7 Amazing Ideas For Furnishing A Porch
If you’ve got a porch space, you’re probably looking forward to using it. Everyday activities like reading, scrolling on your phone and eating can all be done outside on the porch, where you’ll be getting the benefits of sunshine and fresh air. Of course, if your porch is empty or drab, you might not be as excited to utilize it. The following aims to look at some nifty ideas that can improve your porch experience. Special attention will be paid to the furniture, but there will be other suggestions as well.
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Consider Your Home Style
Whether you live in a snazzy mid-century modern abode or a Tudor-style cottage, your porch is part of the overall style of your home. Take a look at porches on houses that are similar in style to yours, either online or in magazines, to get a feel for what works with your home’s structure and design and what doesn’t. This can help you eliminate a whole bunch of options right from the get-go, saving you a ton of time and effort.
Embrace Nature
Porches are outside, so why not embrace the wonders of nature in your porch decor? Plants can make a stellar addition to your porch design, and—as a bonus—you’ll find they’re way easier to keep alive when they’re outside, doused in sunlight. Look for plants that thrive within pots, as well as climbing flowering vines that can spread across porch details like your railing or columns. Experiment with different colours and textures and try to cluster plants of different heights around each other.
Balance The Shade
Part of using your porch a lot might imply using your porch at different times during the day. Around midday, you might find you need a little more shade than you do in the mornings and evenings. One provider of retractable awnings in Philadelphia points out that you can have your cake and eat it, too, when it comes to sunlight. There are awning options that allow you to make adjustments depending on the time of day and the weather. This can help you make use of your porch during the brighter hours without sacrificing sunshine at other times.
Comfortable Seating
Of course, you’re going to want seating for your porch space. The problem is a lot of porch furniture is designed with aesthetics in mind, not relaxation and comfort. Part of selecting seating involves taking your spine into consideration, especially if you’re planning on spending a lot of time on the porch. Make sure to test out different pieces of furniture before buying to ensure that they’re the right height and comfortable for you. Many people are a fan of moving seating—rocking chairs or swings—on their porches, as the movement can be incredibly soothing.
While you’re at it, make sure that you get enough seating so that guests can be welcomed and entertained on the porch. Sitting outside with friends while the breeze rustles the nearby trees can create some truly beautiful moments.
If you’re someone with dogs or other outdoor animals, you might also want to consider getting something for your pet to sit on. There’s nothing your dog likes more than feeling like she’s part of whatever’s going on. Outdoor dog beds do exist.
Local Wildlife
Speaking of animals, you might want to make your porch inviting for certain non-humans as well. If you’re a fan of butterflies or birds, consider birdhouses or flowers that attract these kinds of animals. Likewise, if you’re trying to avoid certain critters, you can use your porch space to support your efforts. Citronella candles can scare away mosquitos and other biting insects.
Pay Attention To The Lighting
Your porch lights can help cultivate an atmosphere of rest, or they can create a weird blazing feeling after the sun sets that give you the creeps. Look into different shades of lightbulbs and try to find something that mimics daylight. Harsh, cool lightbulb colours tend to create an unsettling feeling when outside. It might seem like a small change—opting for a different lightbulb shade—but it can make a huge difference in the feeling of your space.
Address Privacy Concerns
Some people love sitting on their porches and observing everyone passing by; others don’t want to be watched when they’re having their afternoon tea. If you want to be spending time on your porch without neighbours and passersby prying, you might want to look into privacy options. A fence around your property, while not part of your porch decor precisely, can have a big impact on the feeling of your porch. Treelines and shrub lines can also add a bit of privacy if you still want an open feel to your space but don’t want your every move visible from afar.
In addition to addressing privacy concerns for people sitting on the porch, you might also want to consider which windows look out onto your porch and what types of window coverings they need. If you have any bathrooms or bedrooms with porch-facing windows, you want to be sure that there is adequate window coverage, either with blinds or curtains, so people can change their clothing or do their business without fear that people on the porch will see them.
Keep It Chill
While it might be tempting to go all out in your porch design, it’s important to understand how curbside appeal—that is, how your home appears from the outside—influences your home’s value. The nicer a place looks from the outside, usually, the more highly valued the property is. It’s vital to note, however, that extreme design choices or highly unique choices can sometimes lower a home’s value as the majority of people looking to buy a home probably aren’t going to like the severity and simply see the porch as another thing they’re going to have to change before they’re happy with the house.
The above ideas should have given you a sense of how much you can do with your porch space. It’s important to think about how you want to use the space before making choices. If you have any hobbies or activities you’d like to do out on the porch, make sure that you’ve left enough space for them and a side table or coffee table that’s the right height for them.
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About the Author
Lillie Byrd
Lillie Byrd is a saving expert for CouponKirin. He has been a newspaper reporter and editor, authored a personal finance book in 2012. She previously was a reporter at Digital Journal, covering consumer products, society, and other business topics. She also has a certificate in finance from Boston University.
