A Design Story

... stories of design, inspiration and mommyhood

  • The Story
  • Blog
  • House Tours
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Home
  • Advertise
  • Need A Designer?
  • Shop My Instagram

July 27, 2010 by Lindsay

Guest Post: Our Little Beehive

Introducing Felicity from Our Little Beehive. She is a new found friend of mine and I am so excited to welcome her over here @ A Design Story. She has prepared a fun post about her sun porch…. please enjoy!

It is a pleasure to guest blog for fellow blogger Lindsay @adesignstory while she is spending some time with family. What better place to reveal one of our biggest before & after projects than @ A Design Story? Enjoy!

When S and I made our first list of house projects, “renovate sun porch” was high on the list. After researching the costs of hiring companies to replace windows and blow-in insulation, we decided to tackle the project ourselves. How hard could it possibly be?

We started with an un-insulated, pine paneled, drop ceilinged porch that had been enclosed with fixed, single pane windows that kept the room cold in the winter and hot, hot, hot in the summer. It was in rough shape. A picture is worth a thousand words:

Room for improvement, no?

We started the project by removing the drop-ceiling tiles. We expected to see straight through to the rafters; we were shocked and ecstatic when we revealed an original bead board ceiling.

Next, on a sunny winter day we removed a few courses of aluminum siding from the exterior of the porch near the roof and carefully cut a square in the wood siding underneath just large enough for S to squeeze through. Then S climbed into the small attic of the porch and laid insulation as his dad and I passed it through to him. S also crawled under the porch to insulate the floor too.

We ordered custom sized double-width, double-hung JeldWen windows from the Home Depot and read-up on installation instructions while we waited a month for delivery.  Once the windows were delivered we got to work installing the four massive units, which was definitely a three person job. Thankfully, S’s dad subscribes to the “how hard can it be?” mantra too, so he was on hand to help.

It took us three days to get all four of the windows in place and then another few to install all the trim work outside and in. While S worked on interior trim, I primed the ceiling and walls a couple of times, and then painted the ceiling a pale bluish gray and the walls and light seafoam green. With a brush. A two inch brush. Switching to a three inch only for the second coat on the walls when I just couldn’t feel my arm anymore.


After the paint dried we moved my desk into the new room, my new office. Then we waited patiently for the perfect storage and seating furniture to present itself. Which it did, in the form of Crate & Barrel’s annual sale. So without further ado, I present to you our new sunroom, my new office.

This is the seating area side of the room where we have two “nines” chairs from Crate & Barrel and a little wood bench that I covered with ticking fabric to give the space a beachy feel. Since the rest of our house is very blue and neutral, I used pink accessories to girl-ify this room a little bit.

The bear ottoman is from L.L.Bean and was a Christmas gift from S to remind me of the baby bears that came running through our campsite every night during our honeymoon at Mt. Katahdin. The round jute rug is from Pottery Barn. I bought two of these six foot round rugs using gift cards from our wedding and placed the second on the other side of the room, the “office” side, as a way to tie to two spaces together.

The Abbot cabinet from Crate & Barrel is where I keep my favorite crafty books and a few baskets filled with work necessities and printer paper. The file cabinet is from World Market and matches my desk, which is behind the cabinet. You can see Mr. Norman, the fish, on top of my desk in this photo. The tall bookcase from Crate & Barrel’s Payton collection, holds my second printer and more baskets of work stuff.

I’m super proud of the work we did to take what was essentially storage space to make a comfortable place for me to spend my days. Thanks for letting me share our renovation project with you. Visit us over at Our Little Beehive, www.ourlittlebeehive.com to see more of this project and everything else we do around here!


Thank you so much Tiffany! I appreciate your awesome post and showing my readers your progress! So, what do you guys think? Isn’t their Little Beehive adorable? Please go and visit Our Little Beehive for my fabulous decor posts!

Related posts:

Sunday Blog Parade: 1
Where Do I Blog?
We Are Closing...
A Few Good Reads: Crafting, Sewing & Decor
❮❮ Previous Post
Next Post ❯ ❯

Comments

  1. Anita says

    July 27, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    It is so cute!! Really love it!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Me

Hi, I am Lindsay Milner, the designer, fashionista, blogger & mommy behind A Design Story! I am a happy wife & momma that loves all things stylish! I love blogging, interior design, shopping, having fun on the beach, making our house a home, hanging out with family, drinking coffee & running around after our kiddos.

Welcome! Want to know more?
Click here for the full story.

Newsletter

Search

  • Heart Spoken
  • Amazon Store
  • Favorite Posts
  • House Tours
  • Mommyhood
  • Gluten Free Me
  • Family & Living
  • Fresh Picks
  • Videos
  • Our Wedding
  • Facebook Community
  • Loves

Instagram

adesignstory

 417    12036


  • @BJsWholesale curbside pickup is the best friend of busy Moms everywhere! #BJsWholesalePartner I love that I can sit in the comfort of my own home, while enjoying a good cup of coffee and order what I need for our family in a flash. Pulling up in that curbside lane and not having to wrangle kiddos or pull out the stroller is truly lifesaving some days. Busy moms know what I am talking about! I love that BJ’s offers convenient shopping options for the days that are curbside pickup kind-of days, same-day delivery kind-of days, and the days that call for
  • Here’s to a weekend of brightening things up... spring cleaning and decorating here I come! Ordered this cute dipped side table for a steal from @target and I am kinda obsessed! Everything is linked above under shop my Instagram! What fun things do you have planned this weekend? . . . #inspiremeneutral #prettylittleinteriors #showthatinspo #thatroomiseverything #showmeyourstyled #cljsquad #myhomevibe #makingmyhaven #hunkerhome #homeloveliving #mycoastalabode #homedecor #mycrumbshome #hometakestime #myhyggehome #annamariaislandflorida #homewithrue #homedbody #thedelightofdecor #targethome #shopstylecollective #lakewoodranch #coastalliving #coastaldecor #springclean
  • It’s a spring cleaning kind of weekend! #sponsored I have made my to do list and now I am crossing through it! I’m really excited to put my new @sterilitecorporation Sterilite ClearView Latch™ Boxes to great use! I started in the kitchen and I am working my way around the house! I am a lover of bins and baskets, that’s definitely no secret in my family. These make the perfect organizing tool because the secure latches keep the lid down and contents safe, they are clear so you can see what’s inside and they sell them as a package of
  • ☀️Sunshine makes everyone just happier! ☀️#ad @delsolcolor surely added a little sunshine to our world when they sent us the best happy mail ever! They have the coolest products that change color in the sun! From shoes, shirts, water bottles, kids toys to fingernail polish.... everything changes color! Such fun products for the whole family! My kids have had a blast with the Dino eggs and slime... perfect for Easter baskets! Check out their website and get 40% off with code: delsol7. . . . #delsolcolor #justaddsun #lakewoodranch #sun #easterbasketideas #familyfun #sponsored #floridaliving #annamariaisland #floridainfluencer #familytime #easter #sunshine #sunshinestate #sunshinestateofmind
  • Feeling the sunshine ☀️ Happy Sunday friends! I am just making my to do list and running a few errands, but I am grateful for the sunshine and leftovers in the fridge for tonight! Y’all... @targetstyle is having a sale on all women’s dresses today! Link in my bio under shop my insta or visit my stories for a swipe up! . . . #targetstyle #sundayfunday #lakewoodranch #utc #dresses #mamastyle #sundaydress #traveloutfit #cuteandcozy #sunshine #goodvibes #lifestyleblogger #annamariaisland #floridaliving #floridainfluencer #floridalife #coastalvibes #prettymama #tiedyestyle #louisvuitton #neverfullgm #poolvibes #shopstylecollective #floridablogger #ootd #persuepretty
  • Happy Resurrection Day! So thankful for His Resurrection and His Life! Jesus Lives! If you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior... reach out to me and I would be glad to share the unconditional, never-ending relationship with you!

Sponsors

I’M LOVING

Categories

DIY Beachy Art

Fall Favorites 2020

DIY Beachy Art

Fall Favorites 2020

  • Blog Info
  • Disclaimer
  • Archives
  • House Tours

Powered by ClikWiz