As you know, my main goal of this vacation (other than tending the gardens) was to finally finish painting the interior of the sunporch. Dave did the outside the second year we were here and it made such a difference going from flat, rust red, to a satiny forest green.

Last summer, I started on the inside and quickly gave up due to the heat. I was hoping to get it done this year before the hot weather hit, but no luck. Instead, I tried working in the mornings until the sun got over the house and really started beating down on the house.

I started on Sunday the 19th, and worked for approximately 3-4 hours every morning until the 24. Mom was here so I took the 24th and the 25th off. And finally, on the 26th….. I worked into the early afternoon and finally finished it off. So somewhere between 25-30 hours of work.

Why was it so hard….?

Unlike painting drywall (which I don’t mind at all). I was basically painting framing wit a few extra features. The walls are Oriented Strand Board. Basically chips of wood glued together to make a thick panel. And it means a lot of nooks and crannies to try to get paint in. I’m not sure how much you can see in the picture, but the ceiling is plywood. And not the nice, sanded plywood you make pretty projects from. The cheaper stuff full of knots and imperfections. And on top of that, a gazillion nail point sticking through from when they roofed it. Dave and I did talk about insulating the ceiling, and covering it with a nicer flat surface…. but in truth, if we’re going to go to the trouble and expense of all that – I’d rather go whole hog and tear it down, and rebuild much nicer, not crooked sun porch. So paint it was!

When I took the above picture, those were the last two sections I had to do on the whole porch. I was so happy, but I really had to push to finish it because I was also completely out of steam.

I did have a cheering section…

Lemmy was out there with me for most of it. I only locked the cats out when I was doing the lower walls and the stairs. He was very unhappy about that part – but he was a very good boy when I let him back out again. Not a speck of paint tracked back in the house.

Once it was painted, I still had work to do. I had to bring all the furniture back and get all my plants/planting supplies set up.

While I was painting the porch, Dave painted my large, beat-up shelf cornflower blue to match my little cabinet and smaller shelf.

I got them all back in and started to fill them with plants.

The bottom of the shelf doesn’t get much light, so it holds extra pots, etc. I tried not to crowd the plants as I’ve done in years past, so there’s still quite a few in the house.

With the plants set up, up, it was time to do the seating areas.

My rattan lounger sits on one side, where I can watch the cats in the catio yard. (The plywood on the window was put up last year to keep a certain orange cat from climbing the screens to get OVER the catio fence. I was hoping it would come down this year, but it looks like we need a year or two more before he settles into lazy cat life like his elders.)

In front of the shelf we have a nice little bistro set for two. Great for company, when they come.

And over in the other corner is the rattan rocking chair, which Dave has claimed as his own. (The small white wicker chair is for the cats – it’s child-sized – but I need to get a cushion for it).

There’s still a few things to do. There’s plants to hang, some pictures/signs to put up, and knickknacks to bring out.

And you can see, I should probably do something about the floor. It’s OSB as well. Like the ceiling, we talked about putting something nicer down. But I really don’t want to spend the money on it. We’ve agreed on painting it with a heavy-duty floor paint. But not until fall – when I bring all the plants back in. I’ve had enough porch painting for one season!

For now I’m happy with my little green sanctuary!