Porch Facelift Needed

by Jeff & Connie
(Lebanon, IL)

QUESTION: My husband and I are wanting to give our front porch a facelift and we are looking for suggestions as to what to do. We are looking for low maintenance. Our front porch is 140 sq ft or 6.5 x 21.5 feet. My husband is very handy and will probably be doing most the work himself.

The base of the porch and the steps are concrete. The floor of porch is also concrete but very ugly. It's been painted so many times by the previous home owner. Any suggestions on a good product to cover that. The front porch faces north which sees the morning sun.

The porch columns, rails, and porch ceiling are all wood. We are wanting to replace with something low maintenance. We also want to add some lighting to the front porch whether it be lights around the front door or something hanging from the ceiling. We are also looking at adding some sort of hand rail to the front porch steps. Currently we have nothing.

As you can tell by the pictures, it is an old country house and our work in progress. Over the years we have doubled the size of the home by adding a 2-car garage, 2-bath/utility room, and a bonus room above the garage. Looking at the pictures the skylight portion is all add on.

Looking forward to your input as to how we can take our old ugly porch and make it look more suitable to our house.

ANSWER: Thanks for writing to us, Connie and Jeff. Your home is very nice and you have a pretty porch. We have some ideas for updating your porch.

Update your porch railings and columns

First, we suggest updating your porch railings to a nice design like shown in the picture above. Also see the decorative features on the top of the porch columns. These columns are more substantial than your current porch posts.

You can find low-maintenance (pvc / vinyl) and attractive porch parts like this at Vintage Woodworks. See our porch parts page for more information about Vintage Woodworks.

Lighter landscaping around your porch

Rather than heavy shrubs around your porch, try a whimsical flower garden like Anna's porch shown above. We also love the first photo - colorful and low so that you can see the entire porch railings. Try a colorful mix of flowering perennials and greenery.

Several options for your concrete floor

You could put down interlocking deck tiles - except not on your porch stairs. Have you ever seen these? They are fun.




Or do concrete stamping or faux painting. (We're going to write about this soon - where you can make your concrete floor look like tile!)

Sconces would be nice for lighting

Sconces on either side of your front door would be charming. We think your porch ceiling may be too low for a hanging lamp.

Create a seating area with a table and include an outdoor table lamp or floor lamp. That would be especially appealing in the evening.

Add some trim for a vintage look

If you want a vintage look to your porch, Vintage Woodworks is a wonderful place to check out. See them on our porch parts page for more information.

We hope these suggestions are helpful. Have fun with your porch facelift. We'd love to see pictures when you are done. Thanks bunches for writing to us.

My best,
Mary