it belonged, but still blocked the sun. Something to let the breeze through but not the rays… THEN, my friend bought a little ranch house with shutters on it. She didn’t like the way they made the house look, so she and her husband took them down. WIN for me! These are great shutters too, solid wood not the cheap plastic ones… I was so excited, well… for her, after all the house does look so much better without the shutters!

She brought the shutters over and they sat in my shop for a few months while my life got busy and I had no time to work on projects… sad, but that happens to me a lot. Good thing I don’t make a living off finishing projects around my house!! The needed to be painted, after all one side was red/brown and the other side white, well of course I wanted both sides to be white! My friend who donated the shutters to the cause got a new gadget for Christmas to spray paint with… it hooks on the end of a compressed air unit and sprays paint… I know! What will they think of next!! So we picked a date and I loaded the shutters up and took them back over to her place so we could ‘spray paint’ them! Here is Laurie working her spray painting magic!Spray paintingIMG_3822IMG_3823















When the shutters where dry and travel worthy, she brought them back over to my house … where they sat in the shop for a few more weeks until I had an opportunity to gather the hardware to hang them from the existing beam on the porch. Our office was closed Friday July 3rd and I had an hour before I had to run out… so I got the shutters out along with the hardware and got to work! After a few pilot holes were drilled, in both the shutters and the beam, I installed the hooks and eyes and had these baby’s hanging up in no time!!2015-07-03 11.32.46
2015-07-03 11.35.07

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am SOOOOO pleased with the finished project and can’t wait for a tad cooler weather so I can sit out there and enjoy the breeze… in the mean time the shutters are shading enough sun to make my husband notice the effect in the living room!

                            BEFORE                                                                             AFTER
BeforeAfter

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thought I had Quit....

You guys thought I had died... I know... Well... I wish I had a story to tell that would explain my lax of posting to this blog... Other than to say life has gotten in the way. Cute kitties, baking, cycling and work have all consumed most of my free time. What few minutes I had to myself were spent with my eyes closed hoping no one would need me for anything! But I'm back and am going to give it another try. I have had lots of projects in the craft room to share so there's no lack of content... just lack of free time to share! Here's some random photos from the last few months... and check back soon... I'm working on a craft post! This boy KNOWS how to nap! Off on new adventures! This one LOVES to help! ... and he's pretty nosey! what a tummy! I love all things snowflake-y! trying to decide if the bag is for his guest... or HIM! cruising to visit family...  on an adventure! my fi

Cricut magic

I am really enjoying my Cricut. This year I’ve made all kinds of cool things with it, cards, banners, tags, stencils, snowflakes… But my favorite thing so far has to be a gift I made for my sister for Christmas this year! My sister is quite the baker and takes her treats all over town, to others to enjoy, whether its the girls meeting or a family dinner, she likes to share her confections with everyone. I had come across a Pin that showed the etched bottom of a glass 9x13 pan and thought that would be cute to make for her… But the more I thought about it the more I talked myself out of making it. The 9x13 would limit her to using it for brownies or dump cakes (which she does bake these) but I wanted to do something special for her cakes and cupcakes … Then, Inspiration hit while enjoying a leisurely stroll through my local Michael's Craft store… I came across a display of Wilton cake carriers and then it hit me… why not use the Cricut to personalize it with Beth’s name using th

introducing new additions to the family

To those that don’t know me too well might think that this blog title means there’s going to be tiny little feet running around our house soon, and you’d be half right … and those that do know me will know that this means that those tiny little feet are actually paws! A dear friend ours came home from trip to Texas to find the little kitten (of about 9 months) she left in the care of her husband and 3 sons was prego! I’m not saying her husband is to blame, in his defense those 3 sons are a handful!! She let me know that if we were ready to be kitty parents again we had first pick of the litter… well, as it turns out I might have been the hold up all this time for us to jump into pet parent-hood. Mike has all for it! So I told her that we would claim 2 of the little bundles when they made their appearance… then we waited for them to be born… April 19th around 5 in the evening I got the first text that the little ones were on the way! Our friend is an experienced animal person so she ha