Porch Decor while in Transition

Hi Friends and welcome to the Spring Into Summer Porch and Outdoor Spaces Hop 

hosted by my talented, good friend Amber of  Follow the Yellow Brick Home. 

Are you needing some ideas to help spiff up your outdoor spaces? Put together something different? I know I am! We are in the middle of a facelift for our front porch and landscaping and sometimes it seems easier to just opt out of decorating an incomplete project. But I'm here to give it a try so I don't feel like it's a lost cause living with an outdated front porch.

If you're coming from Marty's at A Stroll Thru Life, I'm so glad you're here! I know the title to this post might seem a little strange, but it's an honest look at sharing the ups and downs during house renovations. 

If you've been by to visit before, you might know that late last Summer we purchased a home built in the 60's and spent all Fall and Winter doing improvements; a few renovations, but mostly cosmetic "enhancements" of the interior. One of the biggest changes we made was outside, tearing out the very dated iron work on the front porch that was so popular during the early 60's. That one element had totally turned me off of buying this house. I'm so glad my husband listened to me and agreed to do some updates for a new look.

We had a reno team that saw my vision for an updated British Cottage Porch, and got to work with the help of inspiration from Pinterest. We wanted hefty cedar posts and supports so I had spent a lot of time sifting through photos and websites on UK building and renovation companies to come up with the design. They did the update last Fall, and we're about ready to finish things up with white paint and a new front door color. We love the natural cedar, but because the overhang on the porch is white we felt the new posts needed to blend in better with the existing structure of the porch.

The front door surround needs to be painted all white, and the porch lamps updated, too. 

I had this little antique Train Depot slatted bench from our previous front porch and kept it for this new porch. I didn't know if it would work, but for now it's sitting in front of some vintage gray shutters to give it a little more presence. An old concrete urn in the corner, which had been inside the entry at another house, is still protected and holding a fern in the corner. One of my "Frenchy" watering cans painted white gives a little added vintage something.

I'm still trying to decide about the color for the front door, but I'm leaning toward a deeper rusty terra cotta color, instead of this orange/pumpkin color. The porch itself is shaded, so a pop of color is needed. I'm going to get some paint swatches and decide soon. This is a fun color, but it doesn't coordinate with anything I have inside.

Surprisingly, my Wild Twiggy Summer Wreath
has a few faux Lillies and mini Zinnias that echo the color of the door.

I've had a hard time discouraging the purple finches from claiming the wreath as their nesting base. They are persistent little buggers. Every time I put this out a few hours later I hear the telltale constant "cheeping" going on to let me know they're hard at work with a baby station in mind.

My sis gifted me with an initialed door mat for a Christmas/
House warming present from Ballards.

I hunted through my pillow stash hoping to find something that would coordinate with the orange door and these fruit pillows that were from Pier 1 years ago have worked. I made the ticking pillows back about 8 years ago for a wicker set on my then sunporch. (ticking is a neutral and matches anything in my book!)

Colorful Impatiens are my go-to flower for shady spots. You might remember these gray shutters that have been in my Entry Hall for the past 8 years or so behind my mirror. They didn't work in the Entry at this house, but I thought I'd try them out here. Not perfect, but they do give a little more interest than just the bench alone. I love using vintage elements for porch decor when I can. Luckily this little iron bench is really sturdy, just in case someone might actually need to sit.

We're going to have the landscaping updated hopefully by this Fall. It's been years since anything had been maintained here, and the shrubs are upteen million years old. We know that it will make a  huge difference in the looks of this house and bring up the curb appeal dramatically. Many houses in this area are going through complete renovations with updates inside and out. This one needs to catch up.

Thanks so much for coming by today. I'll be sharing my covered back porch later this week with my potting bench, so be sure to check back. I hope you'll continue the Hop with all the beautiful porch and outdoor inspiration with Christie at Our Southern Home. Please use the list or LinkUp below to take you on the Hop Tour!

Follow The Yellow Brick Home

A Stroll Thru Life

Common Ground

Our Southern Home

County Road 407

Decor To Adore

Let's Add Sprinkles

Art and Sand

Botanic Bleu

The Crowned Goat

Petite Haus

My Thrift Store Addiction

Celebrate and Decorate

Bluesky at Home

Lora Bloomquist

The Tattered Pew

Thistle Key Lane

White Arrows Home

Welch House 1900

Decorate and More With Tip

joining in here:

 Sunday at Home at Little Farmstead  

 Celebrate Your Story at Celebrate and Decorate

Dishing It and Digging It at DIY180 

 Inspiration Monday at Refresh Restyle   

Tips and Tutorials at Home Stories A to Z

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life  

Keep in Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles 

 Talk of the Town at Knick of Time

Turnabout Tuesday at My Wee Abode 

Share Your Style at French Ethereal 

 Style Showcase at Shabby Fufu  

 Wonderful Wednesday at LeCultivateur 

Thursday Favorite Things at Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Grace at Home at Imparting Grace

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Sweet Inspiration at Home Health and Heart