Decorating a porch that faces west

by Toni J.
(Shrewsbury, PA)

QUESTION: My front porch faces the west and gets a lot of sun and heat. It is also level to the ground with only one small step down. It has the standard white railings and white wooden columns, which at this time we do not want to change, but I do not know how to decorate my porch to get the warm country and welcoming feeling.

It is about 20' x 8' in size with a roof that has vinyl siding where you cannot hang anything from it. We live in PA and this is our first nice home together and we want it to look and feel good.

Can you provide any suggestions on how to decorate it? I would appreciate any advice.

ANSWER: Toni, so nice of you to visit our website and submit this great question. A front porch that faces west can be toasty in the summer.

My first suggestion is to create some shade on your porch. You will enjoy it so much more if it's shady with a little breeze blowing. Consider outdoor curtains, porch blinds or sun shades. An outdoor ceiling fan would also be such a welcome addition to your front porch. If that is not possible, due to your porch ceiling, you could easily use an outdoor floor fan - maybe one that's on a pedestal.

You can easily create your own outdoor curtains or purchase them. We have seen some attractive curtains made from painters drop cloths that you purchase at Home Depot. They come already hemmed. You would want to have enough curtains so that you can pull them across your porch when the sun is hitting your porch. Then in the evening, you can pull them back.


To give your porch some pleasing color and a country feel, how about a nice outdoor area rug? You can find them in so many gorgeous colors, patterns, sizes and shapes. Besides finding them online, you can also find them at home improvement stores. Just be sure it says "outdoor".



We have seen some fun ways that homeowners have jazzed up their porch floors with paint. Look at John and Sherry's porch makeover - their floor is striped.



Get some very comfortable porch furniture. You need not spend tons on it - sometimes you can find nice pieces at thrift stores or flea markets and refurbish them. A self-standing porch swing or porch glider would be fun. Make or buy some colorful cushions and add pillows like Diana did in the picture below.



Add a few chairs, a table or two and then some potted plants. You can hang planters over your rails or line your porch steps with heat-tolerant plants. Keep them watered!

Finally, add some outdoor lighting to your porch. Look for outdoor floor lamps or table top models (since you cannot hang anything from your ceiling). And don't be shy about hanging outdoor art on your walls. That's another way to give your porch a personal touch.

Decorating a porch is fun, Toni! We hope you enjoy trying some of these ideas to create a porch you will both love. We'd love to see how it turns out. Thank you, Toni.