So, we are going on year 6 at our house, and other than an occasional (usually dying or dead) potted plant and a door wreath, we have never decorated our front porch! {Shameful, I know…}
So, this spring my front porch became my new DIY project! I had $150 budget (from old home stuff I sold at a recent consignment sale), so my new project began…
Here’s a quick look at my *normal* front porch view… {see why it needed help?!}
And now, for what I did to make it a little more…happy and home…
1) I set out on a mission to find seating (bench or bistro-style table/chair set) for $50 or less — I posted an ISO post on Facebook, and immediately got responses! I decided on a beautiful old iron bistro-style set for $30, which I knew would be perfect once I added a new coat of spray paint (paint cost $12 for two after a 50% Hobby Lobby discount!) I chose a matte muted teal for my new color, and here’s what I ended up with…
2) My next piece was a heavy (so it isn’t easily knocked down by the wind), tall ceramic vase (I needed the height for visual purposes, and the ceramic so it wouldn’t easily rust or mold/rot like wood or metal may). I lucked up on a brand new, beautiful $120 vase for only $30 at our local Dirt Cheap store. I also watched for the 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby to get curly willow tree limbs & two bundles of faux forsythia stems (for a beautiful touch of nature and color by the front door).
3) While at Hobby Lobby {you know you can never walk out of there with ONLY the things you went in to get}…I found a beautiful clearance-priced ($7) faux succulent potted plant, which, of course, I had to add to my decor!
4) I knew I would also need something for “height” on the far side of the porch…a way to display different pieces for decor throughout the seasons, so I was thrilled to walk into the thrift store to find this beautiful old wooden shelf for $4!! I gave it a quick (I didn’t want it to be perfect) coat of leftover paint from my laundry room makeover, and ta-da — the perfect addition!!
5) At the home consignment sale that I mentioned earlier, I had my eye on a set of 6 lovely outdoor chair cushions, but I didn’t want to pay $20 for them, not knowing if they would actually work for my chairs. Well, at the 50% off day, they were still there! SO…I bought them!! I only need 2, but I figure, I’ll have 4 more put away to “replace” the first two when they are worn out! Mark laughed when he saw them, because he knew they were perfect for me…they almost match my favorite accent chair in the living room perfectly!!
6) While in the thrift store, I also found a new cute rug for only $4! It could stand to be a bit larger, but for now, it’s perfect to add a little *pop* of yellow.
7) And, finally, for a little extra greenery (that is supposedly easy to maintain — we will see!), a sweet boy at church was doing a school fundraiser by selling pots of sun ferns. I bought two hanging pots and one regular one to finish off my $150 budget! These should be delivered next week, so I’ll have to take an updated picture then to show off my *finished* project!!
$150 – $42 (bistro set + paint) – $50 (vase + floral stems) – $7 (succulent pot) – $10 (set of 6 beautiful, new chair cushions) – $8 (rug + shelf) -$32 (3 sun ferns) = $1 remaining
I still have to add some odds and ends onto my little shelf, but I plan to use as many things as I have stored in the attic, etc., for this, and change it up seasonally!! My plan is for that and my wreath to be my “changing” parts to the front porch. Now that I have the “bones” of decor in place, the other should be easy and fun, all year round!!
