Hello my wonderful friends! I'm late to a party! But first I need to say a heartfelt thank you! Remember for my birthday I had some wonderful bloggy friends make me feel so special? I talked about each of those ladies here. But to my surprise...I wasn't finished feeling special! Look what came in the mail last week just before I headed out of town!
The fabulous (and I DO mean fabulous) Shawn at Seriously made me this personalized message board! It's a glossy tile that I can write on! Perfect for my grocery lists! Thank you so much Shawn...I love it!
I also received an EXTRA something from Sare who had already sent me two PERFECT cards. She made me an "X" pendant! Only I forgot to take a picture, but I will post that soon...because I have more to share about her coming up!
Now on to the PAR-TAY! The most awesome Amanda at Serenity Now is hosting a Decorating Dilemmas party! You should totally party with us! Grab the button from her sidebar, share your dilemma and go link up over at Amanda's! I hope she does this every month!
Here's my dilemma. I'm bored with my front door and want help accessorizing my porch. Well my whole house needs lots of work...I haven't really done ANYTHING with it since we bought it, and I need all your fabulous ideas. But we'll just stick with the door and porch for now. Please don't click and enlarge it...I don't want you to see how dirty the door is!
So you can see that our house is brown brick. The door and eves and garage door are ivory. Then the trim is dark brown. I'd love to paint the door a different color. But I don't know which color will be best.
You can see I have a long front porch. What would you do with this porch?
Also, if I paint the door, should I paint it on both sides? If so I need a color that will go well inside as well. I'm using browns, blacks, and neutrals in my living room decor, but the one big thing that is a handicap for me in my decorating is this horrid pink carpet. I just don't have it in the budget to replace it right now...so whatever I do musn't clash with the gaggy pink.
The fabulous (and I DO mean fabulous) Shawn at Seriously made me this personalized message board! It's a glossy tile that I can write on! Perfect for my grocery lists! Thank you so much Shawn...I love it!
I also received an EXTRA something from Sare who had already sent me two PERFECT cards. She made me an "X" pendant! Only I forgot to take a picture, but I will post that soon...because I have more to share about her coming up!Now on to the PAR-TAY! The most awesome Amanda at Serenity Now is hosting a Decorating Dilemmas party! You should totally party with us! Grab the button from her sidebar, share your dilemma and go link up over at Amanda's! I hope she does this every month!
Here's my dilemma. I'm bored with my front door and want help accessorizing my porch. Well my whole house needs lots of work...I haven't really done ANYTHING with it since we bought it, and I need all your fabulous ideas. But we'll just stick with the door and porch for now. Please don't click and enlarge it...I don't want you to see how dirty the door is!
So you can see that our house is brown brick. The door and eves and garage door are ivory. Then the trim is dark brown. I'd love to paint the door a different color. But I don't know which color will be best.
You can see I have a long front porch. What would you do with this porch?
Also, if I paint the door, should I paint it on both sides? If so I need a color that will go well inside as well. I'm using browns, blacks, and neutrals in my living room decor, but the one big thing that is a handicap for me in my decorating is this horrid pink carpet. I just don't have it in the budget to replace it right now...so whatever I do musn't clash with the gaggy pink.Okay, something is wrong with Blogger, because it's not allowing me to put my pink carpet picture up! It's just a really blechy dark mauve color, I seriously don't know what the previous owners were thinking. Whatever...I'm ready for you to lay it on me!
What color should I paint my door? Should I paint it inside too? How would you decorate my porch?
Let the ideas start pourin' in! PLEASE!
Comments
I don't know where on earth I've been, but I realized I have a lot to catch up on here.
Have a good day.
Sandra
I am. so. jealous. of your awesome front porch! I'm a new believer in taking things in baby steps, so maybe you could implement changes in stages?
What about scouring some yard sales or thrift stores for a vintage (or new and cheap!) glider love seat and/or chair. My Nannie has two awesome small outdoor metal "couches" with outdoor cushions on the seats. One glides and the other does not. I've seen similar ones at yard sales. A bench/love seat type thing would be nice to have and take up some room on that porch. Maybe put it under the window?
A small end table to put your drinks on when you sit out front. Again, yard sale shop it!
Maybe a galvanized steel bucket from Lowe's or Wal-Mart by the outside of the front door for muddy shoes, umbrellas, yard toys, etc.
I bet you could find two shutters somewhere and paint them the same color as the front door when you paint it. The icky house next door is getting rid of all their old vinyl shutters and I am considering looking in the big giant dumpster in their front yard and stealing me some shutters...can I Fed-Ex 'em to you? ;)
I do not think you need to paint the inside door the same color as your outside.
I love the way some bloggers have posted pictures of their painted doors with stenciled house numbers where you have the "No soliciting" tag. Maybe you could create a cute little sign to hang on a hook next to the front door with the "No Soliciting" on it, and put house numbers or "Welcome" or something in its place. My house is brick too on the bottom half and somebody (thank goodness) left a few screws in the brick where I hang my slates.
A few potted plants, maybe something with ivy that will last in the winter for some color. You could even get a really big pot, put a trellis in it and let the ivy climb for some height.
I saw on an HGTV show the other day where they hung two long outdoor bamboo shades on one end of their porch (like by the garage) to give the illusion of privacy. Could work?
I think you have an awesome space!!!! :)
I can't wait to see what you do with it! ~Warmly, Melissa :)
On the corner by the garage, in the summer, some dropcloth curtains would look nice (look here http://tinyurl.com/oukr6z )
Maybe you could hang a nice Welcome sign under the porch light, or a barn star. Or put a barn star on the siding under the point of the eves. So many things you could do!
I don't think you need to paint the inside of the door, but if you wanted to, the brown would look okay with the carpet.
Then I would paint it a burgandy/rusty/reddish color on the outside.
Then, maybe a small shabby sort of bench that can double as a table and put some planters, decorations, bird house or something like that on it.
And a chair maybe?
That's all I can think of.
Oh, and smack a wreath on your door or something.
I'm a good decorator, can you tell?? Not. :)
Then accessorize the porch with white chairs, red pots (or flowers), just something to tie the red together.
Or, you could leave your door white, add white shutters, then accessorize with red.
Some red would definitely jazz the palce up!!
Blessings and thanks for coming by and leaving a comment.
Barbara jean
Just stopping by from SITS to say hi; hope you can find time to do the same.
I like the red door idea, very much. If you go to Sherwin Williams.com that have an online color sample. You can even pick a ranch style home, choose your current color, then select different colors for to "try out" on your door.
Someone suggested staining your concrete, but I think a good power washing would really brighten it up. My final suggestion is plants. You don't need a green thumb. There are numerous perennials that are very easy to maintain!
Good luck!
That note pad is so cool!
I am gonna go against the concencus on the door. While I do think red would be great, I also think a very deep blue would be just as beautfiul. And I would definitely only paint the outside of the door. Hit some yard sales and thrift stores to find some outdoor chairs and a small table that fit your tastes. I know you are crafty and could spruce them up a big if needed. Also you could buy a bakers rake and put on the far side of the window. You could put some small pots with flowers on it, watering can, etc. Maybe find a large outdoor rug to go center below the window, or find a large older rug at a thrift store that you wouldnt care about getting dusty or wet. I like the idea of a window box too. Maybe hang a small framed chalkboard on either side of the door so you could change your welcome message with the seasons. And you could make a little sign that says no soliciting instead of putting it on the door. I like the address numbers on the door idea or you could also get a big flower pot and put the numbers on there instead. A few big flower pots would look great. And since the big ceramic ones are pricey you could buy the large plastic ones and just beautify them with some spray paint and stenciling or something. Oh or maybe instead of the bakers rack, if you found an old trellis you could lean it against the house (maybe secure it towards the top in case of wind) and put little hooks into the trellis that you could hang some small flower pots or decorations.
I just linked up for mod podge mania, I know, a little late, but I promise to be on time for the next one!
I would build up your pillars with 1x6s to make them look a bit more substantial and paint them the same color as your trim. That will help to frame out the porch.
I would put a large ceramic pot in a complimentary color at the end of the porch by the garbage cans and put a trellis and some sort of climbing plant in there.
In front of the window I would add two chairs with a table in between them, centered on the window. think bistro set as far as scale, but not necessarily as far as style.
Other than that, I got nuthin'...