No, it is not a big redo where we lay down flagstone/slate on the porch (I wish!) or repaint the shutters. This is just your regular ‘blah to aahaa’ post where I’m trying to add some style to our bland builder porch by spending the least amount of $.
We had a teeny weeny porch in our previous home where there was only room for a planter. So when we bought this home we were really happy that we finally had porch, though it was not a full one. Like pretty much everything in our house we started out with a blank slate.
When we bought patio furniture for the deck, we made sure that we bought a dining set with 6 chairs so that we could use it for company. Of course when we didn’t have folks over we really didn’t need all the 6 chairs on our deck. So we figured, we could bring 2 of those chairs out front.
The 2 striped throw pillows that came with the set were red, which goes with our red shutters. I added a small folding table from Big Lots and a planter from Tuesday Morning. The dianthus in the pot was left over from my doorsteps planter project last week.
By the way forgot tell ya, I found some yellow African daisies and spike plants at Home Depot last weekend. Some vinca vine cuttings from my planter on the deck (these perennial creepers grow like crazy, just have to cut a piece of the vine and stick it in soil) and we were good to go on the doorstep planters. A side view shot;
Ain’t it inviting? This is what the planters looked like last week. The planters are in need of some serious watering (the drooping vinca vine) but wanted to take the pics before sunset. Here is a zoomed out view of the front.
I’m not liking those red planters on the center steps but my daughter swears that they add to the look. So keeping it for now.
Just realized that there are huge water marks under the big planter on the left. Looks like we might have drilled a bigger drainage hole than needed. Will fix over the weekend. Notice how dense the bushes out front are (standard builder landscape)? We are hoping to do some landscaping out there in the coming weeks. Have you landscaped your yard? Did you do it yourself or get a pro? I’m having so much trouble figuring out the plan. Any suggestions?
Source List
Chairs – Already had Accent Pillows –Already had Side Table – $19.99 – Big Lots Planter – $3.99 – Tuesday Morning Dianthus – Leftover from the doorstep planter projectTotal – $23.98
Too Good Vidya, Did you checked out the Groupon Coupon which I sent it to you yesterday regarding the Merrifield Garden center…Its really good deal Check it out
Thanks Shruthi. No, I didn’t get your email. I am on groupon mailing list too. Found the original groupon email in between all the the junk now. Though they are the biggest in this area, I have heard that Merrifield is expensive. We were planning to check out Meadow Farms this weekend. Our neighbor highly recommends them. Meadow Farms has a discount going on now for Landscape design, $50 for 2 hr consultation at home and design sketch (usual is $130) no obligations to buy from them. Sounds like a good deal. So I ‘m thinking we’ll get the design done and see what all plants (I would like so many but am clueless as to what goes with each other and the watering reqs etc.) we want and go from there.
It looks great! Very homey. 🙂
Thanks Melanie. Glad you liked it.
That’s a good plan, maybe I will design it for next year. This year I just want my grass to be green…Ours is the only house who has completely brown grass (front and back) 🙁
You guys moved in the winter, right? Don’t worry in a few more days it will turn green. The summer we moved in we had neighbors who did nothing to their lawn not even water it and others who spent $$$ on it. Now almost all the lawns look the same. It rains here pretty often during spring, summer, and fall. If you still have bad spots the builder will usually change them out for you at the 1 yr inspection. Ours replaced almost 3/4 rth of a neighbor’s back yard! So don’t worry too much about the grass. 🙂
Just realized that my spam filter has been eating some of the comments. Will make sure to double check the spam folder before I delete it next time. So please bear with me if you don’t see your comment here.
Vidya