By Dave and Mary

Decorating a Porch

With Diana of Our Vintage Home Love

When decorating a porch, you can create a comfortable and relaxing haven for your family without spending a lot. Really you can.

Dave and I are so happy to introduce you to Diana, the author of Our Vintage Home Love.

Diana tells us how she turned her front porch and side porch into a truly welcoming living space and continuation of her home.

Come with us and see...

Diana's Home

Diana's finished front porch

Diana loves to decorate based upon the season - her favorite seasons are spring and summer. Since her family spends lots of quality time on their porches she embarked on a porch makeover. Let's see what she did...

See How Diana Decorated

Beautifully decorated front porch with beautiful pillows on swing

First the old-timey porch swing: Diana says it's her favorite corner of their porch. She sewed these fun pillows in bold-patterned fabric herself.

Mixing things up - old with new - adds a surprising punch of color to this comfy area of her porch. She found the quaint and functional table at a thrift store.

Example of decorated front porch

Decorating a porch should be fun! Notice how Diana has given her porch a beach theme. She made the sign herself, too.

Her husband found the weathered gray and brown wood in a barn. Same goes for the oars. She purchased the mason jar candle holders (that are hanging below the beach sign) at Pottery Barn.

Details of beautifully decorated front porch

Details of beautifully decorated front porch

Let's take a close-up of how Diana made this clever sign. (How much do you suppose this would cost in a shop?)

She used aqua paint that she already had on hand and stenciled the words on it.

Wicker love seat with numbered docorative pillows

Wicker love seat with numbered docorative pillows

Let's look now at the other side of Diana's front porch. What a cozy getaway space on this wicker sofa and we love these numbered pillows 1-2-3-4. So fun! You guessed it - Diana made these pillows, too. She saw the idea in a Pottery Barn catalog.

She made a stencil from freezer paper by printing the numbers from her computer - and then stenciling onto the pillows. That sounds pretty easy to do. I can imagine all the fun comments she receives about these pillows - besides that, they look as soft as sinking into a cloud.

Decorating a Porch: Diana's Side Porch

How many of us are lucky enough to have a side porch? I want to live at Diana's house.

Diana said she has always appreciated the idea of outdoor porch curtains for some extra whimsy on her porch.

Being the resourceful person that she is, she made these from painters canvas drop cloths that she purchased at Lowe's. She sewed two panels with rod pockets. She used jute rope to hang them from her porch - and as tie backs also.

We love how these turned out. I wonder if Diana is thinking of adding porch curtains to her front porch, too.

Porch decorating ideas

Diana wanted to change the look of the porch floor on her side porch - but it did take some effort and time.

She scraped the floor and gave it a good sanding to remove the old paint. She came up with the idea of alternating stripes.
Using a base color of white, she painted the entire floor with porch paint.
After that was dry, she used a Benjamin Moore paint (color is Manchester Tan) to paint alternating planks (three at a time).
Then to keep it all looking great, she put down a coat of polyurethane (the no-yellow floor kind).

Her porch floor looks so fresh and updated. You could also do a checkered pattern - even polka dots - to jazz up your porch floor. Decorating a porch extends even to the floor boards.

Before picture of glider

Did you notice the black glider on Diana's side porch - the one with the cute bold pillows? That was another find of her hubby's. But it came home rusty and Diana fixed all that.

Spray paint used to transform rusty glider in to an adorable piece of outdoor furniture

Spray paint used to transform rusty glider in to an adorable piece of outdoor furniture

It took some brute sanding with steel wool and a can of this. My oh my, that worked wonders.

Full-shot of side porch with glider

Diana's porch is proof that you don't have to spend a lot of money when decorating a porch. A little effort and creativity with some flea market or thrift store finds - and you can make yourself a little slice of heaven on your porch.

Meet Diana of
"Our Vintage Home Love"

Diana is the mom of 4 children and she loves creating an inviting home on a small budget. Diana is the author of Our Vintage Home Love.

You will enjoy the insider tips and how-to's that she shares with you for decorating on a budget.

Please share your decorating ideas with us. We'd love to hear from you and share your ideas on our site.

Our big heartfelt thanks to Diana for sharing her story with us.

Did you like Diana's "Decorating a Porch" story? Also check out Tricia's porch addition story.

Mary and Dave, Founders of Front Porch Ideas and More

Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches. You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.

Our Sponsors

Shop for Porch Parts at Vintage Woodworks.

Use the PCA Visualizer to design your screen door

End Sponsors

Helpful Links

Enjoy shopping Amazon (affiliate link)

Navigation Aids

Home | Top of Page

Site Search | Site Map

Contact Us

Policies

Disclosure Policy | Privacy Policy

Legal Info

Please Join Us Here Also

Get in touch with pre-screened local professionals for work you need done

Find a Trusted Local Pro

Copyright© 2008-2024
Front-Porch-Ideas-and-More.com All rights reserved.
No content or photos may be reused or reproduced in any way without our express written permission.

At no extra cost to you, we earn a commission by referring you to some products on merchant sites. See our disclosure policy.
We, Front Porch Ideas and More, confirm, as stated on our privacy policy, that we do not sell personal information.

All content here is solely for presenting ideas. We recommend consulting with a licensed, experienced contractor before you begin your project.
We make no guarantees of accuracy or completeness of information on our site or any links to other websites contained here.

Thank you for taking your time to stop by. See what's popular and new here.

Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches. You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.

--- Our Sponsors ---

--- End Sponsors ---

Our Newsletter, Front Porch Appeal

Learn more!

Thank you for being here!

At no extra cost to you, we earn a commission by referring you to some products on merchant sites. See our disclosure policy.
We, Front Porch Ideas and More, confirm, as stated on our privacy policy, that we do not sell personal information.

All content here is solely for presenting ideas. We recommend consulting with a licensed, experienced contractor before you begin your project.
We make no guarantees of accuracy or completeness of information on our site or any links to other websites contained here.

Front Porch Home | Return to Top
Contact Us | About Us | Advertise with Us | Search | Site Map
Media | Privacy Policy | Disclosure | Legal Notice | What's New

By Mary and Dave Morris, Copyright © 2008-2024 Front-Porch-Ideas-and-More.com. All rights reserved.
No content or photos may be reproduced or copied in any way without our express written permission.