I live in a small-ish home with a small-ish porch. I understand. Size is relative. My small could be someone else’s big. So let me clarify, it’s not a tiny house, it’s just a home that’s not big. Many people my age talk about down sizing. They move from their McMansion to a cute cottage or bungalow once the kids move out and life priorities change. We moved from a miniscule apartment to a small-ish home in 2011. This is our up sizing and empty nest all in one.
When we first saw this house, I was so glad to see a front porch, even a small one. To me a porch is the essence of homey.
One thing I’ve learned about my homes over the years.
It doesn’t have to be big to function well and bring you joy.
My front porch is far from the wide sweeping spaces of an Antebellum mansion, with it’s gracious view of ancient trees lining the plantation’s drive…(wait, I kind of slipped into a fantasy there for a moment, complete with hooped skirt and bonnet.)
Even though it’s not big, I still want it to be a gracious front porch. I expect it to do a few things:
- it needs to add to the curb appeal of my small-ish house,
- it needs to actually function as a place we can sit in the morning shade and enjoy watching the neighborhood
- it needs to be a place I can change out the decor with the seasons on a whim.
Winter and a wet Spring took quite a toll on the porch this year. A few weeks ago I took a good look at this space. It was dreary and washed out. There were faded, dirty, old cushions on the chairs from the year we moved here. But that was not as bad as the peeling, moldy paint around the doors. And there were so many, many spiders. You may notice that the lawn has bare spots. Well, around here it’s either 500 year flood or drought. A few years ago during the hottest, driest summer recorded (13 straight days over 100 degrees), our lawn died. We’ve been working on resuscitating it and it is healing.
This porch space wasn’t living up to its original potential. We began with the basics: a power wash of all the surfaces, repainting the trim around the doors, and cutting back the overgrown boxwood plants that were so high you could barely tell there was a porch behind them. (I wanted to preserve it and make wreaths, but hubby says “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” those weren’t his exact words, but that’s the gist.)
Next, I replaced the old cushions with new ones in bright, happy aqua and green from At Home.
The white tin tray came from Hobby Lobby. I love it because I think it will be very versatile. Can you imagine the tall glass of iced tea sitting there with maybe some cucumber sandwiches (slipping into the fantasy again)?
I hung plants from new hooks from Home Depot, which were originally black, but I spray painted them white so they would blend in and the flowers would stand out.
I added silk flowers to the basket on the front door. Yeah, I’m a bit of a rebel when it comes to faux flowers. I don’t have an estate that has a cutting garden. My philosophy is: better pretty fake than rotting dead.
Finally, I took a look at the brass porch light. Technically, there was noting wrong with it, BUT it sort of blended into the beige brick and the scale was too large for the space. When I found out that I could buy a new one for around $40, (I had been imagining $100-200), I picked up this one at Lowe’s. It makes my little heart happy.
So all in all, this small-ish front porch is looking and functioning much better.
We’re still waging a war against the spiders and other livestock that feel they can set up their abodes on our porch and I want to paint the front door a kicky, fun color (to be determined).
Even if a space is small-ish, it can still be useful and inspiring. And although you may not be able to do major renovations, you can still make it a pleasant little spot to hang out.
Do you have a small-ish spot at your house that lives large? I’d love to hear about it in the Comments.