Once upon a time, I took an entire hour to create a post. Only to lose it all with one random twitch of my finger on my laptop. Who knew. I’m exhausted and should be in bed. I will hate myself in the a.m. when one of the kids wakes and starts screaming bloody murder. I’m just too darn stubborn to quit.
This title sounds completely ridic. I know. But I wasn’t going to call it a Florida Room. A Florida Room is a place where the fried old lady from There’s Something About Mary sits and coats her dog repeatedly in hairspray. It deserves to be covered in palm leaves and kitschy hula girls. And back porch sounds too trite. So I settled on veranda. I also live in a bungalow, FYI. Bungalow no. 5. Because I live here and it sounds cool. HUMOR me.
I’ve been completely revamping our home for the past two months. Why, you might ask? Lots of reasons. For starters, when we first moved into this home, we only had one child. We now have three. Transitions happen. Organization and planning are eminent. And I will now stop boring you to tears.
It was circa 2008 when we did the back porch. It was fabulous, in theory. And those photos are unrealistically unscathed by the man eating pecan tree in our back yard, which houses a plethora of blood sucking tree frogs, cats, bats, owls, suicidal birds, and other various creatures who think it’s funny to lay egg sacks the size of my fist and poop in my hair whenever I venture into my back yard. We have a love hate relationship with Bertha the pecan tree. It would be idiotic to cut her down, so that’s obviously out of the question.
We also decided to finish this thing off, because someone forgot to remind us that we live in the tropics, and the idea of an outdoor room is cute and all, but I don’t like to feel my face melting off of my body at seven in the a.m. as my legs are simultaneously riddled with mosquitos. More square footage and value to our house? Yes, please.
So, we saved up some cash last fall, and decided to do a little research. We had a fabulous contractor, but it took me a while to get my act together, since I had furniture to refinish, curtains to sew, pillows to recover, and stripes to paint. Jamin was officially done with me after this little undertaking. I couldn’t have done it without him.
And here we are.
I think I have a new reading nook.
Thanks for dropping by!
love the veranda..would love to do a white framed wall collage in my dining room i just painted a similiar blue.. could u tell me where u found the frames? thanks so much..what a gorgeous room!
In Sweden they call it a Veranda, so I knew exactly what you meant. My parents are from there and my Aunt lives in Stockholm. She has a veranda on the back of her town home. This is where she does her painting. I always thought it would be great to have a veranda off my living room. It would be beyond the sliding glass doors. I’d make it sound proof so I could read or play the piano while the living room would be the media room. I have 3 large trees in the back and one on the side that we have to keep trim. If I had any idea how much those puppies would cost to upkeep, well maybe I wouldn’t have bought this house. The good thing about them is that they keep the house cool. We only have A/C units and the insulation is very bad, so in the summer I’m grateful for the trees. Thanks for sharing your home.
Ok….I love your taste!!! Your home, and creations are beautiful and so cool!! My name is Kelly and I am the pregnant girl from the beach. Ha!! I cant wait to look some more after dinner!
I just laughed out loud at my computer screen. ;} I figured you guys totally thought I was crazy! Nice to meet you! ;} thanks so much for stopping by!
Thank you so much for sharing so a big part of your life here on your website. I am snapping pics on my phone (here in Vegas) of your creations and I am sending them to my daughters phone in NY. We have been apart since June when her hubby was transferred with his job to NY. I miss her more than words can express. Some of our funnest memories together have been spent designing and decorating her babies nurseries, her master bedroom and building window valances for her ridiculously high windows in her living room. My son-in law was a big part of that project. I could go on for days… I am super excited to have my daughter and grand babies come home in January when we can share some of your beautiful ideas!! We are inspired and I thank you!! Much love to you and you adorable family!!
Thank you so much for sharing so a big part of your life here on your website. I am snapping pics on my phone (here in Vegas) of your creations and I am sending them to my daughters phone in NY. We have been apart since June when her hubby was transferred with his job to NY. I miss her more than words can express. Some of our funnest memories together have been spent designing and decorating her babies nurseries, her master bedroom and building window valances for her ridiculously high windows in her living room. My son-in law was a big part of that project. I could go on for days… I am super excited to have my daughter and grand babies come home in January when we can share some of your beautiful ideas!! We are inspired and I thank you!! Much love to you and you adorable family!!
Hey! Love this room! Just curious…where did you get the rug? Is it brown and off white or brown and white? Have you had a hard time keeping it clean with kiddos? Thanks!
Hey Kristin! It’s the zebra rug from west elm. It sits on our back porch {veranda} inside, but its by the back door so it actually sees a lot of traffic. It has a stain on it now that I need to get out, but I’ve had it now for about three years, and it really has held up quite fabulously. It cleans up well with carpet cleaner when I have muddy pawprints or other mishaps! Hope that helps!
Love this room! curious where you found the white frames and also love the initials on the wall. Did you buy these or make them? if so how?
thanks
Hey Chris! the white frames are from ikea. The initials are something I am working on sharing with all of you!
Love the stripes on the walls!
Showed this pic to my oldest daughter
& she loved it. She wants her room
painted for her bday. Can you tell me
how?
She’s a good “big sister” & would love
to do something special for & with her!
Thanks a Bunch!
Lori-Anne
Just put 2 & 2 together. I think
the stripes are the siding. Yes! Brain
cells can be depleted by 3+ kids.
Love your website!
Lori-Anne
hey girl! yes, they are painted siding. You could do it by measuring, though to get the same affect. 😉
Love this room, especially the stripes!
Love your site. How did you make the initials for the veranda? I would love to do something like this for our gallery wall in the hallway.
Thanks.
What is the name of the blue color you used?
hi Mckenzie! You can see all our colors here. https://www.thehandmadehome.net/2012/01/colors-used-in-our-home/ thanks!
I just came across your blog (thank you Pintrest!!!) and I absolutely love it. Your spaces are amazing.
Hello! I found you through Clean Mama. I know I am late to this post but I was wondering what the outer wall of ou veranda looks like. Is there a photo of it anywhere? Looking for inspiration here.
In northern Europe they call these veranda btw :). We relocated from AL to MI (yes, really!) and I miss, miss, miss Alabama! I wish we could build a small veranda up here for almost the opposite reason – a sunny, warm spot to relax in the cold months. I imagine my patio plants wintering there with some uv lights and a cozy place to curl up with a book, the breezy even coastal look smack in the middle of a Michigan winter. 🙂
P.s. how did you go about searching for a welder? Craig’s list, personal contacts? Thanks!
Hey Eileen! I actually will (HOPEFULLY) have some good photos of those coming up this next week, as we’re about to FINISH that outside look. It was never in the color I wanted, so I never shot the outside. But we are in the process of finishing up this week, so stay tuned for next week…I’m hoping to have it up and photographed by Wednesday (the 14th) at the very latest! For our contractor, we just asked around and found one per word of mouth, and for our welder (are you referring to our dining room shelving?) we have a friend who does this so we asked him…but we also know that most mechanics are more than capable of doing this, so if you ask around, you can probably find someone for a reasonable price! Gotta love a good welding project. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for replying!
Yes, the shelving and the coffee table. My hubs want that along with a stone or polished concrete top. I adore your dining room shelving and we have been considering something like this as a rustic wine storage solution. Like with x’s in between the shelves. I dont know what you call those X’s!
Love your blog and your (en)courage(ments) since we have been frozen with indecision while trying to make our 1920’s home “ours” – it is in excellent condition as we bought it but somewhat not our style on the interior. Thanks again
Would you mind sharing where the “veranda” furniture is from? I’ve been looking for some just like this for my “veranda”! 🙂 Love, love, love your spaces!!!
Hey Jennifer! Our Veranda furniture was a Smith and Hawken clearance find at Target about four years ago! We had it when the veranda was a porch, and they’re about to go back on the porch. ;} I just refinished them. Sorry that’s not much help!
Ashley how did you refinish them? I am getting 4 outdoor wood chairs today and I want to do something to them!
Hey Lisa! Check out this post here. It may help! ;}
I enjoyed reading about your verranda inclusion. I live in Washington state and while I don’t have the heat and suicidal birds to contend with, we do have LOTS of rain and have often wondered what the heck the builder was thinking!! Cute, yes practical, no!! (And mine isn’t screened in, thank you Mosquitos that are supposed to stay at the lake across the street!) NOT!
So, after watching too many Property Brothers shoes on HGTV, my husband freaks if he sees me even looking at a hammer! I would like to replace the window and single French door with a large centered double French door that would go out onto the what would become a glasses in verranda space, which would become the dining area, as I plan to take out a couple walls to given my kitchen some room to breathe (not to mention myself) the open concept that will result of these efforts would make me smile for years. I’m 68, so I think smiling sooner than later is prudent. Again, I like what you did with your space and am inspired to move ahead!!
I love this space and the colors are what I love…. sooooo, I’m going to paint my kitchen this way.It will be very uplifting and cheerful! Winter time blah’s are trying my patience to the fullest. And I am hoping to spruce up my laundry area (I can’t even call it a room..if a man designs and builds a house you can see it in all those important area’s..) it is so tiny. Thank you for so much inspiration.
Hi! First off, all of your spaces are amazing. Your house just looks comfy and lived in. I love it. Do you mind sharing what tile you used on your veranda floor? What size is it? Has it held up well? Thanks!!
Hey Heather! Thank you so much! I would love to share with you where we got that tile, but I have NO idea what the name is! I am so sorry. We actually purchased it at a local flooring clearance center here. It’s just a darker floor tile. I know thats not very helpful. Sorry about that! ;}
That’s okay! Thank you for the reply!
You are simply amazing! I am so inspired by everything that you do! Is there anychance you can tell me where you found your beautiful sofa & chair set? I can’t wait to see what you do next!
Hey Shawn! Thank you so much. We found them at Target on Clearance as part of the Smith and Hawken line a few years back at the close of summer. I just refinished and recovered them. They still have similar styles available… they’re what now sit outdoors on our back porch. Keep your eyes peeled because you never know when your local store will have them!
We have a “veranda” that is just like yours. Enclosed on three sides, with roof. I have toyed with closing it in, but wondered about cost? What did yours run? Feel free to email me if that is better. Thanks so much. Trying to figure out if it is just a dream in waiting or possibly attainable. 🙂
I love your veranda! How did you do those initials? That is exactly what I have been looking for.
Hey Kimberly! Thanks so much! You can actually read a step-by-step how to here in our book Handmade Walls. ;} I hope that helps!