Before & After: Rochelle’s Sun Porch Side Board

I am busy preparing to move my indoor gardening efforts outside and part of that means that I get to reclaim my sun porch for the spring through autumn season. In the winter it serves as my makeshift greenhouse for all the pots and container plantings that come in for the season. This year, part of that transition was getting the place organized and re-working some furniture.

A friend gifted me a sideboard that was in relatively rough shape. One of the legs was broken off (hence the reason for the milk crate holding up the back corner) and there was a more than a reasonable amount of wear and tear to the finishes and the veneer. But I saw beauty in the piece and an opportunity to create storage in my sun porch/ seasonal-half-baked-greenhouse for all things gardening and plants.

My plan was two-fold — paint and refinish strategically. I chose an olive grey that worked with the eventual upholstery on the the wicker chairs (another project!). Once the sideboard was in place, my cherished orchid (which is about to bloom) finally had a perch worthy of its beauty. Additionally, I have a place to store the milk jugs that I use to water, as well as drawers to stuff away my seed catalogs, the seeds themselves (in the white vintage box on top) and space for lots of other seed starting paraphernalia.

The whole project took perhaps a total of 7 hours between the sanding, restaining, painting and leg repair (which was done with a dowel, a drill and some wood glue).

On top of the fancy new storage, I also have a place to set my cup of tea as I plan and dream about this coming season’s garden.

(Images Rochelle Greayer)