the view

this is one of the first pictures i found (via country living) when we decided to take the new/ old house. it has been my inspiration from day one. imagine that the porch is on the left side of the house and you will have a clear picture of what i envision for our new open front porch. this weekend we met with the contractor who is going to be working out there. he got really excited and asked if this is what the house used to look like. he can really see where i'm going with this and that is a good thing! this is the front porch of our new home as it exists. i can remember a time when it was a screened in porch with no decking in front. it had a screen door that always banged shut when you walked down the little wooden steps into the yard. i'm sure someone in my family remembers this porch as an open space. i can see where they chopped down the pillars to put up framing and brown PANELING on the inside. i think my granddad's design theory was the "seventify" look (se-vent-ify. my word for the process of remodeling in which you change every original surface into dark wood paneling and remove all things from a home that were remotely cool prior to the 70's). thankfully they did not take down the old school (circa early 1900's) white ceiling paneling that is in great shape and covers the porch. i love that. brown wall paneling bad. white ceiling paneling good. we are hoping to open this up and have a nice outdoor living space. porch swing a must. hard to picture, but just inside that porch, now totally covered, is a huge picture window that takes up one whole wall of what will be our bedroom. when i wake up in the morning...i will be looking out the window at an open field bordered by cottonwood trees, lots of elk and a silly coyote. i cannot wait for those peaceful mornings.