You know those gorgeous front porches decorated for fall with cascading pumpkins and overflowing flower pots? (Maybe something like this?)
Yeah, if you came over to our house, you wouldn’t see one of those.
What you would see is my half-hearted attempt to bring life to our charming, yet totally dated front porch.
Let me pull back a little bit so you can see the whole thing:
I mean, how adorable is this house?!
I fell in love instantly with the cottage-y dormers and deep porch. The way the house is positioned on the lot means we usually enter through the back of the house, but guests do come to the front and this summer we spent a surprising amount of time sitting out on the porch.
There are some out-of-place details that need to be fixed … like the front door, the ornate (and oddly oversized) trim around the door, the light fixtures and rounded windows. The floor and steps need a new coat of paint and the posts are trimmed out awkwardly.
None of these things deterred us from buying the house, but here I am one year later and I’m itching to give the front of the house a makeover!
Until then, I’m making the most of it with fall flowers from my favorite local market:
Here’s a helpful hack – I bought a pre-made planter and just popped it right into my terra cotta pot.
I pulled out a couple of fall-toned pillows for the porch swing:
And added another pot of trailing greenery and deep red pansies between the rocking chairs.
This year, that’s the best I can do to add a hint of fall to the front porch. Maybe next year I’ll go all out with the pumpkins :)
Your house is adorable! I agree with you and would change out the trim around the door and get rid of the rounded windows 😊. I love the house color – do you happen to know what it is?
We don’t know the color! It is a nice gray that the previous owners had the house painted.
Your house is adorable but I can see that there are updates you might want to do. The arched windows are charming, but I tend to lean towards the squared off Farmhouse/Craftsman look. With the space you have above the windows, transoms would look great though that is not a inexpensive fix. Since all your other windows appear to be square or rectangular, this is probably the direction to go as the arched tops don’t really fit in with the rest of the house style. I agree the door is a tad ornate/Victorian, but I wouldn’t touch the trim, just go with a plainer style door.
I had a question on how your door lights are attached to your siding. They appear to have a wood backing that is notched to fit the profile of the siding? Is this a shallow box with notched sides? My new build has HARDIE BOARD siding (I have always had brick before and it is flat) and this is giving me a problem on mounting lights so they don’t hang “tilted up”. Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated.
The lights on the house and garage side are mounted on blocks of wood and I’ve never really known why! I’m guessing Ryan understands the reason … and it’s very likely that it is to mount them straight on the siding.
what a sweet, inviting house. I agree with you that the flowery Victorian door does not suite your home and I’ve never been in love with an eyebrow molding over an oval window on front doors. I’m a straight line, boxes type of girl too… but don’t feel the Palladian windows are dated at all. I also like the beefy trim around the door as it relates well to the size of the columns but maybe more chunky, less fussy trim although I’d be hard pressed to remove dentil molding from anything! 😉. I love the overall feeling the front facade conveys especially with that white picket fence, just lovely. You are blessed. you’re right on about the lights, they look too twee and I’d probably not do black again since the only other black I spot is on the shuttered windows in the rear wing. Im sure what you do will be outstanding as always…just no need to hurry on this beautiful welcome !
Thank you Pamela! It is a lovely home and we are very happy here :)
Where is the table/plant stand in between the rocking chairs from?
The little garden stool is from World Market a few years ago.
I think your porch is perfect. It looks so lovely. I’m dreaming of our swing chair on the porch one day
What’s wrong with the rounded windows? I can’t imagine “fixing” them… they’re super charming to me.
Nothing is wrong with the rounded windows – we just prefer a cleaner look. And by removing the top rounded window, we can push the bottom window up to help with the scale. Just a personal preference thing :)
I love your front porch! I wouldn’t have thought it needed to be updated so you can wait and get other projects done. I wouldn’t have thought up most of the remodeling projects you have done, bit they do look nice!
I love your porch and the door trim is beautiful. If it were my house I’d give the door a couple coats of gloss, Chanticleer red paint, SW 2912. I’ve painted two of our homes front doors that color. The white trim will look much more fitting with a painted door. Our 1st home was gray siding like yours and our 2nd home was a warm red brown brick both homes had simular trim. Smaller trim would make the door lost on your beautiful big porch.
I actually love your chunky trim, I think the door is wrong. With a different door it would be really wonderful. I love your house, different to the houses we have here in Australia. Love to see all the things you have been doing. I love your dark trim inside the house. Love from Australia xx
Your home is beautiful. Do you have a source for the doormat?
I bought it on amazon: http://amzn.to/2hGnAka
It looks beautiful, as always.
Lovely. Inspired to get my dull front porch spruced! I am not far from you just bought a 1988 smaller but similar in needs of updates!! Since you are the designer, and far more motivated, I will wait and watch what magic you do!! Happy Fall on this rainy day here in the PNW!! Blessings.
Your house is so beautiful! I am actually a fan of the wide door trim. :)
You have a super charming house. I like the chunky trim around the door. Front doors can be pricey, especially wood ones like what you have. Fiberglass is a fine option in my book. Love simple decor on the porch – your home gives out enough stunning curb appeal all by itself.
Looks very comfy and inviting!