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Spring Front Porch
Happy spring, friends! The weather is warming up ever so slowly and the days are feeling much longer thanks to good ol’ daylight saving time. To celebrate the season and since I’ve been itching to get outside, I put together and styled our Spring Front Porch!
Also, I’m joining up with my friend Kendra from Joy In Our Home, as well as a bunch of other talented bloggers for the Spring Festival Blog Hop. Each day this week, there will be new posts featuring DIYs, vignettes, styled front porches (that’s today!), decorated mantels, and recipes just for spring. Make sure to check those out at the end of this post!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click the link and purchase. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details.
Our Spring Front Porch
After all of our Christmas decorations came down, our front porch was looking pretty blah. And since there is no better way to welcome people to your home than a good first impression, it was time to get this area spruced up.
We first had to do some intense pressure washing, thanks to all of the mud our pup drags up here when the ground starts to thaw. Once that was done though, I was able to start gathering the pieces I wanted to use to decorate with.
There is just enough of an area to pull together a small seating arrangement and add a few decorative items around the door. I always add a new small door mat each season and I love the layered look with the bigger striped rug.
doorbell | welcome mat | striped rug
When the weather is warmer, we enjoy sitting outside in the mornings and drinking a cup of coffee. This little seating area will be perfect for quietly soaking in the sounds of nature. Well, at least until the kids wake up. *wink* As a last minute project, I found and painted this old stump to serve as mini table.
pillows | chairs – Ikea | throw blanket
I also love to add wreaths to the front door seasonally. This is one I whipped up just this past week to welcome spring! It was super easy to make and only took a few minutes to put together. Plus, the wicker is very similar to the chairs which helps tie things together.
Since the weather is still a bit chilly here, outdoor plants are hard to find in stores. I wanted to add a little life to this area, so I incorporated this mini button fern and a few small boxwoods. (The button fern will have to spend its nights inside.) However, there is nothing wrong with some faux plants to get that spring feel. Especially if you live in an area with frigid temps during this time of year!
Have you noticed all of the little bunnies around our porch? I thought they were a fun little find at the Target dollar spot!
It didn’t take much to get this area ready for spring! Now excuse me while I wait inside for warmer temperatures to enjoy it.
DIY’s on Monday
Joy In Our Home | Timeless Creations | The Tattered Pew
CityGirlmeetsFarmboy |Life on Kaydeross Creek
Vignettes on Tuesday
anderson + grant | Follow The Yellow Brick Home | White Arrows Home
Worthing Court | Camelot Art Creations
Front Porches on Wednesday
County Road 407 | Elizabeth Joan Designs |The Crowned Goat
2 Bees In A Pod | Sanctuary Home Decor
Mantels on Thursday
DIY Beautify | The Painted Hinge | Making It In the Mountains
Grey Birch Designs | The Homemaking Momma
Recipes on Friday
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Country Sampler Magazine Holiday Homes
I have something really exciting news to share today! Elizabeth Joan Designs was featured in the most recent issue of ! They shared our Holiday Front Porch from last year in their Holiday Homes edition. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing this is a for a little ol’ blogger like me.
When the sweet people at Country Sampler Magazine first contacted me, my jaw hit the floor. I couldn’t believe that they wanted to share a photo from this blog in their publication. They always share such beautiful spaces and vignettes in their issues. Have you ever checked them out?
Some personal information was removed from the letter for privacy.
Last year when working on our holiday front porch, I had so much fun putting everything together. This area was a bit of a challenge because I was trying to not to spend a bunch of extra money and had to get creative in my styling. I pulled in some natural blue spruce branches and a few faux eucalyptus pieces to add some extra greenery to the space.
The magazine is in stores now, so if you are out and about, stop and grab yourself an issue!
It is such an honor to be included in this issue along with so many other amazing bloggers and designers! If you want to see more photos of our Holiday Front Porch, click here!
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Fun Neutral Holiday Front Porch
There are less than two weeks left until Christmas and we are keeping super busy over here! We’ve finally come up with a place in our small home to stick a little nursery, so we have some major moving and rearranging to do. But that update is for another time. Today it is all about our Fun Neutral Holiday Front Porch!
I just love participating in blog hops and am so thankful my sweet friend Kendra from Joy In Our Home invited me to join in for the Christmas Festival Blog Tour! There are so many great holiday ideas shared (mantels, vignettes, recipes, front porches, and tablescapes) and it is is exciting to meet new friends along the way.
If you are stopping by from Making It In The Mountains, I’m so glad you are here! Isn’t Kristi’s front porch just beautiful?
This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure.
Last week, I shared our Christmas living room decor. But I wanted to add a little more pizazz to the front porch than just a boxwood wreath, so I made things a bit contrasty out here, while still keeping with my neutral tendancies.
I like to incorporate a lot of greenery, so I gathered different kinds from around the inside and outside of our home. Aren’t these wellies looking festive with some blue spruce branches and eucalyptus?
faux sage plant | boots | striped rug
This new “welcome” rug from Magnolia Market (an early Christmas present from my parents) steals the show when layered with this pretty black and white striped number.
See that bit of snow on the soil below? Winter weather is here!
The cute lanterns were found for a steal at Walmart. (Buy a similar version here.) They look great next to the potted arbor vitae, which was moved to the porch to add some height and life to the scene.
And those lanterns go oh so well with our new outdoor lighting! I love this light. It really helps dress up the front porch and is such a pretty upgrade from the previous one.
I’m really happy with how our Fun Neutral Holiday Front Porch turned out! What do you think?
Thank you for stopping by! Next up is the talented Lindsay from Country Girl Home. Hop on over and check out her festive front porch!!!
Mantels on Monday
White Arrows Home | Repurpose and Upcycle | Timeless Creations
Lemons to Lovely | Pennies From Heaven Home | One Happy HousewifeVignettes on Tuesday
Joy In Our Home | anderson + grant | Kingsbury Brook Farm
My Creative Days | Poofing the Pillows | CityGirlMeetsFarmBoyRecipes on Wednesday
Life Love Larson | Cali Girl In A Southern World | Crisp Collective
Love In My Oven | Countryside Cravings | Curly Crafty MomFront Porches on Thursday
Making it in the Mountains | Elizabeth Joan Designs |Country Girl Home
Little Brags | The Homemaking Momma | Lemons, Lavender, & LaundryTablescapes on Friday
Celebrate & Decorate | Noting Grace | 2 Bees in a Pod
The Crowned Goat | Dining Delight | The Neutral Nest Interiors -
Curb Appeal Update
I can’t wait to share my simple curb appeal update with you guys today! I’m a huge believer that little changes, like painting, can make a big difference in how spaces look. It only takes a little bit of time to have a huge impact. Check it out!
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here for my full disclosure policy.
As I’ve mentioned before, our Country House is nothing amazingly special. It’s comfy and cozy and works for our general needs, but typically I would not have thought about purchasing a small yellow ranch home. (Read all about our decision to buy this house by clicking here.)
The Shutters
The outside of our home was very plain, with light yellow siding and chippy white shutters. (Nevermind the ugly bushes; those will be replaced in due time.) After we updated our garage doors to give them a little more pizazz, I knew that there were still a few simple changes that we could do with paint. So, we brainstormed for a bit and decided to paint our shutters. After removing all of the shutters, we gave them a couple of coats each of Krylon Black Satin paint.
Once they had dried, we power washed the siding and hung them back up.
Doesn’t the black just make them pop? We love it!
The Front Door
Since the shutters looked so much better after such an easy fix, we decided that our front door also needed a change.
First, we opted to permanently remove the storm door. Unfortunately, the old door was a dingy gray color and certainly didn’t look welcoming at all.
Next, we painted our front door with Valspar’s Kettle Black (semi-gloss). Just covering up the gray and cream made such a huge impact.
Of course, I had to add a few extra accessories, like the cute “Home Sweet Home” rug and some seasonal flowers in a vintage crock.
Just look at that before and after! Painting truly makes such a difference.
We can’t wait to do more updates to the curb appeal of our home, but for now, that will have to wait, since we are getting started on the inside this weekend. Yay! What do you think of our curb appeal update? We absolutely love the black, but would you have chosen a different color for the shutters or the door? We would love to hear from you! To see more updates and sneak peeks, follow me on Instagram!