I’m excited to announce that I’m working with Behr Paint again this year as one of their Behr DIY Experts. Last year I used their awesome products on a number of projects including our DIY window seat storage bench, outdoor chairs and a pool deck makeover at my parents. I’m looking forward to sharing more Behr Paint projects this year, including the big reveal for our farmhouse transformation!
Before I get to that, I wanted to share another project I did at my parents’ house. After we painted the pool deck with DeckOver last year, it became apparent that the covered porch off the back of the house could use some work too.
The back porch has always been our favourite outdoor living space. In the warmer months it’s where we have coffee and breakfast in the morning and eat most of our meals. We’ve had some great summer parties out there, like my sister’s law school graduation party last year.
After 16 years of heavy wear and tear, it was time for a fresh coat of paint and a little TLC.
Even the beautiful tongue and groove ceiling was looking a little rough.
We decided to stick to the colour palette we already had and loved, but give it a freshening up with some new paint.
For the ceiling, I picked my favourite exterior white paint – Behr Marquee Semi-Gloss Exterior Paint in Cameo White. I used this on the outdoor chairs last year too and it’s also one of the colours I’m using at the farmhouse. I just can’t get enough of it!
For the floors, I went with Behr DeckOver again to give the floors a new finish. The pool is a Dark Slate, so I kept the porch floor in the same colour family with Slate Gray. Depending on the light it can look almost blue-gray, which is what I was hoping for.
We did some prep work first – sweeping away cobwebs, power washing the floor, sanding any chipping paint and scraping away any sap that had leaked through the knots over the years.
At the base of the stairs, we taped them off to paint the posts and railing.
As soon as that first roll of paint went on I could see the transformation happening – my favourite part!
I’ll admit that painting a porch ceiling is no joke. We broke it up over a three day long weekend, but that was still hours of working with my arms over the head. They felt like lead by the end but it was worth it!
I may have had a few mishaps with my hair…I kept forgetting which rafters I had already painted.
My little paint supervisors were happy to sit out there in the sun in the corner while I worked away. For the most part they stayed away from the paint and kept to the unpainted areas…
…although we did have a little mishap with an excited doberman.
A few days after we painted the railing and ceiling, my dad got to work on the floor. You can see here how much of a difference the Behr DeckOver made to the finish of these steps. The product really fills in all those little cracks and marks, giving the wood a new finish.
Now our porch is back to it’s beautiful state and ready for summer cocktail hours!
It’s amazing how much a fresh coat of paint can really liven a place up.
The ceiling is now crisp white and bounces so much more sunlight in here.
The stairs look fresh and the paint gives it a nice texture, unlike the paint we had before that was slippery when you were coming up from the pool.
The floor is a beautiful gray slate colour and looks brand new.
We have such a limited summer here in Canada and having a beautiful outdoor space like this is so nice. I love coming over to visit my parents and hang out while looking over their river.
Next up, is refinishing the porch swing with some new summer fabrics – then it will be perfect for sitting out here and reading a great summer book.
Be sure to take some time to check out some of the amazing projects from my fellow Behr DIY Experts. – there are some truly awesome and inspiring projects here that are sure to get you in the mood for your next project! You can find a list of all of the projects on the Colorfully, Behr blog or visit the Behr DIY Expert Pinterest board
Disclosure: I am a member of the Behr DIY Expert program and was provided Behr product for this project. All opinions and ideas are 100% my own.
