Let's screen it in...

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When we purchased our home in Martha’s Vineyard, the realtor warned us that it didn’t have a proper dining room. It did, however, have the makings of a back porch, just off the living room. I instantly knew that I wanted to make this space outdoor dining, capable of seating up to 10 people. Seeing as how we are not truly outdoorsy folks, the only way to make it work was to screen it in.

I have to admit, I was nervous about trying to find a contractor here on Martha’s Vineyard in the middle of a pandemic. But we put out some feelers and were able to interview 4 contractors. When hiring a contractor, the price matters, but I also rely on gut instincts. I ask myself: Are they trying to upsell me? Are they listening to my wants and needs. Are they respectful of my budget? In the end, the bids were all over the place, but we went with the guy who seemed most reasonable, most realistic and could start within a few weeks.

With the contractor chosen, I set about choosing furniture. We came up with a pretty tight budget. After all, we are in a pandemic and we just bought a new home and hubby isn’t working. I scoured the internet and came up with the following mood board.

I found this table, which when extended is 106” or long enough to seat ten. I also found these chairs, which happened to be 20% off, putting them in budget…well if I got 4, not 8! So the compromise was a bench for one side and 4 chairs for the other. The rug was gifted from Boutique Rugs. The upholstered host chairs for the ends, were outside of the scope of the budget, but something to add to my wishlist. I fell hard for this fan, which I later realized (the hard way) was for indoor use only. So I ultimately swapped it for the same one, but configured for outdoor usage .

I documented the whole porch process on Instagram and have since saved it to a highlight, if you would like to see it come together.

I wanted the space cleaned up for 4th of July, so even though we didn’t have electrical, my contractor got the site all clean up in time.

Otherwise, here’s the final reveal! (Note: this photo was taken prior to the fan swap).

We can’t wait to make so many memories here!