Looking for ways to update the curb appeal of your home? Here is a stunning before & after of our welcoming front porch makeover & 7 easy outdoor decor tips.
Hey friend!
Oh do I have a fun never before seen Before and After to share with you today!!
If you have been around here for a bit, then you already know I love to decorate our front porch!
I love to decorate it for Fall.
I love to decorate it for Christmas.
And, I love to decorate it for Spring and Summer!
You can click HERE for last year’s Spring front porch.
But what you didn’t know?
Is that once upon a time, lost in the land of time when I was busy birthing 3 tiny blue eyed, blonde baby girls, back to back…
Our front porch was lost in the land of overgrown landscaping and a sad sidewalk.
Yes, once upon a time, our front porch looked like this.
I know.
It’s shocking.
But remember, this blog is a safe space to be vulnerable! 🙂
Thankfully, your girl here has grown up along with those three little blonde babies who learned to walk inside the walls of this home.
And this front porch has grown up too!
Today, on the blog I am sharing with you never before seen pictures of our front porch makeover process and how we went from this builder grade porch step and sidewalk to a beautiful stamped concrete front porch patio.
And?
My 7 Best Tips for creating a welcoming front porch.
Spoiler alert – they are super easy to duplicate and work for small porch decorating ideas too!
Sound like fun?
I can’t wait to share more of the best before and after pictures of our front porch and these 7 easy tips on how to decorate a beautiful front porch to welcome your guests all year round!
Follow me friend!
7 Ways How To Create A Welcoming Front Porch
Before we dive into the 7 ways to decorate a welcoming front porch…how about a quick recap on where we started and where we are today with some of the best before and after’s.
Here is our front porch again, before we decided to rip out the original step and sidewalk.
And here she is today, all decorated for Spring!
Here’s another Before & After.
Notice anything different besides the larger front porch patio?
Yep, you might recall this post, when I decided to paint our front door and all of the tim molding around it…black!
Talk about a game-changer, take a look at this before and after comparison!
Before, I decided to paint the front door and trim black, we decided to improve our front steps by doing two things:
- Removed all of the overgrown landscaping that was blocking our house.
- Installed a stamped concrete patio that extended farther and wider.
Front Porch Stamped Concrete Patio Makeover
By removing the overgrown landscaping and investing in a new front porch patio with a larger footprint, it allowed us to go…
From this…
Deciding to remove the front step and sidewalk as well as the decision to tear down our backyard deck,
(Click HERE for the deck to patio post transformation)
Were the BEST home improvement decisions we have made!
Now, let’s jump into my 7 best tips for decorating a welcoming aesthetic around your front door!
7 Ways To Create A Welcoming Front Door Aesthetic
1. Hang A Seasonal Wreath On Your Front Door.
Hello captain obvious.
Have you ever fallen into the habit of wearing the same pair of earrings or the same necklace every single day?
I get it.
Me too.
I have a pair of studs that are my go-to and if I am not careful, I just continue on repeat every day.
But changing out my earrings, gives me the that simple refresh and energy I need sometimes.
Like jewelry is furniture to your face…your wreath is like furniture to your front door.
It needs a change every once in awhile.
So, take the cue from the season’s change and let your front door speak the seasonal language by displaying a fresh seasonal wreath to welcome your guests!
I picked up my new wreath from Target, you can find it HERE.
You can also find more Spring wreath options HERE in this post with more Spring porch decor.
2. Layer Two Outdoor Rugs To Create That Extra Styled Touch
The bottom beach striped mat is from Target (sold out) and is approximately 4 ft x 2 1/2 ft.
The “do good be good” top mat, is from last year and is 30″ across.
HERE is a woven outdoor rug that is similar to my bottom mat and would be a perfect option for a base layer to your front door mat.
Here is a classic and beautiful Welcome mat to layer on top from Target.
When we use a larger outdoor rug under a traditional front door welcome mat, it grounds the outdoor entrance and makes the porch space feel larger.
When we opt to only utilize the smaller, top mat, we tend to dumb down the porch’s opportunity to make a statement and stretch the space we have.
Whenever possible, always add a larger rug to stretch your space.
It just makes it more welcoming…to everyone.
Case in point below. 🙂
3. Update Outdoor Light Fixtures If Needed
You might remember,this post of What I’m Loving Right Now, when I shared these new outdoor light fixtures.
We installed these new black outdoor wall lights, last Fall and can I just tell you how much they instantly updated and improved the overall curb appeal of our home?
A little more sleek and a little more modern goes a long way when it comes to outdoor lighting.
Plus, we love the glow from these soft white light bulbs, that you can really appreciate with the all glass surround of the fixture.
Getting the right color and amount of light is really critical to the overall welcoming aesthetic you offer to your guests as they approach your home.
It took us a few try’s with light bulbs.
Have you ever found yourself staring at the wall of light bulb options at Home Depot in total overwhelm?
No, just me?
Well if selecting the right outdoor lighting has you stumped, let me save you an hour or more of time
Usethese light bulbs, they are perfect.
4. Add Seating Or A Stool If Space Is Sparse.
I get it.
Not every front door step has space for a seat.
When we lived in our townhome, before we had our girls, we didn’t have any space for an actual outdoor chair or space to sit.
Instead, I placed a small stool, with an outdoor pillow on a step.
Just a little nod to soften the step and make the first step inside a little more inviting.
Right after, we had our front steps replaced with this stamped concrete patio, I ordered two of these outdoor rocking chairs from Grandin Road.
They held up nicely for approximately 4 years.
And then, they needed to be painted and eventually replaced after a few paint jobs, after weathering the outdoor Maryland elements, all year round, and not being under a covered porch.
This past Fall, we ordered these composite Adirondack chairs from Amazon to replace our outdoor seating and we LOVE THEM!
I can already tell that these Adirondack chairs are going to hold up much better over time and we love the lower seating they offer.
They are also available in multiple colors.
5. Add Outdoor Throw Pillows & Outdoor Throw Blankets
Here are the tan striped outdoor pillows I just bought from Target, also available in black stripe as well.
These outdoor striped pillows would go perfectly with this outdoor rug, I mentioned above.
But don’t sleep on either of these items, because outdoor decor is flying off the shelves and going out of stock at super speeds!
A few years ago, I also bought an outdoor throw, shown below hanging off the arm of the Adirondack chair.
Having an outdoor throw within arm’s reach, comes in very handy on chilly nights when we are sitting here, watching the girls playing catch with their lacrosse sticks.
Linking a similar reversible outdoor throw from Target HERE.
6. Add Ferns and Flowers
While a lot has changed over the years with our front porch, one thing has remained the same.
Can you spot that sweet fern in the corner of our old front porch?
Yes, I still love feathering our nest with ferns.
Do you know that line from “You’ve got mail,” when Tom Hanks brings Meg Ryan a bouquet of daisy’s when she is sick, just after he put her little bookstore out of business and she looks up to see the bouquet and says:
“I love daisy’s.“
“Don’t you think that daisy’s are the most friendliest flower?”
Well, I think ferns are the most friendliest plants without flowers.
Yes, I think every front porch needs a fern…simply because, in the words of Meg Ryan, they are the most friendliest front porch plant. 🙂
On our front porch, I am using these tall tapered square planters from Target in the 28″ size to hold our ferns.
Pro Tip: I place an empty plastic flower grow pot and turn it upside down and place it at the very bottom of the tapered tall planter.
Then, I use an empty water jug or juice container and lay it flat on top of the upside down planter and that helps to keep the fern boosted and sitting tall at the top of the planter.
After I place my ferns in the tall planters on either side of our front door, then I like to use a pair of smaller planters for flowers and stagger them slightly in front of the tall tapered planters.
I bought my black tripod planters at T.J. Maxx last year.
However, here is a similar tripod planter option.
This year, I opted to use white geraniums for my flower power.
I love the how the white flowers pop against the black planters.
Pro Tip: Buy hanging baskets that are already assembled with both flowers and a green vine spilling out. Then, remove the hanger portion of the basket and pop the hanging basket into your flower pot for easy front porch decorating!
I also use these outdoor pedestal flower urns and place them on either side of our garage door with flowers.
7. Add A Personal Touch – Unique TO YOU Decor.
Several years ago, we ordered this personalized outdoor metal sign with our last name on it and we just love the way it looks against the brick and adds that personal touch our front porch!
You can see similar outdoor personalized signs HERE and HERE.
BONUS TIP: Add A Flower Window Box
GREAT Mother’s Day GIFT IDEA
Another little touch that we added several years ago, that I love is this flower box.
Shawn and the girls gifted me with this window box for Mother’s Day one year and it is still one of my favorite gifts and one that keeps on giving!
Every time I add flowers to this window box, I ram reminded of sweet memories of that Mother’s Day.
This window box is also available in white and is AMAZING to me how it continues to look brand new, even 7 years later!
O.K. Friend!
That’s a front porch wrap!
I hope that this post helped to inspire you with ways to decorate the front of your house, along with ideas on how to improve curb appeal overall and most importantly, how to decorate with a welcoming front porch aesthetic!
Can you even believe still that we went from this –
To this –
Me either! 🙂
Happy front porch decorating friend!
Living on a prayer,
Heather
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This is beautiful! I have a similar porch as yours but my biggest problem is protecting all the decor from rains. I am using mostly faux plants and planters and it’s a pain to put them away during rains.! Also, I don’t have enough space for chairs – can you share a picture of the “stool idea” ? I am unable to envision what that would look like. Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading! I am glad to hear you found this front porch post to be helpful! Sometimes a small 3 legged stool with an outdoor pillow propped on it is a nice welcoming touch. I can’t share a picture here of what I mean. However, these types of stools are often found in stores like HomeSense during the Spring time. I understand the frustration with rain and not having a covered porch to protect your outdoor decor! It can be challenging! Thanks for being here! XO
I never knew that you could use bricks to bolster the appearance of your outdoor space and make it look presentable. My friend wants to create a welcoming porch that can complement his new garden. I should talk to him about finding a masonry expert who can install and maintain these bricks in the future.
Heather, WOW! What a difference~it is just gorgeous now. In the first few photos I was admiring your steps and particularly the edging. And then to see the before pictures…..! Such an amazing statement to a welcoming house. Well Done!
Thank you so much Mary!! I appreciate your kind words! Especially coming from YOU! XO