With a little inspiration and creativity, see how we shopped the house to add pops of color with these front porch summer decor ideas.
Originally published July 2019 • Updated May 2023
Time for a little honesty.
I have been in a serious decor funk.
All our energy has been put towards the garage and the only other house-related motivation I have is used to keep the house semi clean. There’s drywall dust everywhere, scraps of blow-in insulation seem to be scattered this way and that… basically our home is just a hot mess.
And then my lovely friend Lora over at Craftivity Designs mentioned us each sharing some porch or patio decor ideas and it became time to officially un-funk.
Prior to this mini makeover, our front porch was scattered with the following items: two charging stations for drill batteries, muddy Muck boots that Brett used to dig in the raspberry and strawberry patch one rainy day a few weeks ago, an upside down cooler drying out and a gopher trap.
At least we could only go up from there.
Since the creativity rut was alive and well, I challenged myself to redecorate by shopping the house – no new purchases for this porch!
Total side note: anyone else feeling the need to purge allthethings? I’ve been in a mode lately of not wanting to bring in any new decor. Just the opposite in fact – I’ve been donating things left and right.
Shopping the house for summer decor
Anyways, whenever I shop the house I like to start with the big items and work my way to the smaller stuff.
Up first, the chairs. I swapped in the wicker chairs and brought the brown rockers down to the deck.
Then, I brought in the thrift store bar cart from several years ago as the new side table for the chairs.
I don’t know why I’ve never done this before – just last weekend we had lunch outside in between hanging sheetrock and the bar stool-turned-side table is never big enough for both of our drinks and miscellaneous utensils.
For the corner to the right of the door, our usual staple of house number sign, galvanized bucket and birch tree logs had to stay – it has become tradition at this point.
But, I wanted to bring in something a little unexpected and tested out adding in a window.
To pull out the green colors of the rug and black window frame, I added some faux greenery to the black vase. And to balance the other side, I found a small wooden ladder that was picked up at The Goodwill several years ago.
Our galvanized planters are fully blooming and similar to the birch tree bucket, will probably be a front porch staple for years to come.
To finish off, I thought about my perfect morning. I imagined sitting out here on a cool morning, with a cup of coffee, a good book and a blanket to stay warm, watching the sun rise.
This led to bringing out a blanket basket for the bottom of the bar cart, some colorful summer pillows and a candle lantern to add a little coziness.
And just like that, the decor rut was all but forgotten…
All our best,
Shop the post
Please note, since we shopped the house, some products are similar, rather than exact.
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It was like you were reading my mind! I’ve, too, been in such a decor rut… just not motivated to decorate and play around with vignettes and such, like I typically do. This was good motivation, and it’s helping me get back in the mood. I think, like you, one of the reasons I’ve felt stuck is because I’ve been anxious to purge and simplify. Yet, so often, decorating involves adding stuff. So, I loved seeing that you shopped the house, too!
Thank you, Lora! And happy to hear I’m not the only one in a rut 😛