A couple weeks ago, I showed you a sneak peek of this guy…
…and told you about our plan to make over the back porch at Kev’s parents house…which looked like this:
Well, I’m happy to report that we finished everything up last Friday, and here’s a little video of the reveal and their reactions…
It was about 105 degrees the day we pulled everything together, but man was that a fun reveal!
Here’s a breakdown of everything we did…
With the help of some Rustoleum spray paint in Satin White, we took their chippy chairs from drab…
…to fab!
We used outdoor fabric from Hobby Lobby on the cushions and pillows. While one of Kev’s Mom’s friends made the slipcovers for the seat cushions, I used the striped and floral fabrics to make the pillow covers.
The smaller pillow on the settee was actually from a pillow project I did with my friend Ashley. I just removed the existing, more brightly colored fabric that was previously on the right side of it, and attached a piece of the outdoor floral-patterned fabric instead. The bigger pillow (in back) was a Pottery Barn pillow cover that I got on eBay about a year ago. I loved the neutral back side with the buttons…
…but the front side was previously navy blue and beige, and I never ended up using it anywhere. I just removed the navy fabric and sewed on some of the green stripe fabric instead.
Kev made the sunburst mirror after seeing this project on our last How To’s Day link party.
Because we already had the Liquid Nails, we only bought two packs of shims, and the mirror was 50% off at Hobby Lobby- the whole project only cost $10. Talk about bang for your buck, huh? (Thanks Kate!)
The (indoor/outdoor) Dragor rug (something we gave them last year) and netted curtains came from Ikea. We hung the curtains with tension rods from Walmart, and the curtains were just $4.99 per pair. (The ones we used actually used to hang in our guest bedroom.) The white pitcher is something I’ve had for a while, the yellow flowers came from Publix, and the $3 yellow planter (full of Scrabble tiles) came from J&G Flea and Antique Mall.
(More about the Scrabble tiles in a future post!)
The ($4.95) caned flyswatter also came from J&G…
(We stuck the hook it’s hanging on to the brick with heavy duty velcro specifically engineered to stick to brick. The hook came from Hobby Lobby.)
…and the shutters were part of an HGTV.com project we put together a while back.
We picked ’em up at J&G last year sometime and used two stacks of cinderblocks (spaced 40″ apart) to hold them in place against the wall behind the settee. We placed a couple of pine boards across them to set the plants on. (We didn’t end up using ferns after all!) And like I said in the video, the wood bird came from WhiteFlowerFarmhouse.com (thanks Lori and Megan!), the little blue and white pot came from J&G, and the seagrass plant pot and faux plant came from Ikea.
(I’m big on layering plant pots!)
We picked up one of the little side tables from Prattville Pickers for $8, and gave it a makeover using more white spray paint and some Miniwax Special Walnut-stained, wood “fill-it” strips from Home Depot…
(More about this project in a future post!)
The chicken crate we turned into a coffee table also came from Prattville Pickers, and cost just $28. (If you search for “chicken crate” on eBay, they’re usually listed for between $50 and $100 dollars.) To create a smoother surface on top, we attached some old rulers and yardsticks we found on Etsy and at another local flea market.
(More about this project in a future post!)
We added some big 5″ vintage casters (from AnythingGoesHere on Etsy) to the bottom of it so it would be easy for Kev’s Mom to move it when she wants to vacuum underneath it.
The (solid wood/very heavy) $20 console table (we also found at Prattville Pickers) got coated with a Behr paint color Kev picked out called “Southern Breeze“.
We painted the $6 foot stool we picked up (at J&G) with the same color…
Other inexpensive flea market finds we scooped up included a wood based, $7 lamp (which we plan to secure to the table with a long bolt at some point in case it gets windy), a $5 fabric lampshade, and a $2 basket for whatever they decide to use it for…
…and the little green metal table ($8)…
…which all came from a local flea market called Memories.
And last but not least, we’ve been borrowing this green metal bin from our neighbor for a while (the ones with the awesome kitchen!)…
…and it worked perfect as a magazine holder, so we may need to see if we can buy it from ’em!
Oh! And in case you’re wondering about the “cookie holder”, I got the iron cake stand from the prop stylist that worked on our Nest Magazine shoot, and the rattan cloche ($6) came from TJ Maxx a couple months ago. The hemstitched linen coasters came from Prattville Pickers. (The set of six was $3)
(For more cool cloche’s, check out our sponsor FarmhouseWares.com!)
It was a neat space to work on and we can’t thank Kev’s parents enough for allowing us to have fun with it behind closed blinds all week!
PS- Rumor has it Kev’s Mom has been sitting out there with her Bible and her feet propped up on the chicken crate early every morning since the big reveal! Yay!
oh my god!!! Are you kidding?!?!?!? GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a special gift for your parents. Your mom was so sweet about the surprise.
You did a beautiful job. But, the sweetness of the reveal made me tear up a little … I’m not going to lie. It is such a testament to family love when we can give back to our parents just as they nurtured us when we were young. The videos was so much fun … you did an amazing job on the room and on documenting the process. I always love your blog … Thank You!
Awwww-Kevin’s mom looks like the sweetest lady–I can see where Kevin got his sweet personality! What a blessing the two of you are to her! Love what you guys did–and I love that she has a special place to converse with the Lord!! Great, great job you guys!!
This made me so teary! It looks beautiful and you guys are amazing! Thanks for all the joy you spread around. 🙂
Love it! Ya’ll did a wonderful job!
You’ve outdone yourselves ~ it looks marvelous!
And Kev’s dad is adorable too!!
LOVE the family love!
WOW! Love ALL of it! I think I need a mirror like that for my office LOL ~Tracy
Beautiful makeover! Can’t wait for more details about the chicken cope table. I have never ever seen anything like it and doubt I ever will over here.
You two are AMAZING!!!
I have a hard time deciding my favorite spot….the green magazine holder, the chicken crate….even the fly swatter! You just did a GREAT job!!!
Simply wonderful! Blessings all around.
Layla & Kevin I’ve been on the hunt for a chicken crate to use for a coffee table…over the weekend I saw one for $195.00 nearly identical to yours! Thank you for always sharing your sources & prices you paid for your goodies….I’m still hunting!
I just love love love the redo you have such wonderful ideas. The video is so fun, you could see mom was in total shock…lol And how adorable is Kevs mom she is so sweet, I love the chicken comment…lol This is my fav video you guys have done not because of the redo but because it was so personal and you could feel the love. What a gift you gave them, I had almost cried when mom opened her eyes. Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
What a perfect Quiet Time Nest! 🙂 My favorite items: the chicken crate, cloche w/ stand, fly swatter! 🙂
Y’all are so cool!! And I wish I knew Kevin’s mom, I wanna be her friend!!! (love love love that console table!!)
Y’all are so amazingly talented, and SO CUTE! Love the porch, your personalities just shine through.
Are you serious? That place is UH-MAZE-ING! All the colors and little touches make it seem like home. I have to admit though, I adore Kev’s Mom’s accent. I’m from NC and being away from home, living in AZ the last 12 years I miss that. Thanks y’all. That was a journey I was glad to be on!
Thank you all so much for all the sweet comments! You guys made our day! 🙂
Layla and Kev
I love the coop table! So clever with the yard sticks…
What a wonderful place to sit and enjoy!
xo kelley
You guys are wonderful, you gave her the gift of a lifetime . The best ones come with memories and she’s going to think of how much you love her every time she enjoys that porch. Great job!
Loved it! The table, the redo, the reaction, the video, and the music were all great. Was that Kevin’s band?
I love the song as well!
Not only is this just a beautiful porch makeover, but a beautiful gift of yourselves to Kevin’s parents. Your talents are amazing–both of you. Your blog remains one of my favorites because your decorating is so lovely–but it is attainable for us to recreate in our own homes. And I do love to copy!!! Thank you for sharing this post with us–I love the video how you show the beginning, the creating and the final makeover!!
As wonderful as the makeover is, the best part was seeing Kevin love for his momma. So sweet. You guys blessed her socks off!
May I ask what the music is in your video?
Amazing makeover, great video and I loved the background music. You guys rock!
What a nice gift for someone! It is amazing how changing your surroundings lifts you up a little. Great job. I love the chicken coop table and all the other touches. Ann
Love this! It must have been so much fun to do this for your family!!
I won’t bore you with my usual “how much I love what you did”. This time I’ll commend you on the quality of the editing of your videos. I hope to one day be able to do that! I don’t know how much time it takes (for me I’m sure it would take ages), but the finished product is remarkable.
Oh.. shoot…I can’t end this without one more comment… you guys have such wonderful chemistry on your videos. I just love the playfulness. Have a great weekend!!!
Simply gorgeous!! I love how you turn “well used” stuff into amazing pieces!! We are redoing our screened porch based on inspiration from your site and we’re almost done. One question, can I get the velcro that sticks to brick at say Home Depot or Lowes? If so, which department? Thank you for sharing with us!!!
Simply amazing. I love it all: the porch redo, the video, and pics. Just wow! Wanna come over?!
Kayla, you make me smile 😉
Love it! You inspire me!
You two are sooooo talented! The porch was so great, Kevin’s Mom and Dad so lovely, but I have to say the video is the best part. It show cased what a great couple you are, how sweet Kevin is with his Mom and the music choice was perfect (one of my favorite bands)! Please make more like that……so enjoyable!!!!
I have to admit, this post made me a bit teary. What a SWEET SWEET thing to do for his folks! And his mom reminds me of my southern aunties I miss and adore!
I love the job you did on this space! And I love the imagination that went into it. The chicken crate table is AMAZING!! Oh my goodness!
I have been out of circulation for a while due to flu, job change, moving my kids (back and forth from college), so I’m a little behind. I need to see if there is an update on your adoption progress, praying for both of you.
Hugs! God bless!
Fi
Oh wow! Thanks for linking my project! 🙂 I love how yours turned out, the whole space is beautiful!
Ok, you guys are cute. But Momma Palmer is adorable!
I don’t usually comment, however I always enjoy this blog. Great job folks, she is so sweet, love the look on her face. Have to know what song that is folks? thanks for sharing. Mary
So amazing, and what a wonderful reaction! 🙂
Love this reveal. It is so sweet. Brightened my day. You did an amazing job. The porch looks so beautiful.
Ruth
What an amazing makeover! And an amazing family. Kevin, I can tell that you love your mom to bits!! She seems like a fantastic lady and is some proud of the two of you. Loved the music that accompanied the video….can you share what it was? I am inspired to tackle my screen porch now!!
Hope whatever you are up to with HGTV will be available in Canada!
You had me smiling all the way through your video, Layla! You two are such a sweet, special couple to do that for Kev’s mom. She’s a darling, too! 🙂 I just adore the way you both work together so very well. You always seem so happy! Beautiful job on the sunroom! Blessings to you both!
xoxo laurie
Love the coffee table on wheels. They have something similar at Great Stuff by Paul in Frederick MD for several hundred dollars. Good for you!
You two are so talented! AH-mazing job. I know Kevin’s mom is so, so appreciative! I wish y’all could help me with our art studio! Y’all have the gift!
amazing inspiration….what a wonderful transformation for your family. love, love, love your videos! 🙂
have a creative day,
amy
When Kev’s Mom gave u a hug at the end – I felt it! I have been following ur blog for a few months now and just LOVE it! I’ve had a tough week with a family member having a health problem. This video just made me feel simply happy. Thanks!
Loved this reveal and loved your sweet mama’s reaction. My husband grew up in Prattville (& I in Greenville not too far away!) and now we live in Pensacola. We are back all the time and I am so anxious to check out Prattville Pickers & J&G the next time we are there! Thanks for sharing – the porch is so southern!
Such a sweet reveal! The porch looks fantastic and I am inspired to start seriously considering some things to do to ours. Where did you get the curtains? They look like mosquito netting?
Layla,
That is the cutest stinkin’ video I have ever seen in blogland! I just want to squeeze Kevin’s mom!!!! She is so adorable.
I love what you did with the porch. You guys are amazing. Please come to my house and do my front porch. 🙂
Love you!!
Traci
Kevin!
Is your mom not the sweetest thing?
I just bawled watching that video! I loved her reaction and you can tell she just loves you both.
That has to be the best part about the whole thing– doing something for family is always fun!
Layla– you got the sweetest mother in law!
Oh, hey and the porch looks great too!
Pat