It’s time!   It’s the time I’ve been looking forward to for several months.  Since the weather has been so fabulous, we are refreshing up our front porch a little earlier than normal and making it look pretty for the summer.  Yay!   (Don’t worry… I’m not decorating with mums and pumpkins yet.  This is last Falls decor.)

Front Porch

I like to add lots of green ferns to give it some life and basically “junk it all up” according to Deb.  Spring is my favorite season and my porch is truly one of my favorite places to relax, so it needs to look spectacular.  Several people have vowed to be sitting on my front porch swing, drinking their coffee one morning when I awake.

I know I promised another room re-do, but the weather has been too nice to be stuck inside.  Besides, we are fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants type of people so why not share this project WHILE I’m working on it.

I’m not sure if you remember the front porch disaster when we first bought this place.  If not, here is a refresher.  I’m sure this front porch felt very sad, unloved, and heartbroken with its circumstances.

The History of Front Porches

I recently read an article about the history of front porches and when they became popular with builders.  I’m going by memory so if I got some of the real facts wrong, don’t be a judgy pants.  But, basically people started adding front porches to their homes in the mid 1800s.  Back then, it was typically a very large area with bead board ceilings and tongue and groove wood flooring.  It was a space for the family to relax after dinner and to visit with neighbors who passed by.

People enjoyed being outside tending to their beautiful flower gardens in the front of their homes and took pride in the way their flowers looked.  Their back porches were used more for resting after working in their vegetable gardens or maybe anxiously awaiting their turn to use the outhouse facility!   OK, I made that last part up, but I’m sure it happened.

Back deck areas started replacing front porches on homes around the 1950s because of the popularity of televisions.  People were more apt to stay inside and be entertained by them rather than their neighbors.   And, basically, people started hating other people and wanted nothing to do with their neighbors anymore.  OK, I made that last part up, too, but I’m sure it happened.

Built in 1945, the attorney that built this house included a ginormous front porch in the plans, which is one of the first things people notice when they visit our home.  It really is an incredible space.  It has the original unpainted bead board ceilings with a concrete floor.   We debated painting the ceiling last year, but we fell in love with the original wood look once we decorated it for fall last year.  Now, I’m not promising anything, because we could change our mind on the painting part in the blink of an eye!

We are running around today purchasing all of our garden greens to “junk it all up”, so I will share the final space with you a little later.

But you know me, I can’t leave you with only a case of the uglies, so I am also sharing our porch from last Fall.  I thought it looked so cozy.

I will be back a bit later with the Spring/Summer porch look!  Have you decorated your porch yet?  Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by.   You can also check out extra pictures on Facebook and Instagram.

And Buh Bye, now!