Welcome to the 350th Metamorphosis Monday!
I’m super excited to share a wonderful autumn porch makeover by my friends, Mary and Dave at Front Porch Ideas and More. This makeover has lots of great ideas including no-sew pillows, a DIY table runner and an outdoor furniture makeover done on a budget.
Here’s Mary now to share how she and Dave, with the help of their darling granddaughter, Millie, completely made over their back porch for fall.
If you are like the two of us, you enjoy refreshing your home as the seasons change. Since childhood, both Dave and I have loved porches of all kinds. So we take special pride in making our front and back porches inviting, colorful and comfortable for each season.
We are delighted to be Susan’s guest today and to share our autumn back porch with you. We are enjoying how it turned out and are happy to share how it all came together.
The Preparations
As summer came to an end we could not help but notice that our back porch needed a good sprucing up. Our metal table and chairs had been chewed on by the squirrels. Yes, isn’t that a bit crazy that they like metal?
Before we did any decorating, we totally removed everything from our back porch, cleaned it with a blower, washed the windows and even primed and painted our table and chairs as you see below.
Our table and chairs got a mini-makeover with new paint. There’s no guarantee that the squirrels won’t return, but we are hoping they don’t visit to chew on our new paint.
Creating a Beautiful Yet Simple Autumn Porch
Next on our list was to create a beautiful yet simple autumn porch. Dave and I are not fancy people and we like to relax and enjoy our porch. So comfort and simplicity are fundamental to us.
The first thing we did was to re-cover our chair cushions. They were getting worn and faded-looking so it was time for a refresh. But have you seen the prices of new cushions?
Our cushions were still cushy enough to last a few more seasons. So we used our favorite fabric – painter’s drop cloth – to create a gigantic pillow case for the older cushions. Sewn on the top and sides, the bottom is open to insert the cushion. Then we simply pinned the extra fabric on the underside and it’s perfect.
If you have not tried painter’s drop cloths in your decorating, you’re missing out on a durable and affordable fabric that softens when it is washed and it is easy to work with.
Next, we added some seasonal toppers to the backs of our cushions for color. We chose blue as it looks fantastic with golds and oranges (complementary colors on the color wheel). This was so simple to do – it’s just a smaller pillow case that fits over the seat back.
When the seasons change again, it will be simple to change the cushion topper to something fresh like red, green or gold for winter. If fitted well, it stays snugly on the cushion without any pins.
Time to Jazz It All Up!
Now for the fun décor: DIY pillow covers, DIY table runner and plenty of mums (which we found for $2 each). These no-sew DIY decorative pillows are as easy as wrapping a present. We had seen this idea here and there and wanted to try it for ourselves. They are a snap to do and instantly look nice.
We simply wrapped existing pillows we had with a piece of fabric (similar to wrapping a gift) and pinned on the back. Then we wrapped burlap ribbon from the front to the back, pinned it neatly on the back side and added an autumn flower or leaves tied with a gold ribbon. So very simple and very little fussing! I think these pillows will find a home on our front porch.
Also we want to show you the easy table runner we made. The base is painter’s drop cloth and it’s topped with an autumn fabric and a bit of wide burlap ribbon. I just made a sandwich with the drop cloth on the bottom, then the autumn fabric in the middle, then the burlap ribbon on top. I made sure the drop cloth fabric was large enough to fold over on the edges, then I neatly stitched around the four edges with my sewing machine.
Lastly we made some very inexpensive and easy stands for our porch for displaying our mums. Dave purchased fence slats for $1.64 each and made these adorable little display shelves. So easy, even our grandchildren helped to make them. We found 2.5 quart mums for $2 each and bought a bunch of them. At the end of the season we will plant the mums in the ground but for now we enjoy displaying the pots here and there – porch steps, by the front door and on these cute stands. Some we moved to nicer pots and the rest we spray painted green.
Our granddaughter helped Dave make the display stands.
So that is how our autumn porch came together! All in all, just took a couple of days to get it done. Cleaning, priming and painting our table and chairs was optional, of course.
We like that it feels welcoming and peaceful now that it’s clean and decorated for the season. We will enjoy family dinners and get-togethers with friends on our autumn back porch.
From Dave and I to you, may you have many lovely autumn days on the porch! We invite you to visit our site! It’s all about porches and we have plenty of autumn porch decorating ideas over there.
Thanks again, Susan. What a pleasure to share with your readers!
~Mary and Dave~
Looking forward to all the fabulous Before and Afters for this Met Monday!
Metamorphosis Monday
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Only link up Before and After posts that are home, gardening, crafting, painting, sewing, cooking, DIY related.
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Well done, Mary and Dave. Thanks for sharing your pretty porch makeover.
You are most welcome, Laurie. We had fun putting it together, with the help of our granddaughter and our grandson helped, too.
What a great spot to relax in and enjoy!
We love our back porch, Jenna. And so blessed to have both a front and a back porch. I hope you also have a nice porch to enjoy and relax.
Love Mary and Dave’s porch! What a great place to spend time on a pretty fall day! Thanks for sharing!…hugs…Debbie
Thanks so much, Debbie! I enjoy your blog, too
It’s always great to see what a little elbow grease can do to breathe new life into old stuff. I love the fact that Dave & Mary kept their furniture instead of tossing it to the curb.
Thanks for hosting us, Susan, and I hope your latest world travels are taking you right to all the places you imagined they’d be. Loving the photos!
Rita
Thanks for hosting another great party, Susan!
Thanks so much for hosting your great party!!
Susan thank you again for a wonderful party! Your friends porch looks great and they have the cutest helper:). Take care, Tara
Thank you, Rita! So far the paint job is looking great and the squirrels have not tested it out yet. Fingers crossed.
And thank you, too, Tara, for your kind words about our porch.
The more I see these porches – the more I know I have to have one – it’s just so perfect !
Thanks so much for the party Susan
xox
Susan, thanks for hosting!
Thanks, Dave and Mary for sharing. I particularly like the new paint color you chose for your dining set. Nice to see things can be prettied up for minimal expenditure. You have a very pretty back yard, btw. I love all the trees. (Not to mention a very cute little helper there. 😀 )
Glad you liked that paint color, Pam. It freshened up the table and chairs just the right amount. And for just a bit of paint. Thanks for the compliment about our back yard. It’s actually the side yard you are seeing in the pics. We live next to the woods! Thank you for the compliment on Millie, too.
Great looking porch! I like the sunflower. I guess that stands out to me because I included these in my article on Fall Landscaping. They are not a typical choice when thinking of fall decor, and that’s why I gravitate towards them.
I especially like that you were able to get your granddaughter involved. Start them out young! 🙂
Thanks a bunch, Rachel. This was the first year we tried sunflowers for our autumn porch – especially on our front porch. If you click the link on our website, you can see the sunflower painting I did on the front porch. Very fun. Thank you for your kind words. Most appreciated!
Your porch looks lovely! Thanks so much for hosting and hope you have a fabulous week!
🙂 Linda
Thank you for all the great tips, Mary and Dave! I have lots of squirrels but I have not had any try to eat our metal chairs or table!
We must have the squirrels with steel teeth! I had never heard of squirrels chewing on metal before either. We kept hearing this loud mysterious noise on our porch and one day we discovered what it was – those squirrels chewing on our metal table and chairs. Thanks for your kind words, Jan! Happy autumn to you.
What a great way to dress up the cushions. You’ve given me an idea….thanks!
Thank you, Linda! It’s fun dressing up the cushions.
What a great porch, and I love the cushion idea! Thanks so much for hosting Susan and I hope you have a great week.
Thank you, Kristi, for the kind words about our porch. It’s such a wonderful time of the year. Glad you liked the cushion idea. It works well.
Mary and Dave, you’ve created a warm & welcoming porch where I’m sure you and your friends will enjoy hanging out 🙂 Great idea to paint your existing table and chairs, and the no-sew autumn cushions are the perfect finishing touch.
Thank you so much, K&B by the Sea. Today is a wonderful day for enjoying our back porch. I hope you are having the best day as well!
Thanks for hosting Susan!
What a fabulous porch! Hope you are enjoying your trip Susan and thanx for the party.
Thanks for hosting, Susan! Lovely porch! Have a beautiful week ahead! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Susan, thanks for sharing Mary’s porch with us. It looks great and so easy to do.
Have a great rest of the week.
Mary
Pretty porch! Thanks for sharing, Susan. I hope you are enjoying your travels. I meant to ask you. Did your Kimbriella bicycle hand carry fit under the plane seat?…Christine
Great transformation….and the little one is too cute! Thank you for hosting!
I love how you made those shelves. So simple and turns a plain corner into something special. I will definitely be pinning this.
Thank you, Jeri. Those shelves can be made any size and are a fun project for children and grandchildren alike. Thank you for your compliments!