Decorating my front porch

Outdoor oasis, here we come.

By Hadley Mendelsohn

Feb 24, 2022

Joe Schmelzer

Remember Allie Hamilton's wrap-around porch in The Notebook? We've had a thing for porches ever since we saw it, and while we may not have our very own Noah to build us one from scratch, we do have a few more ideas to share with you. In fact, these designer and landscaper–approved back and front porches would elevate an outdoor oasis even more than Nicholas Spark's imaginary one did. Comfortable, stylish swings? Check. Mood lighting? Check. Ability to stand up to Mother Nature? Check. Now just add a good book and refreshing cocktail, and you've got a getaway that's just a step outside your front door. Get inspired by the 45 picturesque porches below.

Read McKendree

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Frame Windows and Screens with Paint

Bella Mancini enlivened this screen door and its wood frame with Santa Clara by Benjamin Moore. The color feels right at home with cedar shake and hydrangeas but has a note of distinct cheerfulness.

Victoria Pearson

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Build a Secure Closet for Packages

Between all the online orders and foot traffic, a secure spot for deliveries and accessories (like umbrellas) is more essential than ever. A delivery closet on the porch of our Whole Home Concept House 2018 even had a garment rack for dry cleaning.

James McDonald

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...or Just Stash Them In a Dresser

An antique dresser on a porch is the perfect place to have delivery drivers stash packages. Nicola Harding treated this one like it's in a grand foyer, embellishing it with plants, artwork, and lighting.

Karyn Millet

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Create Cover With a Small Awning

Mix-and-match tiles aren't just for your interiors—they add instant intrigue to a front porch. Here, Sharon Lee alternated patterns on the step risers for an unexpected dose of personality. A custom awning in Sunbrella fabric provides a hint of shade.

Paul Costello

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Consider a Breezeway

From the outside, this green breezeway—which doubles as a flower-arranging room and was designed by Rebecca Vizard—makes a strong first impression, and the garden flowers pop against the gravel and tile path leading to the front door. To pull this off in your own home, keep it ground level and opt for a partially covered walk-through space instead of an elevated porch.

Paul Raeside

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Make It Cheerful

Potted sunflowers and plaid throw pillows on the garden bench align nicely with the quaint feel of the stone exterior home by Shazalynn Winfrey.

Phoebe Howard

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Disguise Tech Features

The rounded door is framed by bougainvillea, giving the front porch entrance to this home by Phoebe Howard. secret garden vibe. Colorful blooms also distract the eye from the high-tech keypad over the door handle.

Tamsin Johnson Interiors

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Build In Your Garden

A built-in garden bed is bursting with succulents, the ideal match for a modern home exterior. They're just tall enough to enhance privacy without totally blocking the view from the living room designed by Tamsin Johnson.

Emily Followill

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Tease a Color

This shade of blue paint was used throughout the home designed by Meredith McBrearty, so the front porch sets the tone for what lies ahead (and cools of the brick and warm tones in the entryway!).

Joe Schmelzer

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Hook Up a Water Feature

Designed by Cuff Home, this porch has major curb appeal. From the black shutters to the turquoise front door, and manicured hedges. But what really sets it apart is the fountain, since water features always create unbeatable zen energy.

William Abranowicz

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Go Porchless

This modern stunner designed by Kathleen McCormick speaks for itself. The concrete steps, blue door, and steel and glass facade need no introduction.

THOMAS LOOF

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Scatter Seating Areas

Setting up multiple sitting areas will help you accommodate more people while also ensuring you get more use out of the space. To spruce things up, consider painting the columns, ceiling, and balustrades a fun color. Designer Amanda Reynal chose a mossy green hue for this nature-inspired porch.

Romanek Design Studio

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Optimize It With Lighting

If you want to be able to safely enjoy your backyard once the sun goes down, make sure you've optimized it with integrated lighting in the steps and sconces on the exterior of the home, as Romanek Design Studio did here. It'll also just make your life easier when coming and going.

Abney Morton

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Set Up an Herb Garden

Step up your style and cooking game by arranging a mini nursery or herb garden on the porch. Here, Abney Morton Interiors propped some pots of herbs up on a console table by the hanging swing.

Stephen Karlisch

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Keep It Simple

This Texas home designed by Jean Liu strikes the balance between natural beauty and practicality, perfect for its urban environment. The key: Pavers that complement the home's exterior material with a few trees and planting beds. Then, there's a slim overhang for extra lighting creating a more decorative impression over the front porch.

Trevor Tondro

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Truck It Away

Madeline Stuart gives this SoCal home by architects Wallace Neff and John Byers a sense of place with agave plants flanking the entrance and blooming bougainvillea spilling over the wall. Though the front porch isn't visible from the street entrance, it still has plenty of curb appeal.

Eliza Carter

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Secure It With a Gate

Create the illusion of extra privacy (and an extra safety barrier for toddlers and pets) in a city home with an iron-wrought gate. They're a natural fit for Victorians and brownstones, like Eliza Carter's NYC home featured here.

Max Kim-Bee

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Screen It In

There are so many cozy window seats in this 1890s carriage house that it's hard for interior designer Lisa Tharp to keep track, and the screened porch is no exception. Overlooking the green New England countryside, it's a beautiful setting for a screened porch. Wherever your porch is, adding screens will keep the bugs out while still letting the breeze in so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

JESSIE PREZA

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Spotlight a Motif

Flank the stairs to your front porch with stone sculptures shaped like a motif that speaks to your family or locality. On his Jacksonville, Florida, front porch, designer Fitz Pullins chose these fun pineapple-shaped sculptures in a corresponding stone material so they both pop and blend in.

Romanek Design Studio

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Treat It Like a Mudroom

Secure some hooks and slide in a bench or a pair of chairs to let your beach and pool gear dry instead of dripping throughout the house. Think of it as an outdoor mudroom. Romanek Design Studio opted for casual, minimalist furniture and decor for an understated, stylish impression in this Malibu home.

VICTORIA PEARSON

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Add a Fireplace

If your porch is large enough, add a fireplace and television so it can function as an outdoor family or living room. Take a cue from this leafy open-air porch designed by Sherry Hart and Jennifer Jones Condon and built by Ladisic Fine Homes.

Peti Lau

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Install Cameras

Install extra security, like a camera, but be sure to camouflage it into the surrounding environment. In this modern home by Peti Lau, the polished concrete flooring and wooden materials blend in with the surroundings and feel connected to the natural landscape, so you hardly even notice the little camera in the corner.

THOMAS LOOF

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Go Island-Inspired

When Clos-ette founder Melanie Fowler hired friend (and House Beautiful Next Wave designer) Caroline Rafferty to make over her Palm Beach house, she brought one major piece of inspo: The famously chic Lyford Cay Club in the Bahamas, which Rafferty wove in through the house's pale-pink exterior and treillage-inspired woodwork. The lush surroundings were executed by landscape designer Fernando Wong.

JESSIE PREZA

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Hang a Bird Feeder

Pavers lead to this elevated front porch on a property designed by Krystal Matthews. While the understated planters and sweet-swinging bench certainly help set the mood, the details framing the area help, too, like the bird feeder hanging from a tree.

AP Design House

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Weather-Proof It

Enjoy your outdoor space rain or shine with details that can stand up to the elements. AP Design House weatherproofed this porch by adding timeless and design-forward Bermuda shutters and galvanized steel corrugated panels overhead.

Jane Beiles

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Add Shutters

Another way to weather-proof? Add the appropriate shutters. Here, Charlotte Barnes opted for classic shutters with slat-like louvers on the windows as well as Bahama shutters that attach from the top of the opening between the columns and open like an awning. They'll protect your porch from heavy tropical wind and rain while the hardware and paint color can add some aesthetic perks.

PHOTO: Tom Ferguson; DESIGN: Arent & Pyke

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Lay Graphic Floor Tiles

A graphic floor tile will personalize your front porch just enough. Take a cue from this design by Arent & Pyke, where a planter introduces greenery and an outdoor chair adds a dash of color. Clean, simple, and classic.

Joshua McHugh

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Keep It Open

If your front porch features a little alcove like this one designed by Raji RM, maintain the open airflow with a cutout or two that mimic the rest of the home's windows. Then add a bench to make it easier to get everything sorted as you come and go.

THOMAS LOOF

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Let Nature Take Center Stage

Looking out at the sea ahead and draped in a canopy of tropical plants, this porch features minimal decor, allowing us to focus on the natural environment. Instead of a sitting area, there's a casual dining nook for al fresco meals.

PHOTO: Scott Hargis DESIGN: Regan Baker Design

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Make It Cozy

This back porch by Regan Baker Design is a perfect private spot to unwind in. To make it conducive to entertaining, bring in large outdoor floor cushions for additional floor seating.

11 Stylish Outdoor Dining Chairs

Hadley Mendelsohn Senior Editor Hadley Mendelsohn is House Beautiful's senior design editor and the co-host and executive producer of the podcast Dark House.

dacha in the suburbs — INMYROOM

House and dacha

The designer created a budget version of the veranda, using an easy-to-build structure, wood as the main material and economical polycarbonate for the roof

Placing a multifunctional space on a few square meters of a summer cottage is easy! Designer Irina Ivanova turned a water source into a source of inspiration: around a real well, she arranged a summer recreation area - a cozy garden gazebo with a wood-burning grill appeared on the lawn near the house. Irina herself told more about the features of the project.

Irina Ivanova is an architect-designer with nine years of experience. She graduated from the art school in lacquer miniature and icon painting and the art and graphic faculty of the Leningrad State Pedagogical University. She studied design during an internship in Italy, where she took craftsmanship lessons from famous designers. Irina boldly takes on a project of any complexity and always offers a lot of non-standard bright ideas and solutions.

Customers and wishes

The landlady is a young woman Alice with an interesting hobby - painting on wood. Five years ago, she surprised everyone when she changed her office job for this school hobby. Now both the dacha and the city apartment are filled with painted nesting dolls of all kinds and colors. At some point, indoor spaces were not enough: Alice needed a place where she could work comfortably and welcome guests in the summer.

Construction work

The work began with the foundation: according to the marking, the screw piles were driven to a depth below the freezing level, they were cut to the level, poured with concrete and the heads were welded. Then they assembled the lower harness from the timber, installed vertical supports, the upper harness and the rafters of the pitched roof. Additional rigidity to the rafters was given by jibs. We sheathed the back wall of the building with cement particle boards. They also closed the ring of the well.

The base of the summer kitchen is made of foam blocks. The plinth, sheathed with cement particle boards, was covered with concrete contact for better adhesion. A metal mesh is reinforced on the vertical wall of the veranda for added strength.

Finishing

For the roof, we chose light-transmitting polycarbonate with a louvre effect – its inner ribs are located at a slight angle, which means that they transmit light better than plastic and protect from sunlight.

The top of the veranda and the brick wall of the house are decorated with wooden bars. Their thin lamellae are neatly intertwined and form even cells. So that a blank wall without a window does not look boring, it was decorated with artificial stone.

On the vertical surfaces around the well and the countertop of the summer kitchen there is a copper-coloured glass mosaic. It is successfully set off by a terrace board on the floor with the effect of "oil-stop" - it does not leave stains from grease or oil, which is especially important for the floor on which the barbecue or grill will stand.

Light

We did not strive for a complex lighting solution - the main source of light in the gazebo is the fire from the barbecue. Nevertheless, sconces with plafonds, like those of old street lamps, harmoniously fit into the interior of the veranda. Together with wooden bars, they added an old-fashioned mood to the gazebo.

Color

The main colors are noble gray and cinnamon. In my opinion, they are conducive to rest and relaxation. They stand out from the general color scheme, but the curtains of a delicate lilac color do not contradict it.

Rich ocher and sepia are used everywhere in textiles: bright printed cushions help to correctly place accents and emphasize the natural shades of finishing materials.

Furniture

For the summer kitchen, we provided a multifunctional wood-burning grill with a dome hood. You can cook any dishes on it - on the vertical racks there are swivel stands for frying pans and skewers, which are easily adjustable in height. For cooking soup or pilaf, a special grate for a cauldron is installed.

The well itself did not stand aside either: a wooden tabletop with mirror inserts was installed on it. According to my plan, the tabletop can be lifted with a winch.

Comfortable benches are located around a large wooden table - their base is cast from aluminum, and the seats are made of wood. Comfortable hammocks on metal stands were placed on the lawn in front of the gazebo entrance. They are strong, but at the same time lightweight, so they are easy to move from place to place.

Decor and textiles

Almost all of the veranda furniture is decorated: kitchen cabinets adorn the doors according to my sketches; the drawing on the aluminum parts of the benches is a replica of engravings that were made back in the 19th century. For softness, decorative pillows were placed on the benches.

The entrance to the veranda is draped with elegant double-sided curtains of rich lilac color - their design was created in the last century. Wicker fruit baskets are randomly placed on the floor. The table was also not left without attention - it is served with elegant French crockery and glasses made of colored glass.

Brands represented in the project

Foundation: Fundex screw piles
Roof: louvered polycarbonate Yug-Oil-Plast
Flooring: Fashion Terrasa decking board
Finish: Manders English paint, Camrock artificial stone, Danish Garden wood grilles, Convention Center glass mosaic
Furniture: Eurogrill Forester hammocks, Hobby benches
Decor: Uyuterra dishes, Cote Table serving dishes, 2K basket, Luminarc glassware, Home Melody decorative pillows
Textiles: Trekhgornaya Manufactory
Lighting: MW-Light lamps

More about the project , read on the website of the Fazenda program.

Would you like your project to be published on InMyRoom? Send photos / 3D visualizations to [email protected].

Summer Veranda Decoration | Interior Styling

Open buildings are more suitable for the warm season - they are intended more for outdoor recreation than for living. It’s great if a house located close to the forest has such a veranda - it breathes just great there.

Interior style can be oriented to the location of the veranda relative to the sides of the horizon. The northern or eastern direction is associated with a limited supply of sunlight. The room is recommended to be decorated in the British colonial style. Characteristic features of the direction:

• Wicker rattan furniture.
• The presence of a rocking chair in the interior.
• If possible, the room can be decorated with a fireplace.
• Free space is decorated with shelves, panels and indoor plants.

Excess sunlight on a veranda facing east or south is best suited for rustic interior design. It could be American country, French Provence or traditional Russian design. preference in decoration is given to natural materials, this applies not only to cladding, but and furniture, and textile decor. Accent areas in the interior of the veranda can become small elements that most clearly characterize a particular style:

• clay pots;
• spindle;
• colorful rugs;
• colored curtains.

Solutions like to decorate the rustic interior in an original way, innumerable.

Rarely when decorating a veranda, they turn to outrageous loft, laconic hi-tech or simple minimalism. You want to feel closeness to nature in every detail of the interior, therefore it is better to decorate the space using natural materials, without the obvious presence of modern technologies.

Railing

Timber on many tests are carried out daily in the fresh air. Because it's worth it carefully approach the choice of variety. Pine is affordable and oak more reliable, but more expensive. The decorative grille can be positioned vertically, horizontally or crosswise. The distance between sections can be any, as well as the shape of the product.

Gender

Clear wood is an option. But due to regular exposure to moisture and sunlight, the coating will quickly become unusable. It is possible to avoid such annually covering the tree with special paint. Suitable for floor tiles or linoleum. They are easier to care for and do not require regular painting.

Furniture

Depends on veranda type. The closed view can be arranged like a regular home room. The open type involves the use of the veranda only in good weather. Because wisely place folding products. If weather conditions change drastically, be able to quickly assemble structures. Choose models from artificial rattan. Differ in attractive appearance, do not deteriorate from strong wind, exposure to moisture or sun. Can put a sofa, several hanging armchairs.

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