Thursday, March 8, 2012

Front Porch...extension of the interior

Utilizing the front porch of a home is a great way to extend your living space and give some personality and style to your exterior space.

With this unusually mild Chicago winter, I was motivated to sweep and clean my porch area earlier than I normally do. 

Even if you don't have a covered porch, a chair, bench, plants, and door decorations are a way to enhance your entry area.

Since my porch is covered, I have more flexibility to add items normally used for the interior of your home.

I used the same principles with how I decorate the inside of my home.  

I have an indoor/outdoor area rug, wall hangings, furniture, lighting and accessories.     


 I hung this wrought iron piece on the brick.
My brick is my color inspiration for the space.

I painted the door in 2 colors 
I pulled from the brick colors.  
 I added table lines, but tacked them on the underside and weighted it down with the lantern so they did not blow away.
 I added this small buffet piece which stores sidewalk chalk, salt for icy days, and the Scrabble game which we like to play 
when it is warmer outside.
 The wicker chairs are intended for the outdoors but the throw pillows make them feel like more of an interior piece. 
 The area rug warms up the cement and pulls the colors from the brick and 
the accessories together. 
 We do have an overhead light but I prefer the lamp.   It adds a cozy feel to the porch especially in the evening as shown below.

 When guests are coming over or I am planning on spending time outside, I light the candle in the lantern.




I am ready to spend more time out here....
hurry up spring!

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