happy at home

CLEANING FRENZY
(pictures below)
Yesterday, I caught the cleaning bug. I mean, it's not like I could go into a new year with dirty floors, right? So, my dear hubby took the boys outside to play for several hours and I got busy. After spending so many days lying around feeling yucky, cleaning and scrubbing was absolutely theraputic. I literally could feel my spirits lifting with each push of my mop. After a few hours I had:
-Vacuumed the house, top to bottom, including baseboards
-Mopped the whole house
-Wiped fingerprints off doors, windows, mirrors, door frames, and walls
-Wiped down all kitchen appliances
-Washed two loads of laundry and hung them on the line

Remember me talking a few months ago about cleaning up our screened in porch? Yeaaaahhh, I pretty much just talked about it. So, yesterday, I finally tackled that area and
-Swept
-Mopped
-Wiped down all the chairs and table
-Swept down all cobwebs
-Swept down the leaves from around the outside of the screens.

Aaah, much better. I would like to make the porch a retreat to read, listen to music, use the laptop, watch children play in the backyard, or have dinner. I would also really like to utilize the location of the porch (right off the living/dining room, overlooking the backyard) to be a playroom of sorts. I would like to use it more for children's crafts and playtime. That way, I can see and hear them, but they aren't destroying the house. I think maybe I would like to have a wooden kitchen set out there. I am not sure. Do you have any suggestions?
The porch has double doors that open to the living/dining room, which I would like to replace with french doors to let more light inside, as well to be able to see onto the porch and backyard. The porch is elevated about 5 feet, so you are looking down into the wooded yard and it is really lovely. On one end is the pedestal table and chairs. On the other end are two rocking chairs with a lamp and small wicker stool/side table. I would like to incorporate some storage solutions. The porch is a huge asset to the house and is useable almost year around, thanks to the ceiling fans and shady surroundings. I welcome any thoughts and suggestions you might have for making this a play area for the boys, while still being usable as an adult area.