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How to make your front porch inviting and add curb appeal!

You want your front porch to look amazing and inviting. You want people’s heads to turn when they walk by your house. But you also want your front porch to be a functional space and, space permitting, a space where friends or neighbors can pop by for a drink and a chat. And you also want your front porch to enhance your curb appeal and ultimately add value to your home.

Where to start when decorating your front porch?

If you front porch is currently empty of any type of furniture, or currently under utilized, it may feel daunting as to where to start to enhance the look. Answering a few questions is a good place to start to figure out how and where to start!

How much space to you have to work with?

Just like you would in any room design, you need to ask yourself how much space to you have and what can you reasonably fit within the space. Just because you’re working with your outdoor porch, doesn’t mean the same design principles apply when you’re decorating an indoor room.

Photo: Jully’s Place

Do you have a large space where you could put an outdoor living set like a couch, 2 chairs, and perhaps additional seating? Is your front porch narrow so you don’t have enough space for an outdoor living room arrangement but perhaps you have enough space for a few chairs in a row where a couple of neighbors can sit down for a chat sipping ice tea on a hot afternoon? Or perhaps your front porch is part of the walkway up to the front entrance and there’s only space for a bench. Taking the measurements of your front porch will come in very handy when you’re planning what type of furniture and how much you can fit into your space.

The size of your front porch is key in determining the function of your outdoor room and how much furniture you can put in it or not.

What’s the purpose of your front porch?

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Photo: Pinterest, Original Creator unknown

In our photo above, the homeowner has a large porch big enough to accommodate a large outdoor sectional AND a dining room table. If this porch was smaller, the homeowner would need to decide between the two uses.

Once you have determined the amount of space that you’re working with, that will help you determine the purpose of your front porch. Do you want a place where you can hang out with your friends and family chatting and sipping ice tea & wine? How many people do you want to have over? How many can you comfortably sit on your porch? Do you have enough room for 4, 6 or even 8 people?

Do you want a place where you can have a sit down meal or play games so you will need a type of dining room table & chairs? Do you have room for both a seating area and a dining area? Do you want your porch to be able to span many seasons so you would want to put in heaters of some kind?

What is your design style?

This is the fun part where you can plan your design. Go on Pinterest to get inspired to see what you would like in your outdoor space and also importantly, what you don’t like. Be sure to look at spaces that are similar to yours in terms of size and layout to get an idea of what you can fit or not fit into your space.

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Photo: MaisondePax

In our photo above, the homeowners purchased this fixer upper ranch in Texas for their family on the week-ends. Their stunning front porch reflects the design style & area of their new family retreat. Can’t you just picture sipping lemonade on this porch on a hot sunny day while family & friends drop by to visit?

Look at spaces who’s houses are in similar environments as yours for ideas. For example, if you’re in the south, look at styles of porches that reflect your area. Similarly, if you’re in a coastal area, you may want to choose some décor ideas of other coastal porches. If your house is contemporary or traditional in style, you will want to choose something appropriate that fits the style of your home. You don’t have to copy others, of course, but its always to get some ideas of similar styles which will help you narrow down what you want and also as important, what you don’t want in your own space.

In our contemporary home above, their cute chair & table set is appropriate for the small porch they have and the style of their home. The porch could benefit from home décor & accessories like cushions, hanging plants AND a rug as you will see below.

The size of your outdoor space, the style of your home and where you live will play a key role in determining what your space will look like.
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Photo: Inspired By Charm

Michael Wurm of Inspired By Charm, has a very inviting rustic porch that makes you feel at home. As long as your design style reflects you and your home, it will be the right choice for your front porch.

Plan your design starting with a design or mood board

Create a mood board to help you visualize your look. Designers start with a design or inspiration board to help clients visualize the look and feel of the room before they start to purchase furniture or choose a paint color. Its a process to gather ideas to help you visualize as much as possible, what the end product of what the room or space will look like. That doesn’t mean there may not be as you go along. Some pieces may stay, some pieces may go, and some may be added to the board along the way. But your inspiration board will help you achieve the look you’re going for, show you what you need to do to get there, and help you budget and monitor the process as you move along.

You can create a board in Pinterest or you can create a mood board digitally in software such as Canva or Powerpoint. 

Read: Why you need to create a mood board for your next room design

Choosing Your Colors

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Photo: Shelterness

When choosing your colors, take your inspiration from your house’s exterior colors, like your brick | stone color, front door color, porch flooring etc. These are good places to start. If you have alot of neutrals in your exterior, you can always add pops of colors in your accessories like a rug or throw pillows. You could pick a fun color for chairs to add pops of color as well. The choices are endless.

Photo: Shelterness

A popular choice to add some color to your front porch is by choosing a fun front door color. You can pick up that color in your patio décor or furniture for an additional pop.

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Does your front porch need some upgrades first?

Before you start buying furniture, take a good look at your porch and see if you need to do any upgrades? Does your porch need painting or freshening up? What about your front door? Could it use a new color & a fresh coat of paint? What about your house colors? How are the stairs? Do they need fixing or painting? Do you have a concrete floor that needs updating? You want do complete any upgrades or painting before you start to decorate your porch. Need some help? Check out my online exterior paint color packages.

Check out my Exterior Online Paint Color Consults here

Picking Your Furniture

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Photo: Layne and Laine

You don’t need a huge porch to make it look stunning. BUT the secret to an inviting front porch is to pick furniture that is appropriate for your space and suits your and your house’s design style. In our stunning AND very inviting front porch above, Layne and Laine created a porch that reflects their design style, and is the perfect size for their space. How cute is this seating area?

Now that you have determined the purpose of your space, figured out the size that you have to work with and your design style, you can start with the fun part of choosing furniture. If you’re choosing a firepit, make sure you include it in now since you need to plan your furniture include the size of your firepit.

Décor

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Photo: Saw Nail & Paint

What an amazing job our homeowner of Saw, Nail & Paint did of their small porch above. She has a very inviting and cozy design style. The two wicker chairs are the PERFECT size for the space, and she beautifully added to the ambience with cushions, curtains, flowers, a rug and a throw. Her porch is covered, but you need to make sure when purchasing your outdoor décor that its all suited for the outdoors.

Once you have your furniture chosen, comes the décor, the icing on the cake. Add décor that suits your design style. Pillows are a great way to make your space warm and inviting. Candles add ambiance. Don’t forget wall art and welcome signs. Some people add curtains to their front porch as well. This will create a warming atmosphere to your space.

Planters | Flowers | Hanging Plants | Flower Boxes

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I’m not sure what part makes this front porch so inviting, the curtains or the hanging plants, but you can picture yourself sitting on this porch all day and drinking ice tea. The homeowners have created an amazing outdoor room on their front porch and its not a huge space. But their choice and size of furniture is a perfect choice for the space.

Add flowers, planters, hanging plants etc. that will work in your space. This will enhance your space and create that welcoming vibe that you’re looking for.

Lighting

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Photo: Capital Lighting via Instagram

Last but certainly not least on our list is lighting. Lighting, especially at night time, adds ambience to your porch. Even adding a few string lights can create a fun and festive mood like in our photo above. Notice the large candle lanterns on either side of the swing. I’m assuming their are battery operated candles. lol Dated lighting will decrease your curb appeal.

A properly planned and well design front porch adds quality to our life as we embrace this outdoor living space. Its a place to invite friends, family and neighbors to enjoy one another. Its a place to make lasting memories! I hope you have some great ideas to enjoy this space.

Need some design guidance?

Perhaps your exterior needs updating, like your front door. Or perhaps you need some help picking out paint colors or you need to “Pick My Brain” on a room that you’re working on. You have some ideas but you’re just not sure which way to go. I can help you with that!

I help busy homeowners, just like you, to style their house to make it a stunning retreat, where they can live and enjoy their home. I help homeowners, make money beyond their wildest expectations from the sale of their house by guiding them when they’re getting their house ready to sell.

Hi! I’m Debi Collinson. Designer. Color Consultant & Real Estate Investor. 

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I conducted my first color consult at the age of 7, lol, for my father. I grew up looking at blue prints, going on construction sites and helping my dad, an Engineer|General Contractor and Co-Owner of a Design|Build|Engineering firm pick out paint colors for his buildings. Since 2006, I have been in hundreds of houses, decorating & staging homes to make them look like they belong on a magazine page. I moved my business online in 2020. In my spare time lol, I renovate, manage & am general contractor for my rental properties.

Read my full story here.

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