Front Porch Reveal

I am so excited to finally share my recent front porch makeover with you all! I have always dreamed of having a cozy little front porch, and the time has finally come. Since we are currently renting our house, I am unable to fix up the home exterior like I might with my own. So that means I needed to make the front porch really pop!

If you have a front porch, it is the first impression when people walk up to your home. Don't you want to make it just as inviting as the inside of your home? I know I do! And besides, its a great excuse to design an extra room;) Especially as Spring approaches - its such a peaceful space to sit outside and enjoy a beautiful sunset. And maybe a glass of wine too!

And now for the fun part... Eye candy!

So what do you all think?? It sure makes me smile, so I guess that's what really matters! To find a list of where I found my items, click {here}

I've also been considering starting up a weekly linky party, so please leave comments HERE if you think would link up!

Who I'm linking up with:

Common Ground

French Country Cottage
Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage
Tatertots & Jello
DIY Showoff
Be Different Act Normal
Sweet Little Gals
Twelve O Eight
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Coastal Charm
Not Just a Housewife
Elizabeth & Co.
House of Hepworths
I Gotta Create
No Minimalist Here
Shabby Creek Cottage
All Things With Purpose
Shabby Nest
504 Main
Designer in Teal

Front Porch Inspirations

A few challenges I've faced with our new house is the (lack of) space. The house is perfect, the location is ideal, but the square footage is about half of our old house. This is a MAJOR case of paying for the real estate, not the size of the home. BUT we have been so so happy with our decision and I have learned to design in smaller spaces. One example is our front porch... 

I firmly believe that your outdoor spaces should feel just as homey as your indoor spaces - even if its small! In Texas we have many seasons of the year that you are able to comfortably sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine or a sweet tea. So why not create a comfortable outdoor living space? Especially if you have a front porch - this is the first thing people see when they enter your home. Why not make it inviting? 

Over the past few weeks, the weather has been going back and forth between cool and warm. The 75 degree weather has been getting me so excited for spring! Which means yes, I just HAD to start shopping for our front porch makeover. We have already ordered some new rocking chairs for the front porch and got SUCH a great deal. More to come on that later:)

For now, check out some of my latest inspirations for some beautiful southern front porches. These are truly some magnificent spaces and really helped me gain a balance between indoor 
and outdoor accessories. Enjoy!

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Aren't these porches just amazing!? 

I cannot wait to share my porch makeover with you in the upcoming weeks. More to come!

Spring Time = Porch Time!

The butterflies are out and the flowers are blooming - my allergies are in full swing, so that must mean it's spring! I might not be able to breathe through my nose... and I might have to carry around travel size tissues in my purse, but it that just means it's my favorite time of the year. Down here in Texas, the summers get to about 110 degrees on a daily basis, so we tend to take the spring VERY seriously. It's just about the only time of the year you can sit outside and enjoy the flowers and weather without feeling like your about to die. That's why the hubby and I have been getting our backyard nice and purdy for this lovely time of year. 

Above is a picture I snapped from one of our trees that just recently bloomed. There were at least 100 butterflies and bee's flying throughout the tree and it was just beautiful. I still haven't figured out the name of the tree though. Does anyone recognize it? I would love to know! 

I've also been working on our back porch as well. As you might have seen from our house tour, this has been our porch for the past few months:

 

Here you will see the complete transformation from all the way before we moved in, until now. Here is a picture of the what the previous owner had it set up as. Not bad at all, just different than what we were looking to do with the space.

 

Here is the progress from a few weeks after we moved in back in September. Still not the vision I was looking for. Basically this was a lot of the "leftover" furniture that we weren't sure what to do with or how to place. We knew this living space was going to take some time.

 

 

Finally things started to come together when my friend Josh gifted me an old pedestal table that he was about to throw out. Throw out?? No thank you! If it's free, I will take it - no question! A few months prior he had mentioned buying a new table to replace that one, and I had been eying it ever since. I originally had it picked out for our kitchen, but after lugging it in, it just didn't fit. Too large and didn't flow well. I then knew it would be perfect for the porch. Now that we had a defined eating and sitting area, I knew this was going to be the layout that stuck. And it did! With the new layout, everything else just seemed to fit in to place. Here is a picture of a similar style of this type of table.

Note: This is not the before picture that I took... Didn't know I would be starting a blog and didn't take a before pic. My bad!

 

Here is the table in our new porch space.

Much better, right?? I will be posting a tutorial on my process soon. Here are a few more pics of the rest of the porch makeover.

 

 

This back porch definitely took some time and work, but it was totally worth it. Interested in where I found some of my finds? Here is a list:

Brown Wicker Patio Set: Big Lots (found this set for a GREAT deal, who would have thought?)

Neutral Rug - Lowes

Patterned Rug: Ross

Red and Stripped Pillows: Garden Ridge

"Quote" Pillow: Marshalls

Rustic Grey/Blue Tray: Garden Ridge

Red Wicker Trunk: Re-painted antique

Brown Trunk: Antique

Red Curtains: Wal-mart 

Wicker Chargers: World Market

Blue and Cream Cushions: Ross 

Here are a few more pics of some of the blooming flowers in our back yard:

Hope y'all enjoyed my porch makeover.  If you have any questions on anything from my makeover, feel free to message me! I would love to help out with your space and design challenges.