Guest Blogger: Amanda from Dixie Delights

I’m Amanda from Dixie Delights and I’m *delighted* to slip into Erin’s turquoise heels and entertain y’all for a day while she’s away!! I mean, hanging out over here is positively one of my favorite ways to spend a morning.

Earlier this summer we finished up a porch addition that quickly become our favorite “room” of the lot!
We use this space from sun up till waaaaay past sun down – having coffee, dining, playing games, reading, listening to music, cocktailing, entertaining, roasting s’mores and watching the littles run wild in the yard. If we had room for a bed we’d be sleeping out here.

Here’s the view from the back yard. This is a hip style roof in Owens Corning onyx black shingles to match the rest of the house. We went with 32” “x” railings that remind us of many Tybee beach houses and 10” wrapped columns placed 8’ apart to allow for open views. I adore the horizontal boards that our contractor used in place of where we used to have lattice work. We will landscape the bed running along the stone path as soon as it cools down (and I do hope that’s SOON.)

Our goals for the new porch were to have ample dining space, a sitting area with room for games, music, a fireplace for the winter, a fan for the summer and a buffet table for serving and storage.

Double french doors from the kitchen open up onto this part of the porch. Our contractor (Shawn Reuter of SLR Construction in the Metro Atlanta Area, 706.254.0231) built the fireplace as an exact replica of our den fireplace – right down to the antique bricks – and I ADORE it! The oyster painting is by Angie Reuter and the plates are from Anthropologie. The sofa, chairs, baskets, curtain hardware and glass jars are from Target (I added chalkboard labels with leftover chalkboard vinyl from my kitchen project). The garden stool, coral and mercury glass demijohn are from Home Goods. The fan is Harbor Breeze from Lowes. The mapped out coffee table and pin board frame were both DIY projects. The egret pillow is from Jolie Marche on etsy. Mother made the zig zag pillows with burlap initial monograms and the curtains!

The other side of the porch serves as the dining area. I fell in love with the Avignon table on clearance at World Market because I could envision a whole gaggle of littles crammed on its sweet benches. The rainbow trout fish painting on reclaimed wood is another gorgeous piece by Angie Reuter, and is hung with dock cleats and nautical rope. The slipcovered chairs, oyster shell lantern, shell centerpiece and mercury glass hurricanes were all DIY projects.

The DIY skirted table has smartly served as both a buffet for entertaining and for general storage underneath. Lanterns are from Home Goods, aqua cups are from Target and melamine tray is from Macy’s. The seeded glass lanterns are from Ballard Designs. A vintage refrigerator basket from Habersham Antiques serves as a magazine rack. The chairs were recovered and appliqued by Mother and myself.

Additional Sources:

• Paint – Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (walls and brick fireplace), Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments (ceiling), Benjamin Moore Rhine River (doors) and Benjamin Moore White Dove (trim)
• Rugs – Indoor/Outdoor Leopard in black by Ballard Designs
• Fabrics – all by Premier Prints in Village Blue (Chipper, Zig Zag and Towers prints) – I ordered from various sites and paid under $8 a yard for each

See more of the porch here and all of my before and afters here. And with that, it’s high time for me to hit the porch with a sweet iced tea! Thank you, thank you Erin for having me again!!
xoxo

Love turquoise? Visit my shopping blog Everything Turquoise…updated several times throughout the day! Check out Decor by Color for even more color-themed shopping!