By Dave and Mary

Front Porch Appeal - Wishing You a Very Prosperous New Year

Issue #63 January 2015

January has arrived. The latest cold snap affecting a great portion of the country has many yearning for spring.

Others I'm sure, are using the time to start planning their 2015 projects and hopefully, you will include your porch. Mary and I have a long list of projects for the new year, one of which is to re-landscape around our porch.

Whatever your plans, we encourage you to visit our site for building, remodeling, landscaping, and decorating your porch. We've also been interviewing some really interesting experts on a wide variety topics related to porches during our weekly podcasts so be sure to check those out too.


fall on the front porch in evening light
Photo courtesy of Edenseekr
Enjoy some of our winter porch pictures.


In this month's issue, we cover a few topics many people have been searching for lately. Seems that a lot of folks are planning to build or remodel their front porch along with finding smaller homes with porches.

Many are also looking for winter porch decorating ideas and of course, starting to think about Valentine's Day decor as well.

We also give you a short synopsis of our latest podcasts along with ideas for railings and sunrooms!


Small Home Plans with Porches

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you make a purchase through affiliate links on our site, we earn a commission at no cost to you. See our disclosure policy.

We know there's been increased interest in "tiny" houses lately and wanted to show you a few we found - with porches, of course. We are not sure as to what exactly constitutes a tiny house but we thought these smaller homes (under 1000 square feet) would be fun to try out.


small home plan with nice front porch from familyhomeplans.com
Cottage home plan with nice front porch - FamilyHomePlans.com #49824



small home plan with extended front porch from familyhomeplans.com
Small home plan with gabled roof and front porch - FamilyHomePlans.com #40025



wonderful small home plan with front porch from familyhomeplans.com
Quaint small home plan with front porch - FamilyHomePlans.com #92388
Porches are perfect for small homes as you can see. They definitely add a lot of curb appeal and extra outdoor living space as well. Click on the picture(s) above to learn more about small home plans with porches.


Winter White Porch Decorating Ideas

Snapshot of our Winter White Porch Decorating board on Pinterest - please follow us

Have you seen our Winter White pinterest board? We've gathered ideas to help you decorate your porch for wintry months.

Take a look and please follow our Pinterest boards. We would love to have you join us.

We have over 70 ideas on our Winter board to inspire you.


Posh Porch Railings

One easy way to remodel your existing porch and add more curb appeal is to install new porch railings (or replace old balusters). Choose railings that reflect your home's architecture or your own personality.


sawn porch railings with ornate design
Delicate sawn porch railing design
Porch railing material options include wood, glass, steel cable, wrought iron, lattice panels, and more. Your styles are almost unlimited - you can even create your own design.


collage of porch railing designs
Porch railing options
Discover the world of porch railings where we show you so many options.


Where to Get Porch Railings

Two of our fine sponsors carry wonderful porch railings. We encourage you to visit them:

Vintage Woodworks logo Porch Company logo


Interviews with Porch Experts

Porch Ideas Network podcast logo We bring experts to you each week through our Porch Ideas Network who share their love of porches and their expertise in such areas as building, designing, planning and decorating porches. Each show lasts approximately 20 - 30 minutes.

Tips for Staining Concrete

Porch Ideas Network podcast Our guest David Goddard gives you professional tips for staining concrete. His suggestions and experience will help you decide if staining is a good idea for your porch or driveway.

Listen here:


New Ideas for Painting Your Front Door

Porch Ideas Network podcast Our guest, Jim Rogers of Modern Masters, tells about the revolutionary Front Door Paint that his company developed.

Listen here:


Expand Your Small Porch This Year

Porch Ideas Network podcast Is this the year to make your small porch larger? The two of us give you ideas for expanding your small porch. You might be surprised at what you can do.

Listen here:


We'd really appreciate your assistance in launching our audio program. In order to give it more visibility on the internet, please subscribe to our audios (use buttons below) and if you enjoyed it, please give us a favorable rating.

That will help others to find our future audio segments.


In addition to our audio casts, we also feature selected porch builders and landscapers - must see if you want more ideas from experts in their fields.



Valentine Decorating Ideas

Valentine's Day is not too far off so we thought we'd share a few porch decorating ideas with you from our readers. Red is obviously the color and a splash here or there can create a festive looking porch.

And if your porch is surrounded by snow, a little red can really make a statement whether it's a red wreath or perhaps red pillow toppers.


front porch decorated for Valentine's Day
Valentine's decoration ideas and photo courtesy of Garden Artist
front porch decorated for Valentine's Day
Valentine porch courtesy of Karen L.
Check out all of our Valentine porch decorating ideas.


Porch Building Technique

Before building a porch or deck this year, be sure to check with your local building codes department to determine the specific requirement for installing ledger boards. Ledger boards are usually attached to your house's framing and carry a lot of the weight of your structure.

Many porch and deck failures are caused by inadequate ledger board installations.

Many building codes now require the ledger board to be supported by posts (set on piers) in addition to being attached directly to your home. We have also heard (but not confirmed) that some codes require the deck or porch be supported as a stand-alone structure.

Your local building codes department will dictate the method you need to use.


porch ledger board supported by post
Porch ledger board supported by additional post



Sunroom Window Idea

If planning to build a sunroom, a screen porch, or even a three-season room this year, consider using these versatile windows. They afford you the opportunity to close them easily to prevent pollen, wind, cold, or rain from interrupting your outdoor time or opening them almost all the way to capture the summer breeze.

We've seen them installed and not only do they function really well, but also look fantastic too. Check out these innovative windows and let the outside in.


sceen porch windows by EzePorch.com

And, if you are updating your screen porch, why not consider a high-quality custom made aluminum screen door. You can even select or create a style and pattern that best fits your architecture or personality.


PCA Products aluminum screen door collage
Aluminum screen doors by PCA Products



We value our sponsors and the products and services they provide. They are like family to us!






You're invited to be part of our Facebook community. We share ideas with one another for decorating and using our porches. We are blessed with over 17,000 followers and would love to count you among them.


Mary and Dave Please enjoy browsing past issues of our newsletters right here. Take a few moments of chill time.

Happy porch sitting from your friends,

Mary and Dave


Life is short. Enjoy your porch.



As an Amazon Associate and Amazon Influencer, we earn from qualifying purchases. We also earn commissions from other companies where are are participants of their referral programs. Here is our full disclosure about affiliate marketing.








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.

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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.


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At no extra cost to you, we earn a commission by referring you to some products on merchant sites. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Influencer, we earn from qualifying purchases. 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.


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