My front porch needs a makeover! It look like it belongs to an abandoned farm house. Full of junk and rough furniture. I’ll be working on that this weekend as long as the heat allows.
Above is a partial before picture. My hanging baskets died. The porch is full of trash, and the sitting areas are hard to see from the road. My fron door is open, but it is dark red. And the house numbers scream “Hello, this house was built in the ’80s.
My plan is to paint the furniture a snazzy color (Ooh, risky….but it only costs a few dollars to fix if I hate it.) That way it will be visible from the road in contrast to the white railing. The snazzy color won’t go with the red door, so I’m going to paint it charcoal and put a vinyl welcome sign on it. I looked into buying new house numbers and anything classy looking from Lowe’s or Home Depot was adding up to over $50! So I decided to paint over the tiles in black or gray and paint white numbers on them. I also need to replace the hanging baskets and plant the hostas (donated by a friend who dug hers out) in the place of those ugly bushes. Finally, I’ll need to figure out what to do with all the Misc. that has found it’s way to the porch. Thankfully I won’t have to do it alone. My mother in law will plant for me, and my sister in law is coming to see what she can do.
I’ve already started on the chairs.
I’m not sure if I love the color. When it first came out of the can, it was quite shocking. But I’ve seen the color on porches in several of my favorite magazines and loved it there. It didn’t help that everyone who passed by while I was working, made some interesting comments like: “What are you DOING to those chairs!” and “Is that the real color or only the primer?” I may be about to make everything worse. I saw a cute lime green stool/table that I was hoping to slip between the two chairs and then top them off with white and orange outdoor cushions. Am I crazy? What do you suggest?
Don’t worry. It’s only paint. I think you should finish everything according to plan, and like you said, its only a few bucks to fix it. But be patient and let it unfold. I like bold colors though.
I agree with Georgianna and I really like that the color will “pop,” as they say, against the white railing. Lots of times I hate color when I’m working on a project and then later I love it.
My daughter has walls similar to your chair color, and we accented with lime green chair and table in there. She is 12, very “fashionable”, and picked the colors herself. They look awesome, and I think yours will too! I love stuff like this and can’t wait to see the makeover. I think bright red geraniums would look great in some lime green planters, too. Good luck and trust your instincts.
I LOVE that blue. Not a fan of orange, but it might look good. I think the lime green will go great with the blue. 🙂
I think that the bright blue and green will be beautiful once it is all done and in place. And the orange pillows will be the perfect accent! I would see if you could find a fun fabric that had at least one of the other colors in the orange pillows to tie it all together. Or, you could go with an orange and white print to tie in with the railings. You just wait…those same people will be painting their furniture bright colors after seeing how good yours looks when it’s finished!!
One suggestion…perhaps you can hang two inexpensive window boxes on the railings for some cheery color. They might also be easier to keep alive than hanging baskets:)
OK, one last suggestion, I promise. Melissa from 320*Sycamore just redid her front porch area and used some classic house numbers that were $4 each. Her post is here: http://granvillehouse.blogspot.com/2011/06/door-details.html
Just something to think about. Can’t wait to see the final result!!
I think once you set everything up how you want, you will love it! I would keep going according to planned like Georgianna suggested. Be different and do what you like.
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I think the combination of those bright colors will make for a very fun and happy front porch! A wave and a smile to the whole neighborhood! Looking forward to pictures of the results. I would come and bring the iced tea.
These colors are truly meant to brighten up your porch.
Imagine: Morning. Quiet. First light.
Will put a smile on your face instantly. Good enough?
I say go for it! I love the bright turquoise color. Have fun!
I would paint the porch floor red…
I saw “retro” metal lawn chairs at a garden center in Blue Springs in four different BRIGHT colors! I was thinking how cute they would look all together on someone’s lawn. Go for it!
Love the colours!!! Love the plan! Go for it 😀
Love the color! If u do decide to tone it down u can take a burnt umber glaze or paint watered down…paint it on then wipe it off quickly. It will leave just enough of the brown to take away some of the shock value. Personally I love it the way it is, but if not I am sure it will look great. Can’t wait to see how it all turns out!
I like the idea of painting the porch floor. I’d paint it to match the front door. I also like the window box idea. Either way, I think your use of color will make your porch cheerful and cute. 🙂
The turquoise blue is lovely and it is going to pop on your front porch… but isn’t that what you want it to do? Please post after pictures right away so we can all see how it turns out!
My first thought when I saw the chair picture was , “oh, I Love it!”. My best friend always teases me about my mantra, “Don’t be afraid of color!”
Oh absolutely paint it-the house is a soft grey color, right? Those bright colors will look SO summery and refreshing, and the house and railing color will tone them down. It only looks that bright because it’s all by itself.
I would definitely paint or restain or treat the wood on the porch though, and as soon as possible to protect it, otherwise you’ll be replacing that porch in the next few years and that can be quite costly.