A Vermont Country Sun Porch

Before I do some more stuff on Miriam and Kris's homes, let's go back to my old buddy Connie's Vermont mountain retreat.

When she and her husband bought the house, it had a side porch that didn't have a lot of charm.

Les Brown, the architect I've worked with for the past millennium, reworked it, adding Doric columns and screens to create a wonderful more functional space.

Traditional Home Magazine 2004

Here's a shot of the outside, so you can understand where it is attached to the house.....

if you've been following this story......

or even if you haven't......

Outside the porch we installed a brick terrace bordered by a stone wall.

Connie is an avid griller, and she needed a place for her grill.

The woman never sits down, so I don't know what purpose the chaises serve, but the outdoor table comes in handy.

 The porch looks over a view of the mountains and the front meadow.

It's a little slice of heaven.

When Les designed the screen system for the porch, he used wood storm door inserts for the screening.

This way they could be changed out when the weather got colder to make the porch into a three season room.

They work so well, that Connie leaves some of the glass inserts up year round, as they protect the porch from rain.

She only needs to keep some of the screens in, to get a nice breeze and cross ventilation.

Not knowing she would do this when I first designed this space, we chose all weather wicker from Lloyd Flanders.

The Sunbrella floral fabric that was chosen worked off the coral colors of the dining room which is just off the porch.

To remind you, here's a shot of the dining room.....

You can see the porch sofa just through the French doors.

I cropped a shot of the Sunbrella, so you could see what I'm rambling on about.

There weren't any good plaid or checked fabrics to go with the floral, so I had a indoor/outdoor custom fabric made from Peter Fasano.

I wanted a check, so it would work off the buffalo check of the dining room.

I commissioned a painted floor cloth that I designed to be laid over the wooden cream colored floor.

 The painter thought that Connie and I were crazy to want a creamy white painted floor, but that's what we wanted!!!!!

And that's what we got!!!!!

The coffee table I chose was too tall, but Connie and I loved it......

so I did what any whack a doodle designer does in a situation where she wants something that is the wrong size.....

she cuts it down!!!

(Well, actually, I had one of the carpenters do that for me.)

(And then I had them paint it white, it was originally in a fake looking old finish which cheapened it.)

Connie and I love to poke around antique stores, and we found these garden toys in some local shops.

They make fun accessories, and can still be used by the grand kids.

The sofa is from the Lloyd Flanders Reflections collection, and the chair.....

WELL.....

I can't remember what collection the chair is from.

I looked on their website and couldn't find it.

It's probably discontinued.

Everything I like gets discontinued!!!!!

Next time,

I'll show you the dining area of the porch....

but I don't want to share too much at once.....

wouldn't want you to overdose on my fabulousness!!!!!

On that note...

Latah, Gatah