How to Spruce Up Your Front Porch When You’ve Ignored it For Years

I’ve always wanted to be able to share more of our outdoor spaces, but they were never *finished*. Quite honestly, I neglected the front altogether aside from a few planters of flowers and a door mat. Sound familiar? So I decided this was the year to spruce up our front porch! I’m happily joining The Happy Housie and 20+ bloggers in another Seasonal Simplicity post all focused on the outdoors. Today, I’m sharing How to Spruce Up Your Front Porch When You’ve Ignored it for Years.

The last time I did any real outdoor decorating was in our last house when I tackled project Outdoor Oasis. But in this house, the outdoors got minimal attention. One of biggest reasons it never got any love was that I thought it was too small!!

Flowers and a rug. The porch decorating stopped there.

Until one day, I got out my tape measure and decided I was going to squeeze a bench on our small porch. Mainly because I wanted a place for some pillows 🙂 One thing led to another and we were sprucing up the whole thing. From lighting to rugs to flowers and that bench!

If you’ve ever thought your porch was too small or that it wasn’t a *real* porch, read on to see all the ways for how to spruce up your front porch [especially when you’ve ignored it for years]!

The first two items on my list require a little work and the remaining tips are things to add to create the look and feel you’re trying to achieve. Of course that doesn’t mean you have to run out and buy everything I mention, but by adding a few things each season or each year, you will eventually see a drastic improvement! 

And since is sort of like a Front Porch Reveal & Tour all in one, welcome!

 STRIPED OUTDOOR RUG  ||  HEY THERE, TAKE CARE RUG  ||  LANTERNS  || BLACK PLANTERS  ||  WREATH || T-SHIRT  ||  DISTRESSED JEANS [size up 1]  ||  SANDALS  || 

[*Affiliate links are used in this post.]

HOW TO SPRUCE UP YOUR FRONT PORCH WHEN YOU’VE IGNORED IT FOR YEARS

1 | CLEAN 

I know. I know.  But this truly is the first step in project inside or out. Get the surfaces ready to be painted or just decorated. Power wash the floor or at a minimum, leaf blow or get out the broom to sweep.

2 | PAINT

Grab a brush or small roller and touch up the trim, paint the front door a new color or even just a fresh coat of the one you have on currently. If you have a covered porch, add a fresh coat of paint to the ceiling. It will do wonders! Paint really is magical. It will instantly transform your space, whether inside or outside!

We painted our front door SW Tricorn Black 2 years ago and just recently touched up the trim and boards [which we actually replaced] around the frame . We took our storm door off and it left some damage that couldn’t easily be patched or sanded so my Dad helped with replacing a couple boards and then painted them. It now looks good as new!

Cleaning and painting aren’t always the fun steps, but they are critical for getting a fresh clean slate to start decorating! Here are the rest of my tips for how to spruce up your front porch when you’ve ignored it for years.

3 | FRONT DOOR WREATH

I made this cute and simple Flamingo wreath earlier this Summer to add to the front door. It’s mainly green with a tiny pop of pink and black and white striped ribbons. I had an old plain wreath so decided to jazz it up for Summer!

You can see all of my DIY wreaths here.

It was easy to make, but it’s just as easy to purchase an inexpensive one and store it away each year. Here are a few of my favorites for Summer.

4 | ADD A SMALL BENCH OR CHAIR

This is how the whole front porch makeover idea started!

For the longest time, I thought our porch was too small to make it look like an actual porch, so I didn’t do anything more than add planters of flowers to the front step. But I got a wild hair this Spring and decided I wanted the porch to be a little more inviting and look like a finished space. I thought a bench was the answer!

After measuring, I discovered we had room for the cutest little metal bench I had been eyeing. I bought it online and picked it up in the store and brought it home with me.

I added cushions [mainly because the boys told me it would be much softer for them ha!] and added 2 pillows. Boom! I have a porch bench! If you think your porch is too tiny, measure – you just might be surprised, too!

5 | THROW PILLOWS FOR A POP OF COLOR

Of course the porch needs pillows! Could I really add a bench to my porch and not set at least ONE pillow on it?! You know me better than that! I picked up this black and white pillow and this colorful pillow with tassels and set them on the right side. They add just enough texture and color to the space.

6 | SMALL TABLE OR GARDEN STOOL

If your porch is as small as ours, you really don’t need much of a table. The surface only needs to be big enough to set a glass and book down. I’ve had this gold one for years and it nestles up nicely to the bench.

7 | HOOKS FOR HANGING FLOWER BASKETS

The hooks were already in place when we moved in so it was easy to buy hanging flower baskets and pop them up. Last year we did add hanging ferns to the hook, but I love how the red and pink looks against the house from the street. I water them once a day and they’ve done really well.

They are meant for the sun and need 6+ hours of direct sunlight which is perfect since the front of the house gets full afternoon sun.

The hanging baskets are from Costco which is where we usually get the majority of our flowers each Spring! A flower shopping trip on Mother’s Day weekend has become our tradition and then date night after. And Sunday is spent as a family!

8 | FLOWERS OR PLANTS IN PLANTERS

I like to add simple ferns to the taller black planters [similar planters here] closest to the house where it is more shaded. I usually just plop the plastic pot right inside of my own planter. Its a perfect fit! On the front step, we always get pre-potted outdoor flower arrangements from Costco and transfer them over to the wide metal planters.

They are from Crate & Barrel and were wedding gifts. They have a distressed metal look to them which is nice because they never seem to show much wear. I may end up painting them next year for a clean look. I may go with a glossy white or black.

9 | FLOWERS IN THE FRONT BEDS

The previous owners had several annuals planted in the front flower beds, but one bed in particular was about done. We had 3 whole tulips sprout this Spring, so we decided to plant some Impatiens this Summer. We did a mix of red, pink and white. They have a ways to go, but are looking pretty good so far! 

My hydrangeas on the other hand, have a long way to go! Everything is taking so long to bloom this year because of all the rain and cold we had through May. My peonies and roses finally bloomed out back and I’ve been clipping a ton to bring in for vases around the house. You can see them all in my Neutral Summer Decor with a Touch of Pink Summer Home Tour.

The pink [and free!] flowers was exactly what the house was calling for.

10 | OUTDOOR RUG

Or maybe two! The layered rug look has been a hot trend for several years now. I jumped on board a couple years back with a black and white polka dot rug with a woven pineapple rug layered on top as seen in my 2017 Summer Home Tour. 

This year, I found this large black and white striped outdoor rug and the cutest welcome mat for on top. It says, “HEY THERE” when you walk in. When you are stepping out, you’ll see, “TAKE CARE”.

I thought it was such a fun rug to greet [and send off] your guests!!

Both rugs are a bit larger than standard doormats, but were still reasonably priced. The striped one is a true outdoor rug and will wipe clean SO easily and won’t hold water either which is awesome. Nothing worse than a soppy rug!

11 | LIGHTING

This might be my favorite tip of all! We added ALL new lighting to our porch and exterior this year and wow!!

TYPES OF LIGHTING WE ADDED:

• black wall sconces
• black semi-flush ceiling fixture
• LED Solar path lighting
• solar hanging string lights
• solar spot lights

When we added new outdoor wall sconces and porch ceiling light this Spring, it literally changed the whole appearance of our home. We had old lights original to the house that were deteriorating and chipped, plus they didn’t fit my style. These new lights updated the look of the house by adding a modern touch. They are a great quality light and were easy to install. 

Ted swapped out 3 wall lights in the front, 1 on the back deck and the ceiling light on the porch. Well worth the money and we saved on electrician costs by replacing them ourselves!

We also added two other types of lighting. We put solar path lights in the front flower beds alongside the walkway leading up to the porch and we also hung solar light strings on the ceiling. There were some hooks and nails already in place so we used them to set the light string on. We only had to add a few more to keep the string tight to the ceiling. We didn’t want the strands to droop down. 

If you are going to do just one type of lighting and don’t want to spend much, then I highly recommend these solar path lights with LED filament bulbs. They come in packs of 6, are easy to set-up and they look so pretty at night!!

They are regularly $34.99, but since they go in and out of stock, here are a few others I love:

We used 2 sets to fill our pathway.

12 | FAUX TREE

I didn’t think I had room for the bench, but once the bench was in place, it needed some friends! We recently bought this faux fiddle leaf fig tree for the hallway, but it landed out here and am loving it. The quality, color, size and price of this faux tree is great so we might just buy a second one so we’re not playing musical chairs with the one!

I think it should be okay since the porch is covered, but probably wouldn’t let it sit out in harsh outdoor weather.

I highly recommend this tree for anywhere in your home. 

13 | CUTE LANTERNS

I keep these 2 copper lanterns near the door next to the back planters pretty much year-round. Sometimes I add candles, otherwise I leave them empty.

They are from Target years ago, but I’ve linked several lanterns I’ve been eyeing below. I might have to pick up a couple new ones because mine are cracking!!

So I have a front porch. Who knew?!

I strongly encourage you to take a few of these tips and make something of your front porch, even if it is tiny. Our mini porch refresh instantly added curb appeal and just looks alive. Plus the boys love having a bench to sit on 🙂

I’ve shared a ton of our outdoor finds from this Spring and Summer here, but you can also shop our front porch decor below:

If you want more outdoor posts, check out my full outdoor space gallery here and more porch posts here.

And for Rug Layering Ideas for Your Front Door, see this post!

Don’t forget to pin for later!

Today I’m joined by over 20 of my talented blogging friends who are also sharing their outdoor spaces with you…

The Happy Housie // Place of My Taste // Rooms FOR Rent // Two Twenty One // Hallstrom Home

Taryn Whiteaker Designs // Modern Glam // Inspiration for Moms // The DIY Mommy // Life is a Party

The Handmade Home // Lolly Jane // Finding Silver Pennies
// All Things With Purpose // She Gave it a Go

Clean & Scentsible // My Sweet Savannah // Maison de Cinq // Amber Tysl // Lemon Thistle

Southern State of Mind // This is Our Bliss