Maximize the potential of an enclosed porch by creating a family room that's comfortable much of the year.
In the room at right, interior decorator Susan Heller wanted a living area that also would work as a potting shed and mini-greenhouse. She searched secondhand stores, flea markets, and salvage places to find furnishings to create a welcoming living space.
Susan paired wicker armchairs and a wicker lounge chair with an ottoman to invite guests to linger and relax. An inexpensive birdbath doubles as a table for magazines. Thrift-store tables are handy for books and drinks, and a rustic table organizes houseplants. Wall-hung frosted glass vases add a refined balance to plants in baskets and pots. A sisal rug covers the decking, adding warmth to the open space.
To give the porch a breezy and casual feel, sheer muslin squares, hemmed and hung pennant-style from bamboo rods, let light in and soften the screens. (If sun control is an issue, substitute roll-up bamboo blinds.) The bamboo rods snap into closet-rod holders attached to both sides of the deep window frame.
If you would like to create your own garden room, keep these decorating tips, from the Better Homes and Gardens® Garden Style book (see book summary below), in mind:
• Be careful not to upstage the outdoors. Windows not only let in the light, but the natural surroundings as well. Work the scenery into the overall picture.
• Keep the decorating simple. Chaise lounges, for instance, are natural decorating choices because they are low slung and don't block the view. Exposed wood legs create a lighter, more open look.
• Use area rugs to pull the various elements of the room together.
• Select a focal point and decorate around it. Try grouping furniture around a pedestal with a potted plant on top, for instance.
• Use window coverings minimally to control the incoming light but not clutter the architecture. Pleated shades diffuse the light to a soft glow and stack to within 2 inches. Some shades can be operated by remote control; there's no worry about cords and they're a great solution to windows in high places.
• Accessorize with things that have meaning to you.
• Add touches of greenery to warm and soften the room.
How to Order Garden Style
Better Homes and Gardens® Garden Style shows you how to use indoor and outdoor spaces, plants, furnishings, art, and accessories to express garden style in any region. Within this 224-page hardcover book, more than 400 color photographs, five before-and-after makeover projects, and 300 resources for finding decorative furnishings, accessories, and plants across the country inspire you to bring the outdoors inside year-round. To order, visit "My Bookstore" here at Decorating with the Seasons on Suite101.com.
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