Porch Life

Early in 2020, Alicia Smith de- Woodland Drives home remodeled. With the advent of the pandemic, however, she realized she needed to do more than renovate her kitchen.

“If we were going to have to gather outside, I needed a place to make that happen,” Smith says.

When she moved into the house in 2016 from Santa Fe, New Mexico, there was just a little door leading out to the backyard. She had a first-draft deck built, but when Covid hit, she decided to turn the deck into a screened-in porch—a renovation that would entail expansion as well.

When Smith’s contractor, Destry Burch, suggested she “move [the deck] over so it matches the roofline, [so they could] add a vaulted ceiling,” Smith was immediately sold on the idea. At that point, her idea of a small screened- in deck morphed into a full-blown 740-square-foot porch.

Burch and his crew created an L-shaped room with two spaces: one for people to sit around a cypress coffee table, nosh, and chat while enjoying the fresh air; and another for more formal meals at a teak table that seats between 6 and 10.

Photo courtesy of Alicia Smith

It was Smith’s idea to put in a folding European door instead of French doors to cultivate a sense of flow from the house to the porch.

“The contractor had never put in a European door before, and the workmen were excited when they got it in,” Smith recalls.

The porch now has two entrances: one from the sunroom with the European door, and one from Smith’s bedroom with French doors.

Large screened-in windows with contemporary ceiling fans create the feeling of being outdoors without the discomfort of bugs and heat. To further control the temperature, Smith had a split HVAC system installed. Electronic shades roll down to keep the full sun out in the afternoon. These additions solidified the space as a living area she can use year-round.

“You can still get rain in here,” she notes, “but it has to be very windy.”

By the time the addition became a reality, Smith hadn’t spent time with her children and grandchildren in six months—thanks to pandemic-era restrictions—even though most of them lived in Tallahassee.

The porch soon became the place where the family gathered for Thanksgiving dinner, Passover Seder, graduations, birthdays, and gatherings with friends.

“My kids called it the ‘pandemic pavilion,’” Smith says. “The porch was a wonderful addition to our lives.”

To furnish and decorate the space, Smith applied her own design sensibility, blending the Southwest with the tropics.

Photo courtesy of Alicia Smith

She refreshed existing wicker furniture with new cushions, installed a funky lamp with a turquoise shade purchased in Apalachicola, and hung art pieces from Santa Fe—including a huge metal sun and a unique piece of 3D spinning art.

In addition, artificial and live plants occupy various corners of the room along with an eclectic mix of decor pieces, such as a dynamic metal heron and a wooden par- rot. Recessed lighting completes the polished effect.

For the dining area, she purchased a teak table and chair from Abraham George Patio in Market Square. Since teak tends to weather gray, she had it stained a natural wood color.

“In the boating world, it’s called bright work,” she says. “The stain is protective, so you can put glasses on it without damaging the wood.”

When the whole family is there—two daughters, a son-in-law, and three grandkids, along with other extended family members—the table opens up to accommodate them all.

In its smaller iteration, she often uses it as a scenic spot to do paperwork.

Of course, the purpose of a porch is to enjoy the environment around it, and in order to enjoy it at night as well as the day, Smith had the yard artfully lit by Frank Douglas with Tallahassee Nurseries. Douglas, who specializes in landscape lighting, put up-lighting into some of the trees, down-lighting in others, and lights along the path-way, creating a serene view of towering oaks, grapefruit trees, and azaleas.

“Any time I can be outside, that’s my preference,” Smith reflects.