Southern Style Sleeping Porch

 A Southern Style Sleeping Porch

A Southern Style Sleeping Porch, to be complete in only 6 weeks. I’m so excited to announce that as of today, we will be a guest participant in the Spring 2017 ONE ROOM CHALLENGE.

In case you are wondering what the “ORC” is, here’s the scoop it is the ONE ROOM CHALLENGE. Twice a year, April/ October, for the past 11 seasons, the ORC has hosted over 200 interior design bloggers, as they join together and choose one room in their homes to make over. The designers only have six weeks, from start to finish in order to complete a full room transformation.

Each week the guest designer’s will link their progress to the ORC host page Calling It Home (link here), and share their room’s progress. The best part you will be able to follow along with all the participants progress just by clicking the ORC (link here). The final completion date and big reveal of my Southern Style Sleeping Porch makeover will be on Thursday, May 12th!!!

WEEKLY RECAP:

Week 1      Week 2      Week 3     Week 4     Week 5   Week 6

 MY ORC SOUTHERN STYLE SLEEPING PORCH

I have always wanted to have a sleeping porch for as long as I can remember. Picture it, being able to sleep outside under the stars, in the comfort of a screened porch on a plush full size bed. Imagine, you slowly drift off to sleep form the sounds of the babbling creek, tree frogs and crickets. It sounds just like a little slice of heaven to me.

As you can see we have a pretty view from our back yard and porches. Our north 40 includes a small fishing lake view, and tree lined creek. Since we are so close to water each evening around 7:00pm the glorious sound of tree frogs begin followed by the the crickets as it gets darker at 8pm. As we get closer to summer the fireflies will also start to appear along the tree line.

That is why I am so excited to be transforming our master bedroom screen porch into my long awaited sleeping porch. Honestly, the weather here has been so beautiful, my husband and I find ourselves falling asleep on the porch with just our comfy chairs and an ottoman, I can’t imagine actually having an actual bed out there. Oh, and I am sure the cats are going to love it too, they already spend so much time on our numerous porches add a bed and they will never leave this one. 

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Here are some of the before pictures of our existing screen porch. This first one is from a year and half ago when we first moved in. It was all still raw wood, and no furniture, but you can see how private the yard is when the trees are greened up all the way.

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Last summer we painted the posts and rails to match the trim paint on our house which is Sherman Williams SW 7631 City Loft. I also decided to stain the floors with Thompson’s Water Sealer in Acorn Brown. I love the classic cape cod feel it lends to this space. I personally find that when you have a contrasting floor color and utilize your existing exterior trim color for railings, it tends to elevate the design of your deck or  screened porch, giving it a more custom designed look. Yes it is more labor intensive and takes time, but in this case I think the work is worth the reward.

As you can see we have utilized the space with basic outdoor deck furniture we had from our previous house. The layout is very basic and needs a wow factor . I am hoping that the edition of a full size custom made day bed will do just that.

Also you can see that my porch is mainly utilized by my 5 cats (2 out of 5 seen here).They have a tendency to make an appearance when the camera comes out and have been seen in some of my previous posts. Since this was just the before pictures, I did not have the heart to wake them or move them out of the frame shot on such a pretty sunny day. So I just let my girls enjoy the porch, lol.

MY COLOR INSPIRATION: SHADES OF SEA GLASS

My color inspiration comes from the shades of sea glass. I have always loved sea glass, pretty aquas, teals, greens and blues. I find these color very serine and relaxing, so it is fitting I would surround myself with them on my sleeping porch. Below is my inspiration board for where I would like to see my Southern Style Sleeping Porch project ending up. It is rather funny to think when I was interior design student, (OMG 20 years ago) that we used to cut fabric swatches and pictures from magazines to glue them on to an inspiration board. Now with modern technology I can digitally create a fabulous inspiration board.  

THE PLAN

So here is the plan, we are going to build a custom DIY bed out of old pallets, fingers crossed all goes well with that part. While I like the rustic style of this bed above, we plan to build ours in a day bed shape, so it will have a back and two arms. While the arms and back will be finished in the manner above, I want to keep the front side open showing off the pallet construction. Inside the open pallets we will add lights to create an ambient glow from inside the base of the pallets. We plan to obtaining a full size mattress fitted with an outdoor water proof mattress slipcover. Bedding in a similar color scheme as above, and a ton of pillows to lounge about on to sip wine and read a good book.

I also plan  to install several outdoor curtain panels. A set of thick light blocking white linen panels for the day time heat,  artfully tied back with a thick rope. I also would like a set of sheer panel to obscure the view and blow gently in the breeze. I am thinking of utilizing iron plumbing pipe for drapery rods to add a rustic feel, and not mention hold up against the elements.

As far as the accessories I am aiming for a rustic beach vibe, maybe driftwood, glass buoy’s, possible a bench that could be pulled over as an ottoman or a rustic sideboard style table. Not sure what all that looks like just yet but we will get there.

THE HISTORY OF HAINT BLUE CEILINGS

We will be painting the ceiling a historic Haint blue color from Sherwin Williams (story in link), a soft blue-green color which is a true southern porch tradition. A haint blue ceiling can be found on many famous southern porches from Charleston to Savannah. Legend has it that people painted the ceilings haint blue to look like the sky in order to confuses all the ghosts, spirits, haints or boohags, so they can’t come into you house. That’s right I said “boohags”, see I am truly a born and breed southern girl. Haints and Boohags are restless spirits of the dead who, for whatever reason, have not moved on from their physical world. Historically Haint blue, can also be found on door and window frames and, is intended to protect the homeowner from being “taken” or influenced by haints. It is said to protect the house and the occupants of the house from evil. We will only being doing the ceiling which I hear  you get less bugs on your porches with haint blue ceilings. Apparently the insects also think it is the sky, and not a shelter, so they are less likely to build a nest or web. Here is a sneak peek at where we end up, but be sure to check out all the One Room Challenge posts above on the weekly recap, to see how we got here.

Sleeping Porch JENRON DESIGNS.jpg

THE BUDGET

As an ORC participant most interior designers procure sponsors to help off the project’s budget. Since this is my first time participating, and  I have not currently received any sponsorships, we will be taking on the entire budget ourselves. That being said, we are hoping for a cost effective out come and would like to keep the entire budget for this room under $1,500-$2,000. Since we plan to do a fair amount of DIY projects I believe this goal will be completely obtainable.

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Shop My Style

EXTERIOR WALL PAINT- Dorian Gray Sherwin Williams TRIM PAINT- City Loft Sherwin Williams FLOORS- Thompson Water Sealer Acorn CEILING FAN-52″ White Ceiling Fan Home Depot CEILING PAINT-DCR075 Piazza Blue Sherwin William CURTAINS- Outdoor Weighted Panels White Ballard Designs MATTRESS- Hampton & Rhodes 6.5″ HR100 Firm Mattress Firm of Cumming (see Aaron) MEMORY FOAM MATTRESS- 4″ Gel Foam Mattress Wayfair  MATTRESS COVER- Waterproof/Bed Bug Blocker Hypoallergenic Wayfair  MATTRESS TOPPER- Waterproof Mattress Topper Wayfair EURO SHAMS WHITE – Clairebella Euro 200 Thread Count Wayfair BEDDING/QUILT- Cynthia Rowley Blue Green Medallion, HomeGoods HELLO HANDSOME/GORGEOUS PILLOW CASES- Wayfair  END TABLE BASKET- Jacquelyne Lidded Barrel Basket Pottery Barn  WALL MIRROR- Wall Mounted Votive Holder Pottery Barn LARGE GLASS URNS-HomeGoods DRIFTWOOD VASES-HomeGoods  CHEVRON THROW PILLOWS- Wayfair,  ROUND THROW PILLOW HomeGoods, TASSELED THROW- Anthropology (similar) EMBROIDERED THROW PILLOW- Bed Bath and Beyond , BLUE & WHITE TICKED THROW PILLOWS- HomeGoods AQUA THROW PILLOWS-Overstock. EURO SHAMS QUILTED TURQUOISE- Overstock RUG- Ross 

94 Comments

  1. Linda Parker

    Jennifer,
    I love how far you have come. Proud to know you and can’t wait to see the finished product!

  2. Jody Asmer

    So excited to follow you and receive some great ideas to bring into my home and business

  3. Can’t wait to see how you transform this space. I wish I had a covered porch out back. Love your inspiration board. Good luck and look forward to following along 🙂

  4. Thank you, it has been a fast track in a short amount of time…. started the blog in January and now here we are 🙂

  5. Thank you Jody!!!! I appreciate your support 🙂 I hope you happy anniversary week for Shenanigan’s tell all my sisters hello, I sad that I will miss it.

  6. Thank you!!! First time- I am super excited 🙂

  7. Thank you for following Wanda!!! I love haint blue too, one of my favorite colors on the planet.

  8. A sleeping porch!!! This is going to be amazing. I will live vicariously through you since here in central PA we only have sleeping porch nights for a few months out of the year. Your plan is lovely and the setting is to die for!!

  9. Boohag is such a fun word! I’ve never heard that one! Love the plans and I can’t wait to see your room!

  10. I know, right? It was just too fun of a word to say not add a little bit of my southernisms to the post!!! HAHAHA I can say boohag all day long, however they give me a funny look a Sherwin Williams when I say it along with Paint Blue… LOL

  11. Hey Meredith thanks for your support!!! It is my first One Room Challenge and we are as excited to participate as I am to get a sleeping porch. PA is a lovely area, it reminds me a lot of GA but with cooler weather and a bit more snow.

  12. A sleeping porch! How wonderful, I am sure you will love it! Can’t wait to follow along!

  13. Thanks Danielle I am so excited about it. I have always wanted one for as long as I can remember!!!!

  14. Day

    Looking forward to the reveal!!! I remember tossing ideas around about that space! Good luck!

  15. I’m a southern girl and you are living where hubby and I have our dreams set to. Northern Georgia mountains. We love the privacy and the water. The idea of a good ole fashion sleeping porch makes me swoonnnnnnnnn. I can’t wait to see the finished product.

  16. Certainly, that is amazing! How were you able to think of that? The view is okay, but you made it so much better with the set up.

  17. Renee Bivins

    That’s a great plan. I have a screened in back porch on my home here in South Carolina and it is awesome. I live “in the country” so having an outdoor space that keeps out the flying/biting critters is great and allows us to enjoy the cool breezes and fresh air without the downfalls and harassment from gnats and mosquitos.

  18. colleen wool

    I love the view from your porch. i also like your southern style sleeping porch, very cute.

  19. With a view like that, a porch is a must! Love what you did with the space, would love to have a house with a porch one day!

  20. Rosey

    What a good idea to make the daybed for outside use. Good luck with the construction. Looking forward to the big reveal.

  21. Elizabeth O.

    It’s beyond beautiful and it’s the perfect place to hang out during Spring and Summer especially during the warmer days of the season. I can imagine staying here on a lazy afternoon while reading a book! I’m sure you’re going to give the place justice once you’re done.

  22. This is going to look beautiful! I’d love to have a sleeping porch. Looks like such a relaxing place..

  23. I know the view was a complete surprise when we were building. Until we reached the 3rd floor we had no idea we had purchased a lake view…..lol

  24. Thank you fingers crossed all goes well 🙂

  25. We are lucky our house sits facing South so we getting the sunrise on this patio which gives us nice evening shade.

  26. Be sure to check out the final reveal on May 11th!!!

  27. Day you will have to make a trip out to see it 🙂

  28. I LOVE this!!! I want one when we finish our back porch. you did such a great job with this.

  29. That is perfect for a sleeping porch!!! We also live in the foothills of the North GA mountains.

  30. LOL I am familiar with with SC flying/biting critters… this would be a perfect idea for that area 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, please feel free to follow along this process.

  31. Ive never heard of a sleeping porch before, it isnt something we have here in the uk. It looks and sounds amazing! I would love to fall asleep under the stars!

  32. Oh they are wonderful!!! We have beautiful weather 8-10 months out of the year, but I could see where in the UK it might be a bit rainy and cold for it to be utilized year round. I have always wanted one, and I am truly amazed they are not more common here in GA, but I guess it is an old southern tradition.

  33. Thank you, we love our surprise lake view, and as it keeps raining it get fuller and fuller.

  34. Maryann Barker

    Very nice home decoration! too much natural light which I LOVE!

  35. I love spending the night outdoors, but because of work sometimes it isn’t possible, so I love this idea! I will build a porch on my house.

  36. Leigh Anne Borders

    This looks like it will turn out nicely. I have always wanted one of these areas to relax and even sleep in.

  37. Claire Santiago

    I love the choice of colors. They are very cool and relaxing. The set-up is perfect for a hot summer day.

  38. karlyn cruz

    This is truly amazing! I love this kind of idea. Although it looks like expensive but worth it.

  39. I love this idea!!! It is soooo fun! I can’t wait to see how this turns out… I’ll be following during the challenge! xo

  40. Thank you for following and your support!!! For my first time participating in the ORC I wanted to do something unique, and this seemed to fit the bill.

  41. Actually I am hoping to keep the budget under $1,500. The major expense I am budgeting for is the actual mattress for the day bed.

  42. Thank you be sure to check back in 6 weeks to see the finished product 🙂

  43. I find those colors very relaxing as well, it reminds me of the beach.

  44. You will not be sorry if you decide to build a porch. We love our outdoor spaces, if makes our home seem larger.

  45. Rebecca Sanchez

    This sleeping porch sounds amazing and I would so love to have one some day. The blues and grays go so beautifully together. I love the idea of making the bed out of old pallets. Thanks for sharing your plans.

  46. Kay Lasoon

    I couldn’t refrain from commenting on your post. It is perfectly written!

  47. Charlotte Lindsay

    I am so excited to see how this comes out! It is such an amazing idea and a screened in porch is the perfect space to do a spring ORC.

  48. Thank you, I was totally feeling an outdoor space.

  49. Thank you for stopping please check back in on our progress each week !!!

  50. Pingback: | JENRON DESIGNS |
  51. What a fun project! Definitely inspiring for my first home one day. Love the idea of the DIY pallets aspect!

  52. Thank you, I love the reuse or repurpose stuff a lot. I find if it something I like a lot it is totally worth the time effort and energy to fix it up.

  53. NIHARIKA

    Your niche is a good one for inspiration for the home.

  54. Rudy I currently do not monetize my blog, and all my opinions are my own for this reason. Besides I am holding out for the big boy companies if you found me they will too 🙂

  55. Thank you somedays it seems like no one is tuning in or reading the content I work so hard to write, but then I open my comments and have such supportive words from people like yourself which makes all the difference.

  56. Allison Demarco

    I see your blog has some unique content. Writing manually is time consuming, but if you have a flair, like you do, for it then it makes it worth while! Keep up the good work you will go far.

  57. Ali Goodson

    Aw, this was an extremely good post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to generate a great article is hard…. but what can I say, I procrastinate a lot and never manage to get anything done.

  58. Denice Trundle

    Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes, which will make the largest changes. Thanks for sharing!

  59. Little Farmgirl

    I wanted to say I take pleasure in reading your posts. Additionally, this for the ORC turned out great,thanks for sharing please know I just had to comment!

  60. Addison Wheeler

    This room is going to turn out great. I have been stalking your page from the ORC and wanted to see what your last challenge turn out like, now I am excited to the the Fall Challenge once completed. Love your style.

  61. Judean

    I adore you sleeping porch and really want to create one for myself! Great blog site we really like it a lot. Thanks for sharing.

  62. Hello! I simply love this idea I would spend all day out there and all night, guess that’s why it’s a sleeping porch. LOL

  63. Torri Sykes

    I simply wanted to say thanks. I am happier for the advice and even have high hopes for my outdoor patio. I hope you realize what an amazing job you happen to be doing teaching people by way of this site.

  64. 42 herber

    I am in love with your sleeping porch, I think my grandmother used to have one in her old house, but I can’t really remember it. She was in historic Savannah off Gordon St. so it seems like the right style for a sleeping porch. Love that you paid homage to this old southern style.

  65. Wanda Floyd

    Such a serine area to relax and read a good blog, I wonder, do you read blogs? What are a few of your favorites? I would guess that you do just to start on top of things.

  66. Theo Raneses

    Your blog is valuable for me. Thanks!

  67. Veronica Small

    I have checked out your site and I have found I really like what you are doing!

  68. Andrea Sullivan

    That rooms checks all the boxes and you some amazing content. This sleeping porch is spot on for a spring ORC designs challenge.

  69. Retta

    It’s wonderful to have you on our side, haha!

  70. April Helmsworth

    A lot of thanks for your entire effort on this web page. My mother really loves reading it too. She loves this post because she said her grandmother had a sleeping porch, and that you have a old soul to be adding one to your home. I personally think it is the perfect spot for a good book and glass of vino, so why not put in a space like this off your bedroom. Fantastic idea.

  71. the cheap jordan’s

    I simply wished to appreciate you all over again, seeing the very well-written fashion you processed the issue made me to leap for joy. Much happier for all your guidance and as well, trust you are aware of an amazing job you happen to be undertaking instructing some other people using your site.

  72. NVMD

    I love this idea of a sleeping porch, it would be great here in the summers but probably would not get used too much during the cold New England winters. I still think it would be worth it, for the summers on the bay, and enjoying while avoiding the obnoxous bugs. This is such a great inspiration room!

  73. Maysz

    Is it bad that on a snowy day like today I am dreaming of a summer time sleeping porch? I think I may have to create one of these for my summer project. It would be a great spot to watch the snow and enjoy some me time.

  74. Home with Jan

    This is a great room to add on to any home, I think you will love it. I love to spend time outside in the pretty months. It is a perfect place to read and relax. Great job, sending you all my gratitude for a entertaining read.

  75. Terry Haide

    I simply love this idea! The haint blue ceiling is really starting to catch on too. I saw a article about it in Southern Living.

  76. Mulberry Farms

    My personal idea of a great place to relax, you will do a fantastic job with the upgrade. You always do.

  77. Pinky

    Need one of these for my home this summer. What a fantastic idea and beautiful area. Perfect for a iced tea and good book. Can’t wait to see the finished work.

  78. My Sunnies

    Thanks so much for providing such wonderful ideas and design inspiration. This is a great room to do for a spring ORC.

  79. Pink Warrior Walker

    Thanks a lot for providing individuals with an extremely wonderful opportunity to read from this site. This porch is a great idea and the perfect place to enjoy a day with nature.

  80. Best ORC room to date. I simply want to let you know I honestly liked your page and this design board very much.

  81. Kelly Monroe

    I have been looking for inspiration for a outdoor sleeping porch, I am surprised to see that your created one last year for the One Room Challenge. This is probably where the big push in sleeping poaching started, since it was such a public forum, and now they are starting to trend very high. I got to check out all your ideas since it seems that you are one of the trend setters, not the just a follower.

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