Enclosing the porch

While the porch was something that very much attracted me to this cabin, I really wanted some extra space to install a woodstove without sacrificing space I already had, though, as I mentioned before I could have simply eliminated the table and benches and used that space.  Other reasons for doing so was that I wanted a window facing south and while having the loft perform also as a roof to the porch came with a bit of a disadvantage, not only in limiting the height of the porch ceiling, but being that the loft only joined with the interior on one plane (the rest of the surfaces being exterior) I did at times have some build up of ice in the far corners (and it didn't help matters that when the cabin was built they neglected to place insulation in the corner bays of the front wall, perhaps thinking that since those areas were behind the small knee walls of the loft sides they were adequately addressed, but more than likely left to later and simply forgotten when the kneewalls went in).

All in all, the enclosure of the porch only added 12 ft of exterior wall, but it did greatly expand the interior volume.  The fully usable space, though, is reduced due to where the door was, and simply moved 6 ft forward, other than extra wall space, the walking space to the door still needs to remain open due to the steps for the loft being centred on the former front wall, which was eliminated on both sides of the steps.  Extra ceiling height was gained by removing the former porch ceiling and finishing it off as an open beamed ceiling.

What's funny is that despite going from a 2 ft wide window on the front (which was reused on the north wall) to a 6 ft window, is that from where I normally sit, my view out front hasn't changed much at all, just shifted a bit to the left and slightly down due to the extra distance to the window.

The porch is missed, and while it would be easy enough to add on a deck, the overhang really is not adequate to keep rain off the front of the cabin, so at the same time I may also add a small entryway so that I can replace the current door with a standard height entrance door exiting onto the replacement porch, which would also allow me to add a storm door without needing to make a special order or construct one.