Recently, the weather in NY has been beautiful. With warmer temperatures approaching a few weeks ago, we were itching to set up our porch. The problem was that it didn't look so nice.
Before
We had a mix of hand-me-down pieces, yard sale finds, and two new chairs. Nothing seemed to go together. The solution - give everything a fresh coat of paint! It's an inexpensive an easy way to unify miss matched furniture. We went with a really glossy black for the sofa. Because it was rattan and had many small crevices, painting it was a labor of love! The table was much easier because of it's smooth surfaces. If you're going to try this yourself, we recommend putting a few coats of poly on any porch furniture that's not technically made for the outdoors. Applying this after you paint it will help protect the paint job in harsher climates. Moving it inside during the winter is not a bad idea either.
After
We also had new covers made for the cushions on the sofa and chairs. We were inspired by the stripes on these porches below. We love the elegant but bold black and white stripe and the fact that it's easy to mix with other colors and patterns. We started with an indoor/outdoor pillow and a bright green candlestick. I'm sure we'll find some more outdoor accessories soon!
