Help with 3-4 season porch
bgood
We currently have a 3-4 season porch with mismatched hand-me-down furniture that we're looking to totally redo. There are windows almost all across 3 sides of the room; on 2 sides there are 4 standard width double-hungs all right next to each other, from about 2 feet from the floor to about 2 feet from the ceiling. The 3rd side has 1 of those, and a picture window in place of 2 more double-hungs, and then a door out onto our deck which is a deep forest/hunter green. The 4th wall has one small window (kind of a pass-through to the kitchen), and sliding glass doors into the kitchen. The walls and ceilings are all knotty pine tongue-and-groove planks. The carpet is a cream colored Berber with flecks of red, green, and blue, and just about any other color you wanted. We already have one recliner in a very very dark hunter/forest green that we want to use. Our decorating style is pretty traditional; especially in this room, we want to go with something a little rustic/outdoorsy, but still comfortable. My questions:When buying a new sofa, what color should we look for? A neutral seems like it would just make the area look too bland, but a strong color would just be too much... And obviously, whatever color we go with has to compliment the greens that are already there.For tables, what kind of wood should we get? Do we want to match the pine that's already there, or can we go with a totally different kind of wood?Finally, since this is a first floor room, and our neighbors are kind of close, we want to put up some blinds or curtains or something for privacy, but how would that work, since so much of the room is windows? Sorry this is long, but we're just at a loss with this room. Thanks in advance for your help!
catwoman708
For the sofa, have you considered a subtle, patterned upholstered sofa that has some of the colors you already have in it? Or a mix of solids (dark green or rust?) and patterned? Or slip covers that can be changed with the seasons?I think the type of wood for the tables can be pretty flexible. Just go with what you like, and as long as it doesn't clash, you should be fine.For window covering, I think something fairly neutral against all the pine paneling. Personally, I'd use beige mini blinds or vertical blinds (maybe dark green) with a patterned valance (to coordinate with the sofa), or painted plantation shutters (w/wide slats) in a neutral color. I think you're right about not going with too many neutrals or too many bold colors/patterns, but strive for a good mix of both. Whatever theme you go with, it can be done with little touches here and there. Not every item and piece of furniture has to have the same theme/pattern/look to it. Who wants to walk into a room and have "rustic lodge theme" or "cute country kitsch" jump out at them.
market
I would probably go with a neutral, light colored sofa. Something with a subtle pattern will hide dirt better. I would go with a light tan. Colorful pillows and a throw will cover much of it.I like the idea of painted plantation shutters for the windows. Will the shutters provide privacy if they only cover the bottom half or 2/3s of the window?While you don't want everything in the room to be one theme, I think you do need to pick one subtheme to tie those items together - country, cottage, lodge, southwestern, garden.Instead of wood tables, you could go with metal or wicker. Bamboo could be a nice option. Or painted wood. I would try to match the wood furniture to the paneling, but instead keep the different wood furniture consistent.
LandscapeDesigner
I agree with market about the windows. We just put in three (3X3) windows across our kitchen wall and I covered the lower half with white linen cafe curtains that I made myself. Still lets in lots of light but people can't see us from the street. Is there any way to use plantings to block part of the view from the neighbors? We have a sunroom with windows on three sides. I guess if our neighbors were pervs (wouldn't surprise me on one side) they could look at us but the sunroom juts out past their house and we have a fence with an additional screen in front of it with jasmine covering it. That helps a lot.
bgood
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. For the furniture, I guess we'll just have to look around and see what strikes our fancy. Since the windows aren't too high off the floor, we don't want anything huge that will block the view out. I thought I found a small(er) sectional last week, but when I took the measurements home, it looked like it would be huge, and take up most of the wall space, and was taller than I expected too. Back to the drawing board... On the windows, I love the idea of plantation shutters, but we love the view into our backyard (most of the time), so we don't want to cover it up. Another reason we want smaller/shorter furniture. And if we want them open, they'll be sticking out into the room, since the windows are all next to each other. Cafe curtains are a possibility, and I've made some myself before, but again, we'd want them open most of the time so we could enjoy the view, and I think it might look too bulky to have them pulled open and gathered up between the windows. I think mini-blinds are our best option that I've seen so far, but I don't really care for those either. Roman shades maybe, but that gets so expensive for 11 standard windows and one picture window. I've heard you can make them yourself, but my sewing skills are not that great, and I want them to look good. As for the plantings, there isn't much we could do there either. We don't have any fences in our backyard, and we like the openness in general, but it does get a little tricky there. And the spaces don't lend themselves well to planting tall bushes or shrubs or anything. There's already a big tree on one side, so it would be too crowded for anything else there, but the tree is at least 50 feet high, so it's too tall to offer privacy at ground level. Thanks again for your help!
catwoman708
Blinds, curtains, or shutters can be left open most of the time, and only close them when you absolutely have to. Curtains or mini blinds are probably the cheapest route, and will not stick out from the window taking up room. This might be an odd idea, but have you considered patio furniture in the room? Not the plastic kind, but he sturdier kind with plush cushions, like you see displayed in the garden stores in the outdoor netted tent awning thingies. I'd love to kick back in the "garden room" on a nice chaise lounge watching tv and sipping iced tea, playing cards with friends at the patio table, or having coffee and reading the paper with hubby on a weekend morning in a couple of cushy chairs.
ju-ju
A porch type room screams for a casual decor. Have you considered furnishings covered in a denim? Denim is durable, covers are washable, and comes in many shades. Also, how about matchstick blinds on the windows? They are inexpensive, and roll up and out of the way when not needed, offer privacy, and filter sunlight. And fabric curtain panels could soften the sides. If you make this wood paneled room just a casual and comfortable room, instead of a themed room could offer you many more options in decorating it. Also ,if the wood pieces you have and the green door don't compliment the walls and furniture pieces you choose, you can just paint them, or even better paint & distress them.
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