The Blog by Ellen Wags

a lifestyle blog for real mamas. featuring family-friendly home decor, casual mama style, and stuff to keep your kids entertained. 

One Room Challenge – Week Six!

Whew y’all, we have hit the home stretch! It is week six of this eight-week challenge; let’s get an update!

Last week I shared that we had been dealing with a lot of delays.

Thank goodness week six was a good week – we were able to catch up and then some! Let’s chat about all the things we got done and what we have left!

Screened Porch

BIG news y’all – we got the entire porch screened this weekend! Hallelujah! This was a BIG part of the project and it has definitely taken longer than we expected.

Because of…well LIFE…the process of changing the layout, reframing of the porch, and painting took five weeks. FIVE WEEKS Y’ALL. We probably could subtract a week from how long it took because was a week in there that Matt was at a conference for an entire week. Literally, no work was completed that week because I am not meant to parent alone.

The installation of the screen porch was a breeze. Matt did research on methods of screening on the porch. He ended up choosing the Snapp Screen system. Here’s what he picked up for our project:

  • Bronze Aluminum Extrusions
  • Pool & Patio Polyester Screening Material
  • Retainer Spline, Spline Installation Tool, Bronze Wood Screws

This system touts being a weekend DIY project, and they ain’t kidding!

Matt says the most labor-intensive part of the screen installation was cutting and mitering the corners of the channels.

He was able to complete almost all the screen installation by himself, with the exception of the large 194-inch opening. I assisted with that portion by holding the screen straight as he installed it, but otherwise, he was able to complete it alone.

Odds and Ends

I finished painting the uncovered portion of the porch while he installed the screen. It is November, but Alabama decided to turn the heat back on, so I was sweating my ass off in the eighty-three-degree heat. Our next outdoor project will be completed over the winter (I’m only half kidding).

The screen door has been primed and will be painted and installed this week.

Matt installed a new outdoor sconce in the open area. He also replaced the fans in the covered portion. I can’t wait to reveal them soon (keep an eye on my IG Posts!)

HOLY GUACAMOLE. I told y’all, we got a LOT completed! Did I mention I also had a photography session this weekend?!? It was fantastic, and honestly, this weekend could not have gone better; minus the time change and 4:30 am wakeup from our kids on Sunday.

Landscape Planning

a few of the beauties (minus my beloved hydrangeas) we will incorporate into the landscape

The whole family headed over to our favorite local nursery, Botanic, to do some planning for landscaping. I love hydrangeas and have insisted they are incorporated into the new flower beds. I really would love to see some color and fullness in these flower beds, so we walked around looking at options and taking a few photos so we could plan.

We also got a good look at our chicken friends (Big Red and his ladies), because that is pretty much the girls’ favorite activity right now. Seriously. They want a flock of chickens.

“Big Red”

Porch Furniture Layout

With the majority of the structural elements completed, it is time to plan the decor! I’m not revealing our next partnership just yet, but we spent some time a while back planning the layout of the furniture (if you’ve been watching my Instagram stories, you might have noticed the yellow Clare tape haha).

Here’s a picture from a few weeks ago – next week – a big partnership reveal!

Fall 2022 One Room Challenge Hub

Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7 / Week 8

My husband and I are updating our back porch to a cozy, family-friendly screened-in area! We are updating the porch layout, repainting the new framing, installing the screened-in elements and a screened door, replacing fixtures, and updating the decor to better flow with the interior of our home.

You can learn all about the bi-annual One Room Challenge here, and see all guest participants’ projects here! Next week I will share more about decor and making this space cozy and family-friendly!

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