Porches

No, unfortunately we are not talking about Porsches. Although this one would look smashing in my driveway.

 

Porches

Yes, Porches. The front and sometimes back areas of homes just outside the door. It's what sits between the doorway and the yard, and they come in all shapes, sizes and styles. In this post I wanted to showcase some spectacular porches which would be something to aspire to once you buy your property, or if you own already.  Secondly, I want to show porches with potential, so that when you are looking at properties you can picture all the wonderful things that can be done to front and back porch areas. I will also include staging ideas, of course, since that is the point of all this. ;)

Front Porches

Large front porches are more commonly found with older, southern style houses. Wrap around porches are truly a valuable commodity if you can find them. Here are some photos of some nicely outfitted front porches:

This porch is plain concrete and not very big, but the owners have made the most of it by adding lantern lighting and gorgeous planters on either side of that beautiful wood door. This is what I call making the most of what you've got. Picture this without the lighting, planters and with an ugly white metal door. Terrible, but that may be how they found it, and look what a difference a little style can make! 

Next up is a larger, covered porch where the residents probably do a lot of sitting and visiting. I know I would if my front porch was this lovely! Notice the homey feel that those two indoor/outdoor rugs give the space. Really I think the rugs are the key to what makes this porch fabulous; otherwise it's just a couple of black metal chairs, really. See what a decorator's touch can do? Hmm? I think you do.

Tip: Great resources for indoor/outdoor rugs are Target.com, Home Depot, Lowe's and BallardDesigns.com just to name a few. The rugs' popularity is growing, and you can see why. Gone are the days of ugly mats outside. Now you can have a Persian rug outdoors if you like!


Now here is a LOVELY space that is stunning, but in reality very very simple. Besides the covered front porch, there are only two elements, the swing and a planter, yet it is breathtaking! Who would not want to curl up on that swing with some tea and a good book and just sit for hours?

Now this is one is almost too perfect, but it was on Pinterest so it has to be real, right? This porch was obviously made for entertaining. Who wouldn't want to have a party out here? I can't see the rest of the house but I can almost guarantee it is a stately Southern mansion. I just love the dark finish on the wooden slats of the porch base. This has obviously been very well taken care of. It would be beautiful even without all that furniture on it; just that floor and those planters are enough.

Back Porches and Pergolas

Back porches are typically not as stately as the front porch, because fewer people see it. But making the most of your back porch really adds to the character and welcoming factor of your back yard space. Here is one I just love, and in fact plan on doing something very similar to this to my own house, just without the fire pit. We don't need anything any more flammable than the grill that close to the house:

Here is a creative way to make the most out of a small, otherwise unused space on a back porch:

I can see my daughter, Alex planted right there with a book or her computer for hours!

Porch Floors

I don't know if "porch floors" sounds right, but you all know what I mean, right? The deck part. Or concrete. Or exposed aggregate. Whatever your feet are touching when you walk out there!

Painted Wood

Here someone got super creative and painted their own rug right onto the planks of their porch and I LOVE IT! I have a feeling this will only look better with age, too which is always a good quality to have in a decorative element:

Concrete

There are many ways to treat concrete, from simply painting it with exterior paint to really getting artistic with it.  Here are a few examples of each:

I love this one! And so easy to do. You mark off the design with painter's tape and do one color at a time. So charming!

Here is the same design on a larger scale: {LOVE THIS}

Here is a very simple but pretty painted border on a concrete porch:

The thing about concrete is that it's everywhere, and usually ugly. But that means it has *Potential!* And with the right set of instructions (do your research!) you can do this yourself.



When staging a house, of course you need the home owner's permission and probably funds to do something like this, but if it's something simple and you present it right, it really can add value to the property if done correctly.


Remember, aaaanything is better than this:

Next: Backyard Staging

Making Your Space Your Own: Unless You're Selling

When you own your own home, you can do whatever you like to it. Lime green walls, purple walls, crazy window coverings, messed up carpet. But when you're selling, that all changes. This post is about a highly personalized room in my house, which is lovely, but if I were to sell it, it would have to go back to..well.. plain.  Buyers find personalization too distracting when they view your house. Anyway, on to my favorite room in my own house:

Before

My studio has been many things since we moved into this house in 2001. It started as a home office, with a big cherry desk and cherry finish book shelves. Very traditional (read: BORING). Then I started doing more art and needed the space. Before I could make it into an art studio, I needed shelves, which my husband very handily built for me:

You can kind of see the boring light sage green it was painted before when it was just a home office. Say goodbye to drab!

During

When I was creating art full time and teaching kid's art in the studio, messes didn't matter. I completely ruined the carpeting that was in there, but at the time it was ok. My daughter Alex is also very artistic and as long as she was in the studio, she could make art freely without worrying about making a mess. To an outsider, it may have looked like a mess already!

And I found these benches in a neighbor's trash, which I immediately reupholstered:

As a result of growing up with a free space to create, Alex is now a very talented and insightful artist.

Then the studio took on sort of a gypsy feel, with colored scarves in the windows and tiny white lights sparkling across the ceiling. I loved making art in here, or just to curl up with a good book. (See the new upholstery on the free benches? I got it on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1/yard!)

  Here's what it looked like at night:

So after I started back to school in 2011, I could no longer dedicate myself to art full time. I did, however, need a space to chill, do yoga, read, and do homework. So we redid the room again:

A desk for writing and school work:

Notice: no more carpet! Dark stained bamboo flooring that we did ourselves!
For my birthday I got a big screen Smart TV. One of the free apps is Yoga!

The hubby even installed a surround sound system for my yoga and meditation music. It's not bad for Netflix, either lol!
Sound system: Why do cats always migrate to your electronics?

And my sitting/reading/meditation space:

As I said, this is my favorite room in this house. I want to do bamboo floors in more of the rooms, too. I detest carpeting!

So this room has really gone through a lot of changes in the 13 years we've lived here.

But your space is YOURS and should change and grow with you. Once you buy your own home, you can do whatever you like. Now, if you're selling, of course my advice is to go as neutral as possible!  Potential buyers want to imagine themselves in your house, and they can't do that if you have a lot of personalization going on. But we're not selling any time soon and I think I should enjoy this space while I'm here. Don't you agree?


Next: Saving Money on Landscaping