A Front Porch Refresh
We’ve had a lovely stretch of weather here in Charlotte (minus this massive storm that’s happening as I write this) and it might have given me a bit of Spring fever.
Whatever the reason, I’m thankful to have finished our front porch refresh while the weather was still good.
After the holidays, the porch was left with little more than sad wilted brown greenery. Can NOT handle that.
First steps: layer in a fresh door mat and hit Pinterest for winter porch inspiration.
Not usually a wreath person, I was inspired by an image, found a wreath on the cheap and decided to give it a go … anything to knock out the doldrums of Winter.
Still not sure about the wreath, if I am being honest, but it works…for now.
On the search to add more interest to the front, I also played around with the idea of a new layout.
Please note the words: PLAYED and IDEA.
Because in the end, I didn’t stray too far from what we had.
But, I did move the corner planter near the wall to the back to fully embrace the shade situation, while the planter to the right of the door moved forward to take in the sun.
That break from my ongoing love affair with symmetry is a big deal, a REAL big deal!
As everyone knows by now, our household is on a budget. A tight budget. We’re not in the position to spend mucho dinero on plants. Time to get creative.
Enter the green glass fishing float. It fills the planter, adds loads of interest and I already had it.
Check, Check and Check.
I also incorporated some of what I already had - namely the creeping jenny and the miniature cabbage/kale guys.
New purchases included the lavender, rosemary and violas.
Of course, one can’t stop there. The new fully shaded planter needed to be considered, too.
I pulled an old boxwood from a planter in the back (it’s certainly seen better days and might very well be replaced come Spring time, but works for now) and added a holly fern to my existing coral bells and creeping jenny.
To further throw the symmetry off I kept the lantern and cement orb. What is happening??!?!?1?
With the front porch actually looking like someone cared about it, the planter in the yard started calling to me. Feeling all sad and neglected, he needed some love, too.
This is a big guy and requires a big plant or a lot of smaller plants. I followed my original idea and added my existing large scale orb to the planter, which allowed me to save on a potential multi-plant expense.
Plus, I’m digging how it speaks to the green glass float and ties in the cement orb on the porch … making it all seem like one big happy family.
Again, I kept the coral bells, creeping jenny and cabbages I had and incorporated new rosemary, viola and heather ( I think that’s what it’s called, at least).
Creativity through necessity for the win.
Oh, and our awning needs a serious clean …
Anywho, for those of you wondering where one finds glass floats, I usually carry them in my shop in the Spring. Also debating carrying the cement orbs, too. Thoughts?
Special thanks to my super model pup, Annie the Pooghan, who always keeps things entertaining.
Until next time,