Sprucing up the Front Porch

Here is another project that started out simply, and then took on a life of its own. With all this time at home, I am noticing there are so many areas that need sprucing up. This includes the front porch.

It all begins with the rocking chairs.

The four rocking chairs on the front porch did require new paint. This is a fairly easy DIY that can be done in a day. Lately I feel dangerous with a can of paint and a paintbrush! Don’t stand still too long or I will paint you!

What a difference one coat of paint makes!

With the chairs looking so new and pretty, the rest of the porch paled in comparison. Remember the blog post on Selecting a Front Door Color? If you missed this post, click here.

Now the Front Door

Thanks to all of your great suggestions, the new paint color samples were purchased.

Picking a paint color online is a different experience than going to the paint store. Since curbside pick-up is the only option available at this time, I was a bit surprised when I opened the cans. For example, the Feverish Pink is a deep berry color online and the Gladiola is a spicy, rich dark paprika color. Look how different the tones are in real life! Much brighter than I expected.

The two blue paints are much lighter, too. However, after applying the samples, I was leaning toward the blues vs. the reds.

The pillow from Pottery Barn becomes my inspiration, because it is a combination of the dark greens and the cool blue. Not thrilled with the samples from Sherwin Williams, I dug out a can of the blue paint used in our library. That didn’t float my boat, either.

Referring now to a color palette, Drizzle is a bit darker with more green/gray overtones. I am convinced this is THE color and I take the leap and paint the entire door.

I am disappointed that the chip and the paint do not match. But I leave it hoping that the paint will darken as it dries.

Cleaning the Hardware

Meanwhile, it is the perfect opportunity to clean up the door hardware. The brass door latch is assumed to be original to the house. With a bit of elbow grease and brass polish it went from dull to dazzling.

Selecting New Plants~both real and faux

Keeping plants alive during the summer months is always a challenge in Phoenix. Since they are not on an automatic drip system, they require hand watering. As a result, the foliage around the front door suffers.

Instead of live plants, why not some artificial ones? I was able to locate these 5 foot tall cedar trees online through Amazon. I placed them inside the existing stone planter and will not need to water them ever.

After a recent visit to Whitfill Nursery, the addition of vinca and rose-scented geraniums will round out the foliage at the front door, and hopefully survive the summer heat. The asparagus vine does exceedingly well here.

Accessorizing

I love these old stone tables~~they are very heavy and ideal for the outdoor climate.

The finished porch

So here is the nearly finished spruced up front porch. The door color is growing on me, and my daughters love it. I’ve decided throughout this process that I am a conservative color person. Not sure why I am hesitant about throwing caution to the color wind, but I do wish I was more bold.

The wreath is re-designed to complement the door. Being a Connecticut Yankee, I love to repurpose items vs. buying new. To read an old post about re-working this wreath, click here.

The door/wreath before…

and After……

I am experimenting with different pillows on the chairs to see which ones look best.

Thank you to my friend, Joann, who told me to “STOP DEBATING. BLUE all the way”. I sometimes noodle these decisions over and over in my head, which is maddening. Though the door color feels a bit out of my comfort zone, I am leaving it up. Even my friend Anne, who loves bold colors, said it is growing on her.

The week seems to be flying by. Are you in the middle of any projects? Hard to believe it is already Wednesday. Have a wonderful one!