I was sitting here wondering what I could post today and thought, DUH, my screened in patio.  I keep posting current projects and forget those that I did a few years back.

Our screened in porch isn’t very big, 10′ x 12′, but I wanted it to be an extension of our home.  Living here in Columbia, MO, there are so many days and evenings that are perfect for spending outdoors.

This is what I started with.  I wish I had backed up a bit to get a more broad picture, but I think you get the idea:

We actually had the patio enclosed.  It already had a roof so it was very inexpensive to have someone come out and enclose it for us.  Took the guy less than a day and was only $700.00. 

I wanted to have sheers hanging.  Shoot, this was way before it was a popular idea, so it was challenging to find some that would be long enough.  Now?  You can find them everywhere!   I found these in Penney’s, online.  Not expensive at all and boy have they held up.  In the four years that I’ve had them, I’ve washed them twice.   If I had any inclination to sew, these would have been a breeze to make but me?  Sew?  Uh, nope!   All we did was hang them on a cheapie rod.

I’m a bit out of order here because once I hung the curtains, I decided to stain the concrete!  I just tied them in knots so they wouldn’t get in the way.  Here’s how I stained them.

I picked out a concrete stain that I thought would be pretty neutral.  It’s funny how it looked afterward, because the differences in color weren’t intended, but I was so happy with the results. I washed the concrete floor of the patio, but to be honest, I didn’t go nutso crazy doing it.  The most important thing I feel is that you vacuum it.  Afterward, I merely rolled the stain on, after watching some YouTube videos.  Of course you need to seal it.  I was a bit concerned about it being slippery, but since we don’t have a pool in this house, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  I got some garage floor sealer, and again rolled it on.  I put three coats of that on.

I’ve since changed out the cushions on the furniture and moved the furniture around, so here it is now!