Front Porch Makeover Reveal

Since we rarely use our lovely front porch, it's time to give it some attention after focusing on our back patio last year.

 I call this decorating style Hey, what do we do with this stuff from our old house? Put it on the porch for now, we'll style it later. 

Last summer I repainted the shutters and front door. I replaced the doorknob and lock since the old one was looking a little shabby and most recently the porch lights. I am totally smitten with the new hanging lights! You can buy the exact white pendant porch lights I used here. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

The new pendant lighting looks light years better than the builder grade porch lights they replaced.

 

With a little bit of luck (and adding compost for years) the perennial herbs that outgrew their pots in the container garden are flourishing after I transplanted into the front flowerbeds two years ago. 

 

 The beginning of our budget friendly landscaping. 

 

The sad, tan colored clay dirt in our flowerbeds that gave this blog its name Condo Blues are nice and nutrient rich.

 

Before

 

  This year, I divided and transplanted some of the golden oregano to the bare spots it hasn’t reached on its own yet. I added some shade loving violets and astilbe for color hoping they will spread as well. 

 

Wow! Look at how much my landscaping has grown!

 

 

I moved the struggling lavender plant to an area that gets more sun to create what I call Please Don’t Die Corner and planted lemon balm and peppermint plants in our new rain barrel planter.

Now for the fun part – decorating the front porch!

The whole design centers on the seating which was harder to find than I thought. I wanted something modern that will fit on a small porch. I decided to go with this exact Flamaker Rocking Chair Outdoor Bistro Set because this set came with a side table and was less expensive than a set of similar chairs from Aldi that didn’t include the table. 

 

I see a lot of Porch Time in my future!

Although I was hesitant about using white cushions for outdoor chairs, I love how they make the turquoise in the outdoor rug (an Aldi Find) stand out. Sir Reginald II, our outdoor candle holder, approves from his seat at the table. He overlooks the outdoor coasters I made which are ready for morning coffee or an evening libation

 

You can read the DIY outdoor coasters tutorial here

To provide lumbar support, I added pillows to the chairs. I also placed a small camp stool from Michael’s as a footrest because my feet don't touch the ground when I sit in the rocking chairs. It's a challenge for us short gals! I lucked into the pillows as a seasonal find at Joann Fabrics. You can buy outdoor pillows similar to mine here.

I shopped the house and yard for the rest of the decorations and accessories. I filled the dead corner on the porch that has vexed me since we bought the house with my glorious 6 foot tall metal flamingo Divine (you can buy metal lawn flamingos here) paired with my crazy Flamingo Be Gone yard sculpture (you can buy my Flamingo Be Gone welded garden sculpture here). We have so many plants overtaking the flowerbed that Hilda the Viking Troll (yes, I named her after this exact book) made a hasty retreat to the porch as well. 

Who says outdoor decorations have to be traditional and normal?Not me!

And since things look better in groups, Dionysus looks over it all. You can buy my exact God of Wine Greenman wall sculpture here. Hopefully will add his power of agriculture to everything I planted in the yard. If not, we’ll wine about it with him later in the season.

Lastly, I updated our house numbers to metal. Although they aren't the font we wanted, I found them for a dollar each in new packaging at the Habitat Restore, rather than spending ten dollars each at Lowes. It was a design compromise.

Save this cozy curb appeal tour to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

I absolutely love how the curb appeal and comfy seating. Any chance I get I pop out to the porch and leisurely drink my morning coffee which feels so decant and yet, is such an oh so simple pleasure.

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