If you’ve been following my cabin summers, you already know how this goes. I arrive, I look around, I make a list. And then the projects begin.

Year one at the cabin, I decorated every single room. Every. Single. One. Year two, I redid the outhouse and the shed, planted gardens, and put in a gravel parking area. This summer? I showed up with a whole new list — neighbor chair makeovers, a workshop shed for my husband to build his canoes, and the project I have been dreaming about for longer than I’ll admit: a screened in porch makeover that would finally turn a neglected side of our cabin into something magical.

Reader, it exceeded every expectation I had.

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It Started with Dead Space

On the left side of our front porch, there was just… nothing. Dead space. A spot that honestly didn’t even look intentional. I had been eyeing it for a while, imagining what it could be — a cozy screened room tucked into the trees, bug-free and breezy, where I could sit with my coffee and listen to the woods wake up.

When I started planning this screened in porch makeover, the first practical question was size. We needed to keep the width the same as the original porch structure — otherwise we’d have to touch the roofline, and that opens up a whole other can of worms and a much bigger budget. But we were able to extend it forward by two feet, and that extra depth made all the difference. It went from feeling like a narrow afterthought to feeling like a proper little room.

   

Now when you look at the cabin, it looks like the screened porch was always supposed to be there. I love when that happens.

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Meet Kevin (Our Neighbor and Hero)

Our neighbor Kevin built the whole structure for us last month before we even arrived for the summer. When I pulled up and saw it standing there in fresh lumber — 7.5 feet wide, 6 feet deep, with a proper little entry step and framing all around — I may have done a small happy dance in the driveway.

But here’s the part that really got me: I had asked Kevin for a scalloped door. Just the door. I have scalloped details on my greenhouse door at home and I knew I wanted that same personality here.

 

Kevin, being the wonderful human that he is, took it further. He added scalloped trim detail across the entire front fascia of the porch — a little decorative wood trim running below the roofline that I did not ask for and absolutely did not deserve but am so grateful for. It is everything.

The bones of this screened-in porch makeover were already better than I planned. And we hadn’t even picked up a paintbrush yet.

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The Paint Colors: How I Built a Palette

This was the part I thought the most about. Paint color decisions on an outdoor structure feel bigger somehow — you’re committing to something everyone can see, something that needs to tie into the whole property and still feel like you.

Here’s how I worked through it.

Salty Dog by Sherwin Williams was the first and easiest decision. That deep navy is what our cabin is painted, so it had to anchor the screened porch too. Continuity matters. When everything reads the same color family, additions look intentional instead of tacked on.

Tidal Wave by Benjamin Moore came next. That soft aqua blue is already on our main cabin door, so it was a natural choice for the interior ceiling rafters. My husband is lining that ceiling with tongue and groove wood planks, and the Tidal Wave peeking through the gaps is going to be so pretty.

Fiesta Orange by Benjamin Moore was the wildcard. I knew I wanted a third color — something warm, something that would pop against all that navy. Orange lives opposite blue on the color wheel, which means they’re made for each other. I tried a couple of options and kept coming back to Fiesta Orange, the same color I used on my settee frame at home. Sometimes a color just keeps finding you. I used it on the door and on the scalloped trim detail running across the front, and the moment I stepped back and looked at it, I knew it was right.

This was my first stab at painting…hoping it was all going to work.

 

I hoped that the white screen frames would tie it all together. I was a little nervous about how the brighter colors would read once everything was installed, but the white frames create just enough breathing room to tone it all down without dulling the personality. It’s bold but balanced.

 

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The View from Inside

One of my favorite things about this screened-in porch makeover is what you see once you step inside. Floor-to-ceiling screens on three sides mean the whole woods opens up around you. Tall pines, ferns, dappled light — it’s like sitting inside a painting. And now, thanks to the screens, I can sit out there in the early evening without a single drop of bug spray. Up here in the woods, that is genuinely life-changing.

 

Standing inside and looking out through that orange scalloped door toward the rest of the porch, you can just catch a glimpse of the blue Adirondack chairs and a blue-and-white stripe umbrella beyond. And yes, Maui (my dog, my shadow, my cabin co-pilot) has already claimed it as her territory.

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What’s Coming Next: The Decorating Part

Okay. This is where I get really excited. Because here’s the thing about a screened-in porch makeover — the building is only half of it. The decorating is where the magic happens. And I have ideas.

Here’s what I’m thinking so far:

Battery-operated sconce lighting. A small table and two chairs — something I already have up here. A rug to warm up the wood floor. A bench along one wall. A canoe paddle my husband carved for me as art on the wall. Possibly a vintage life vest hanging somewhere. Some mysterious things I’m calling “sea hags” that you are just going to have to wait and see. And I’m working on a cabana painting right now that I think might be the perfect finishing touch.  Possibly a few other surprises!

I want this space to feel like a little jewel box in the trees — colorful and collected and deeply, joyfully us.

And I want to hear from you. If you have screened in porch ideas, send them my way. Hit me in the comments or find me on Instagram @chairwhimsy. I’m all ears.

The full decorating reveal is coming — and trust me, you do not want to miss it.

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The Paint Colors at a Glance

Exterior frame and structure: Salty Dog, Sherwin Williams Door and scalloped trim: Fiesta Orange, Benjamin Moore Interior ceiling rafters: Tidal Wave, Benjamin Moore

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Tips If You’re Planning Your Own Screened In Porch Makeover

If this has you dreaming about adding a screened porch to your own home or cabin, here are a few things I learned from this project:

Work with your existing roofline if you can. Keeping our width the same as the original porch saved us from a much more complicated (and expensive) project. We gained depth instead, and it was the right call.

Tie your new structure to your existing exterior. Using Salty Dog — our main cabin color — as the base made the porch look like it had always been there.

Ask for the detail. I asked for a scalloped door. Kevin gave me scalloped everything. Ask for what you want and see what happens.

Don’t be afraid of color outdoors. The navy and orange combination sounds bold, and it is — but it’s also grounded and classic. Color opposite on the color wheel always works.

Think about the view from inside as much as the view from outside. All those trees framed by navy and white? Worth every penny.

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Follow along on Instagram @chairwhimsy for updates as the decorating unfolds — it’s going to be colorful, whimsical, and very, very fun.