Hi everyone. I hope your summer is going well. We are having a great one with lots of time at the pool and park, and have enjoyed just being outside. Last year we were busy furnishing our back porch, and this year we have added a few more items that I want to show you.
We purchased the outdoor sofa and chairs from Home Depot, and we still absolutely LOVE them. The chairs are awesome. They’re so comfortable, and the fact that they swivel makes them even better. The sofa has been become a weekend napping and reading spot for me. It is hard to see in the picture, but there’s a small indoor/outdoor rug that we have had for well over seven years. We had it both inside and out in every place we have lived from our loft in Atlanta to our office in Syracuse.
I knew the rug was too small and was on the lookout for two larger rugs that would work in both the sitting area and eating area. Plus, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money. I should mention that this table was also purchased last year. It came from World Market. It has gotten lots of use because we eat as many meals as we can outside. I no longer see it on their site, but World Market is having a great sale for outdoor furniture and items right now.
I, like most people, love Target ,and I have had my eye on this rug. The size and colors were right, and when it went on sale, the price was right, too. I bought two of them online, and they were at my door in just a few days. I couldn’t wait to get put them outside.
We have been doing insta stories on our instagram account a lot more lately, so I did an insta story unrolling them and then a picture of the rug when it was down. Thanks to Little Miss’s nap time, I was able to clean the porch, move the furniture, roll out the rugs, and get it all finished before she woke up. Well, less than an hour after the rugs were down, we had a visitor. I was about to go outside to get something, and this is what I saw.
I did a quick scream and shut the door as fast as I could. A black snake had slivered on the rug under the table. AHHHHHHHHH!!! I am not a fan of snakes at all. I grew up on a 10 acre mini-farm, and we had our fair share of snakes. I never liked them. They are just so sneaky and quiet. I called Yankee freaking out and told him we could sell the house and move to a condo or screen in the porch. Let’s just say I might have been a little dramatic, but I really do now want to screen in the porch as soon as possible. The mosquitoes have always been bad when we have been eating al fresco, and now snakes. Eeeek! I know that black snakes are the good snakes, but yuck, yuck yuck. What would you do? Would you screen in the porch?
Well, back to the rugs. They are now down, and thank goodness Mr. Black Snake has not been back. The rugs are simple and just add a little something extra to our back porch. We also recently hung some lights from our porch to the garage. These lights are so popular in our neighborhood, and I love having them up. Another nearby street has tons of them with some even hanging across the street. We say that street feels like Little Italy. The grass in our backyard is not looking so hot right now, so I didn’t take a picture of our lights. But you can see the cord in this picture.
I am loving the rugs, but due to temperatures that are topping out around 90 and the snake, I haven’t been on the porch too much to enjoy them. They look really great, though, and when I get up my nerve, I will enjoy them a lot.
Just like on the inside, it takes time to make a porch cozy and inviting. Since we can easily use it a good eight months of the year, it is considered extra living space down here. Now, I really would love to hear your thoughts about screening in or not. I have questioned doing this even before Mr. Black Snake decided to hang out.. Please let me know your thoughts and feedback!
Cheers!
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I love the rugs! The snake, not so much. However, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but we lived in Florida for 15 years. Three different homes and every home had a screened lanai, and that did not stop the snakes from visiting. They were mostly black snakes, but one was a yellow rat snake. The black snakes are the good guys, but they will bite if startled (just ask my neighbor who had to get a tetanus shot). Now that I’m in the NC mountains, I look closely before stepping anywhete outside because our slithery visitors tend to be the venomous type.
Vicki, I get chills just thinking about poisonous snakes.
I would definitely screen the porch. I grew up with a screened porch and as soon as we could, we added a screened porch to our home. We use it a lot, think of it as the best room in the house, and it’s great to be able to eat outside without the mosquitos and bees bothering us. You won’t regret it. (years later we added a small bluestone patio right off the porch to expand our outdoor space, so if we want to be truly outdoors we can enjoy that too.)
Love the rug and yes while black snakes are harmless and actually beneficial in that they eat rodents, etc, they are not something you want to see! As far as the screening…..screening is a good thing especially when you want to take advantage of being out there more often….in the South, the mosquitos can be a problem, not to mention other visitors!
Shirley, I agree. The South and mosquitoes go hand in hand, unfortunately.
I would definitely get a screened porch or even a sunroom if you have the funds for it. We love ours and can enjoy it year round. We live in the Midwest where the winters are cold but we have floor heaters that my husband installed and can enjoy it year round…it really is our favorite room in the house. Either one would cut down on critters…but the sunroom would keep the snakes away for sure.
Cindy, my mom loves her sunroom, but it just isn’t in our budget right now.
I live in Charlotte, too, and I have a screened porch that I am hoping to turn into a sunroom so that I can use the space longer into the cool season. Also, I hate cleaning the mess of pollen in the spring and the leaf debris in the fall. Twenty-five years ago we built our dream house on the side of a mountain in PA. We had a screened porch planned and our builder suggested using large sliding glass doors to enclose the porch and we agreed. It was the room we loved the most! Although we had no heating, we had a fireplace. Sitting out there by the fire watching the snow come down with a warm drink in hand was heavenly.
Elizabeth, that’s a great idea, but I don’t know if I can convince Yankee to do sliding glass doors. I also love the idea of a fireplace. I thought way down the line we should add one for a cozy factor in the winter. Oh a girl can dream!
Your patio is looking great! Get the best of both worlds – motorized retractable screen system. It adds “living space” to your home. NO LOVE FOR ANY SNAKE
We tore down our back porch a few years ago & replaced it with a screened porch. We’ve lived her 27 years & rarely used our back porch before then. And yes, we have lots of mosquitoes here in Arkansas & plenty of snake, good & bad, living on a lake. But I spend lots of time every day on our porch now. It’s like having added a whole new room onto our house. We love it!
Jenny, treating the porch as another room is a good approach.
Oh yes…screen in that porch!! Lovely rugs…it all looks so welcoming. Until you get to that snake…eek! I’m with you…you need a screened in porch! 😉