By Dave and Mary

Front Porch Ideas for an Amazing Porch

Begin Your Porch Transformation Here!

Our front porch ideas will make your porch bloom in spring, sizzle in summer, colorful in autumn, and festive in winter.

Mary and I enjoy porches and value the time we get to spend on them. We enjoy them so much we created an entire website about them!

No matter the season, type, size, or design of your porch, there are a myriad of things you can do to create curb appeal, provide comfort, entertain, landscape, and so much more.

Transform a small porch into a usable fun area, divide a large wrap-around porch into separate living areas, or build the porch of your dreams.


Our reader, Sandy, shares how her CapeCode house was transformed with the addition of a new porch
See more of Sandy's porch addition
It is always fun to see just how much new front porch ideas and designs along with porch decorating ideas can change the overall appeal of a home. Even subtle changes can make a dramatic impact as well.


Home Rebuilder Before Picture Home Rebuilder's After Porch Renovation
Photos courtesy of Home Rebuilders, Atlanta GA
Mary and I really like how this remodel (below) changed the overall appearance of this home.


The Before Porch Remodel
Photo courtesy of rbarends



The After Remodel Results
Photo courtesy of rbarends
Our front porch ideas and designs sections have just about every style porch under the sun, from country porches to Victorian porches to bungalow porches and more! We have a generous amount of front porch ideas, porch pictures and porch plans to inspire you.

Watch Our Video: We Love Porches

We love porches like you do!



A Long Island Front Porch

We are excited to share Sandy's new front porch. As you can see below from the before and after photos, her porch has an amazing impact on the curb appeal of her home.

Mary and I are very pleased our front porch ideas played a small role as Sandy writes - "Your site has been so helpful to us with questions that arose during the planning stage..."

Photos courtesy of Sandy D.

Before Sandy's New Porch


Sandy's Cape Cod house without a porch
Sandy's new porch



Sandy's Cape Cod house with a new porch - what a wonderful transformation. Get front porch ideas on www.front-porch-ideas-and-more.com

Notice the lattice panels on the end of Sandy's porch (in the above photo). Lattice panels are perfect to use for increasing the ventilation needed under your porch. Moisture is your porch's nemesis and will eventually degrade your porch flooring if not controlled.


Gable Roof Design Over Front Steps

gable roof over front door


Decorative Beadboard Ceiling, Arched Front Door, and Hanging Light


gable with beadboard ceiling


Sandy used Azek ® porch boards and really loves her new front porch. She was amazed at how adding a front porch with a combination shed and gable roof changed the appearance of her home. Not only that, she now gets to enjoy having an outdoor living area - fun for the entire family.


Sandy's beautiful Cape Cod home with her new porch


Sandy just sent this updated photo of her home a couple years later. Still as beautiful as ever. Eventually her porch steps got scuff marks and she found that one of those "magic type of erasers" with some water worked to remove them.

Now that's a front porch idea for keeping things looking nice! Test it first though.




Front Porch Ideas for a Victorian Front Porch Renovation

We are happy to share with you Deborah's porch renovation of her 1889 home.


historical home with craftsman columns on front porch
Before Deborah's restoration - 2011
Deborah's home pictured above was built in 1889 by John Nelson, a prominent local stone and brick contractor. He immigrated from Sweden in the late 1860's with his partner Samuel Johanson.

She was never really satisfied with the 1920's rebuild of her porch, especially the craftsman style porch columns. So using photos of her sister's house (built in 1889) she rebuilt the porch to something similar to the original.


historical home renovated with accessible wheelchair porch ramp
After the porch restoration - an amazing transformation - 2013
Deborah received assistance from the local Landmarks Commission as to what would be and what would not be acceptable. She was granted permission to add a handicap accessible ramp. The thought given to the porch was easy compared to constructing an ADA ramp and keeping it historically sensitive.

The porch railing is the result of viewing thousands of photos online and in period books from a local library. Because the Victorians liked the new things brought about by the industrial revolution, Deborah used exterior porcelain tile over hardy board for the porch flooring.

Mary and I love how Deborah integrated the accessible ramp; it is one of the best front porch ideas we've seen. We appreciate Deborah for sharing her pictures with us.

Here are a few more pictures she generously shared...


Beautifully restored Queen Anne Porch


Another view of this beautifully restored Queen Anne Porch


Front Porch Ideas and More is about how you can transform your porch from the ordinary to the extraordinary as illustrated by the photos above. Mary and I travel across the country to find unique and interesting ideas and porch pictures to share with you.

It's amazing what remodeling the front porch area can do for a home. It instantly creates immense curb appeal and adds real value to any home.


front porch decorated with red

You don't have to remodel; however, to make an impressive difference. Furnishing, painting, and landscaping, to included potted plants or colorful hanging baskets, can add immense appeal as well.




Get Started Transforming Your Home

anatomy page porch topics
Front Porch Designs Illustrator Tool
Our porch design illustrator is perfect for envisioning how a porch changes the appearance of a home. Using the same ranch or two-story home, we use 3D-renderings to show various porch configurations.


anatomy page front porch topics
Front Porch Anatomy
We cover every aspect of a porch, from the foundation to the roof and everything in between.

Find information on flashing, flooring, balusters, ceilings, exterior house trim and so much more.


front porch railing and columns
Porch railings and columns
The right railings and columns can transform almost any porch. Choose from a wide variety of styles to complement both your front porch and home.




decorated front porch by jolynn Porch Decorating Ideas

No matter the season, we have a myriad of front porch decorating ideas.

Not only that, we have many submissions by our site visitors who share porch photos and decorating projects with us - we are excited for you to see their beautifully decorated porches.


perennial flowers in front of porch
Front yard landscaping
Use our front yard landscaping ideas to complement and enhance the appearance of your porch.

Want privacy? Use landscaping techniques to create your own private hideaway just right for dining or quiet conversation.




Take Your Porch from Simple...

front porch before adding vintage porch parts
Before porch remodel



To Beautiful "Vintage"

After adding vintage porch parts to front porch
Photos courtesy of Vintage Woodworks
After remodel with vintage porch parts - WOW!


For the Love of a Porch

Porch stories - porch dreams

Sometimes it takes sacrifice and vision to get your porch. Read Jen and Kelly's stories.


On The Road - Perhaps Coming to a Town Near You

You'll find these and other front porch ideas throughout our site. We even travel across the country to bring you fantastic porch ideas!


Typical Beach Home Porch
Lewes, Delaware



Typical Country Porch design
Near Sevierville, Tennessee

Time to Build a Porch?

building rafters for new front porch

If you're planning to build a porch or screen porch or are a do-it-yourself kind of person, we have oodles of tips, information, and steps to building and designing a porch.

We Have Screened Porches Also

Nancy Moore, President/Owner of The Porch Company in Nashville, Tennessee, summarizes her "ideal porch".

Nancy's Perfect Porch Must-Haves

  • Easy maintenance
  • Natural or artificial (fans) breezes all the time
  • Really, really comfortable furniture



combination front and screened porch We are excited to show you The Porch Company's custom screen porch design and build gallery.

You'll be amazed at not only the custom designs but also at her decorating and furnishing ideas too.

Not only that, we show you how to build a screened porch and other options as well such as using screen porch windows.

Our friend and porch expert, Nancy Moore, (who builds amazing screen porches) shares lots of insider tips.




Front porch ideas collage
You've come to the right place for porch ideas!

Have Fun Exploring Our Front Porch Ideas

Now it's time to use try out some of our porch ideas - add your own creativity - and make the most of your porch. Have fun, put your feet up, and enjoy our front porch ideas!

We hope you enjoy all the front porch ideas you find here.


That's Not All, We Can Help You Too
A Sampling of Our Readers' Questions

Q: "I have a large Victorian porch and I want to remove the railings. The porch is at ground level in front but is about 36" off the ground in the rear."

Reply: We always recommend complying with local building codes and in this case you would typically need a railing on the rear of the porch. (Most local codes require a railing if the porch is more than 30 inches from the ground). However, you could landscape the rear area around the porch to bring the ground up to a sufficient height thus alleviating the railing requirement!


Q: "I have a small porch and a smaller budget. What can I do to increase the size of my porch to make it more usable".

Reply: Many homes have very small porches and if you can't build on to it, consider building a patio porch beside your small front porch. You can easily expand your porch by creating a patio area adjacent to it. Use inexpensive patio pavers to create the patio floor, add landscaping around the patio, and furnish without door rockers or a bistro set (we show you how). For privacy, select a few higher-growing shrubs to conceal all or part of the patio area.


Q: "I'd like to use our porch more often but it gets too hot in the afternoon. What can we do to keep it cooler?".

Reply: Try porch shades or curtains. There are wonderful outdoor materials available that will last a long time and are very durable. Awnings may be another option; some are retracted manually or are motorized (some even have wind sensors). Another option, depending on your local humidity levels, might be a porch misting system.


Q: "Can you install porch curtains in Australia?"

Reply: Yes, if you pay our airfare and expenses, we'd love to come.






Mary and Dave, Founders of Front Porch Ideas and More
Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches. You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.

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We make no guarantees of accuracy or completeness of information on our site or any links to other websites contained here.


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Mary and Dave, Founders of Front Porch Ideas and More
Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches. You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.
--- Our Sponsors ---
The Porch Store

Use the PCA Visualizer to design your screen door

Shop for Porch Parts at Vintage Woodworks.

--- End Sponsors ---
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Get in touch with pre-screened local professionals for work you need done

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At no extra cost to you, we earn a commission by referring you to some products on merchant sites. See our disclosure policy.
We, Front Porch Ideas and More, confirm, as stated on our privacy policy, that we do not sell personal information.

All content here is solely for presenting ideas. We recommend consulting with a licensed, experienced contractor before you begin your project.
We make no guarantees of accuracy or completeness of information on our site or any links to other websites contained here.


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