We have been in the process of re-doing and upgrading a lot around our house. And that includes our porches. We actually did a pretty big front porch makeover a few weeks ago.
And really, the major difference was just a paint job. But, I cannot believe the difference the paint made. And honestly, at first, I thought my husband was crazy for wanting to paint the porches white.
They were originally a dark brown color, which I loved. However, after seeing the difference, I have to say, he was definitely right! I’m so excited we have this front porch finally finished now!
And just in time to decorate the porch for fall, which is my absolute favorite! So keep on reading to see all the changes we made to our front porch and how it all came together!
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Picking Out Paint Colors
Like I said above, the major difference in our front porch makeover was the paint colors. So since that was our main focus, we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what paint colors would be best.
To do this, we made several trips to our local Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot and got a few paint swatches that we liked in the store.
Then, we would sit the paint swatches out in our outdoor space in several different areas. That way, we could really see any difference from when the sun came up, to the sun going down.
Since you know that the sun and natural light can affect the way the paint colors look. We also put them up next to the front door to see how they would look against the dark brown door color.
Now, a little bit of backstory, my husband is also having a separate garage built at our house. And, they needed to paint it an exterior color.
We could have just kept the same cream color as our original house to match it. But, we thought it would be the perfect time to update our house color too.
And just have both of them painted to match perfectly. So after narrowing it down to an exterior house color and a porch ceiling color, we finally found the two we had been looking for!
The Colors We Chose
It’s really amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! We ended up going with Bohemian Lace by Sherwin Williams and it made a huge difference!
This paint color is more of a bright white compared to our original cream color of the house. Which I like a lot better.
Honestly, whenever it would snow, our house color would stick out like a sore thumb because it wasn’t bright white. And with me being a little OCD, that bothered me greatly!
Even though it doesn’t snow a ton around here. But, now this winter we are prepared! So hopefully, I’ll be able to get some pretty pictures of it next to the snow this year.
We kept the porch floor the same dark brown color that it was originally too. We just added a fresh coat of paint to the floor to make them pop more against the white.
Porch Ceiling Color
We also painted the ceilings a beautiful light blue color. This paint color is called Copen Blue by Sherwin Williams. And I absolutely love the different colors together.
It gives a very tropical/beach house vibe to it. And y’all know, I am all about the beach! The blue we chose is a perfect pop of color to the porch!
And with the porch ceiling blue, it definitely reminds us of our favorite place, Charleston! I guess that’s really where we got our design inspiration from.
Especially with our window box we installed last year too! In case you didn’t know, a lot of the historical homes there paint their ceilings a Haint Blue color.
This was back when the Gullah community had a big influence there, and supposedly the Haint Blue color on ceilings, exterior surfaces, shutters, etc. was supposed to keep the evil spirits or “Haints” away.
But regardless, I absolutely love how it looks. And it gives us a little bit of Charleston at home too!
โHow To Style A Front Porch
Whether you have a small front porch or not, there are a few things that can go into styling a porch. Depending on how much space you have, you can determine what all you want to include on your front porch area.
Rocking Chairs
We love having rocking chairs on our front porch, which I guess is a pretty southern thing! However, a black rocking chair we had previously broke, so we ended up ordering a brand new set.
But, I actually like them more so it ended up being just fine! I’ll link the ones we have below for you! I think having rocking chairs is the key to having a welcoming front porch, don’t you?!
I also like having a small coffee table between the two rockers, especially when we come outside in the morning to enjoy our coffee.
But, I use an old milk container I found thrifting as a table and it works just perfectly! Anything like that can be used for a small table. If you have room for more outdoor seating, you could always add in a porch swing with some throw pillows too!
I’ve always wanted a porch swing, we just don’t really have the room for it unfortunately. If you wanted more outdoor dining options, adding in some small bistro sets is always a good idea.
We have a cute little set out on our hot tub deck, which is on the side of the house, that we love. It’s the perfect place to sit and enjoy the sunset in the evenings!
New Doormat
Another easy fix for a front porch makeover is to just add in a new welcome mat. And that can easily be done whether you have a little porch or not. That’s a great way to change things up, while being relatively inexpensive too.
Flower Bed
Another thing we have that’s fairly new on our front porch is our flower bed. We built it last summer, but only started planting things in it this year.
I have this placed right outside my office window and I love being able to look out and see the pretty blooms! Originally, I thought I wanted a wooden bench, or some more seating options here, but I love the way the flower beds look instead.
Plus, we get hummingbirds that stop by every morning so I always love to watch them from the office window as well.
If you don’t have room for a raised bed on your porch, you could always just add in a flower pot here and there instead. Having real plants and flowers can easily bring new life to your front porch!
Y’all may remember all my DIY Planters I made for the front porch too. So you don’t even have to buy planters and pots, make do with what you already have to keep the extra cost down.
Other Front Porch Update Ideas
Depending on the design of your front porch, you could also add in some ceiling fans. We don’t have any fans on the front porch, but we do on our screened in porch!
Also, outdoor area rugs are another fun thing to use when it comes to styling your porches too. Changing up the light fixtures is another great way to update your porch.
You can easily change out the outdoor cushions, door wreath, and outdoor rug to give your porch a more modern look.
Really, any of these things I mentioned above are a perfect way to upgrade your home’s curb appeal. You don’t have to be drastic and repaint everything like we did. Especially if it doesn’t need it!
But, I will say the paint was definitely a game changer for our porch! It definitely feels like a brand new front porch to us.
The paint definitely made a big impact and I am so glad we did it. What do you guys think of how our front porch makeover turned out?! Let me know below!
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