- Send in your pics for Outdoor Home Month! -

Name: Angie
Location: Seattle

Welcome to Angie from Seattle, who wrote in to share her back porch budget makeover. Color-splashed and replete with storage and shelter, Angie's created a convivial gathering spot for guests. She even invited us over for a sangria, which we're more than happy to accept the next time we're in town. (Thanks, Angie!):

"Today Leslie invoked outdoor color just as I was trying to screw up my courage to send in a picture or two of my latest projects. This is a little covered sitting area outside the back door of our house. As you can see we are not afraid of color on our walls!...

We just finished this bench setup last weekend, just in time for an end-of-year Brownie Girl Scout get-together--I was gratified to find that all the adults gravitated to our little covered sitting area while the kids played in the yard out back.

The "before" pic shows what this same spot looked like in April 2006 when we moved into the house. We have come a long way!

There are a couple of Ikea hacks in here...a floor-sample cabinet plucked out of the "As Is" section (Expedit? Effektiv? I don't know) supports the bench, and some Wilma curtains camouflage the functional but extremely ugly awning...

Hope you like it!

Cheers,
Angie"