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Ideas for the Home

You are here: Home / Home Improvement Ideas / Cottage Update: Shiplap Walls, Porcelain Tile and More

By Carrie Ypma on June 2, 2017 2 Comments

Cottage Update: Shiplap Walls, Porcelain Tile and More

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Our front porch and sunroom cottage update includes white-washed shiplap walls or pine plank walls and a tile floor that looks like wood.

We are amazed and thrilled with how much has been accomplished on our new cottage sunroom and front porch since we gave you the last progress report. A finish line to the project is finally in sight. YAY! With this month’s cottage update you’ll see how far we’ve come and what’s next. Thankfully most of the remaining renovations should be completed by the end of June if all goes well.

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look. Porcelain tile looks like weathered wood.

Cottage Update

If you’re just tuning into this project, we’ve been working with builders since last summer to add a new front porch and sunroom to our cottage on a wilderness river in Michigan. You can read about our current renovation plans or check out last month’s cottage progress report. We’ve also shared our sunroom decorating ideas and the furniture we’ve ordered for the new spaces. This cottage update today will bring you up to speed on where we are now. We can’t wait to show you the new white-washed shiplap or plank walls and the new porcelain tile floor that looks like weathered wood.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links for products or services we think you’ll like. This means if you make a purchase from one of these links, Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® will make a small commission at no additional cost to you so we can keep the great ideas for the home coming your way. All opinions expressed are derived from personal experience.

Front Porch Update

There hasn’t been a lot of progress on the front porch since the last report, but there also isn’t as much to do. The builders installed the dark brown metal roof. They also boxed in the pillars to prepare for river rock.

Dark brown metal roof and tan reverse board and batten exterior siding on the outside of this new front porch and sunroom addition as part of a cottage update.

Next Steps for the Front Porch

  • The top part of the pillars and the horizontal board toward the front of the roof will be wrapped with cedar. All the woodwork will then be stained a natural color.
  • The bottom of the pillars will be covered with large river rocks.
  • An exposed aggregate concrete step will be poured around all three sides of the porch. There will also be wide landing of exposed aggregate concrete at ground level. It will be about the width of a sidewalk around all three sides of the porch to help minimize the dirt we track into the cottage.
  • We’re still debating about whether to change out the front door as part of this project. I would really love to get a beautiful craftsman style door like this one but it might be out of scope for our budget this time around.

Dark brown metal roof and exposed aggregate concrete on this new front porch being built as part of a cottage update. The pillars will be covered with river rock.

Sunroom Update

On the outside the builders installed the exterior reverse board and batten siding for the new sunroom. It was already painted to match the rest of the cottage. They also put the dark brown metal roof on top of the sunroom addition. It matches the new roof over the front porch. My dad also installed a bronze motion detector light next to the glass sliding door for us.

Dark brown metal roof and tan reverse board and batten exterior siding on the outside of this sunroom addition as part of a cottage update.

Shiplap Walls

On the inside, the builders put up pine boards to give the interior walls and ceiling a shiplap look. Before installation, the boards were whitewashed so that the natural wood grain and knots show a little to give the room a rustic appearance.

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look.

My dad has done most of the electrical work inside including outlets in the walls, switches and four can lights in the ceiling. Kent installed stereo speakers in the ceiling as well and has already been using our Sonos unit to play music in the new sunroom.

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look.

Porcelain Tile Floor (Looks like Weathered Wood!)

After the plank walls were done, my dad put cement board across the sunroom floor to prepare it for tiling.

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look. Cement board on the floor prepares the way for porcelain tile that looks like weathered wood.

Here’s what the entry point looks like going from the sunroom into the main part of the cottage. We didn’t want to give up any natural light in the kitchen so we left the original window that used to look outside. It already looks aged and rustic plus it will add airflow between the two rooms on hot summer nights.

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look. Cement board on the floor prepares the way for porcelain tile that looks like wood.

Then my dad picked up the Marazzi Montagna Rustic Bay 6 in. x 24 in. Glazed Porcelain Floor Tiles that Kent and I chose from Home Depot. My dad did all of the installation work himself using 1/16th inch spacers.

The Marazzi Montagna Rustic Bay 6 in. x 24 in. Glazed Porcelain Floor Tiles used in this cottage update look like weathered wood. This flooring gives the sunroom a rustic farmhouse style look.

When we were up north over Memorial Day weekend, Kent and I worked alongside my dad to grout between the tiles. We used Polyblend New Taupe Sanded Grout and love how it turned out. The coloring is going to be perfect for hiding dirt dragged in by the boys and our Scruffy dog!

Marazzi Montagna Rustic Bay 6 in. x 24 in. Glazed Porcelain Floor Tile looks like weathered wood. White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look.

Next Steps for the Sunroom 

We’ve changed our plans for landscaping outside the sunroom. Exposed aggregate concrete will still be poured outside the exterior glass sliding door to create a step to the ground. Then we were initially going to have them pour a sidewalk. It would have connected the sunroom to the new front porch like you see in the drawing below. We were going to fill in the space between the sidewalk and the exterior wall of the cottage with simple landscaping, like a basic rock garden and a few plants.

Can't wait to see how this DIY project turns out! The cottage renovations and ideas planned for this A-frame home include a new front porch with stone pillars and covered roof as well as a sunroom.

Upon further discussion though, Kent and I came up with a plan we like better. We really want the area around the cottage to be as low maintenance as possible. I mean, who wants to spend all their weekends at the cottage weeding when they can be reading and relaxing in the sunroom, right? Our cottage is surrounded by a lot of trees. So we felt like it was going to be a big pain every fall to remove leaves from the rocks.

Instead, we decided to fill the entire space with exposed aggregate concrete. This will make a ground level patio rather than a sidewalk.

This diagram shows the revised plans to create an exposed aggregate concrete patio as part of our cottage update.

The patio will be angled slightly away from the house for drainage. In the future we could put a bench on the patio or maybe a little table and chairs set. We might also add a few potted plants if we feel like it needs some greenery.

Dark brown metal roof and tan reverse board and batten exterior siding on the outside of this sunroom addition as part of a cottage update.

Here is what’s happening in the next month on the inside:

  • The builders will install white-washed craftsman style trim around the windows, doors, floors and along the seams in the ceiling.

Porcelain tile looks like weathered wood. White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look.

  • The structural beam that runs across the peak of the vaulted sunroom ceiling will be encapsulated by rough cut wood. The beam will be stained to look rustic and weathered. After that, my dad will install a ceiling fan in the center of the beam.

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look.

  • And then last, but not least, we’ll finally get to my most favorite part of the project — decorating! The furniture for the new sunroom that I told you about a few weeks ago has been ordered. If all goes well, it should arrive the week of June 20. EEK! I cannot wait!

White washed pine plank walls installed in a sunroom as part of a cottage update. These shiplap walls give the room a rustic farmhouse style look. Porcelain tile looks like weathered wood.

Make sure you subscribe to get our Ideas in Your Inbox newsletter for future updates on our cottage renovations. While you’re here, we’d also love for you to check out other DIY projects on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –

  • DIY Shiplap Command Center
  • DIY Rustic Pallet Sign
  • DIY Board and Batten Shutters
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Home Improvement Ideas

About Carrie Ypma

Carrie is the chief writer, crafter and creator here at Ideas for the Home by Kenarry®. She's an optimist by nature and enjoys sharing recipes, trying new craft ideas, planning for parties and events as well as organizing and decorating. She and her husband, Kent live in Michigan. She also loves to hide away in a castle under the stairs reading to her two young boys and help guests plan vacations at Sunshine Villa at Glenbrook Resort, their short term vacation rental home in Orlando near Walt Disney World.

Whether you’re cooking, crafting or creating for your family, follow Carrie on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get inspiring ideas for your home. For home organization tips and ideas, check out her other website, Clutter Keeper or follow her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Comments

  1. Sam @airreviews says

    June 26, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    Hey, those pictures look great! Good luck with your renovation project. -Sam

    Reply
    • Carrie says

      June 26, 2017 at 10:18 pm

      Thank you, Sam! We’re thrilled with how the room is turning out!

      Reply

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