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John and Sherry's Porch Makeover

Way cool ideas to transform a porch

This is a story of a porch makeover. John and Sherry of Young House Love participated in the Home Depot and BHG's 48-hour challenge.

They had one weekend and $500 to transform the plain front porch of their Richmond, Virginia home. Their goal was to turn their porch into an outside room that was light and airy like the inside of their home.

What would you do with $500 and one weekend to give your porch a face lift? Let's see what John and Sherry did.

BEFORE the porch makeover!

Before porch makeover

And voila! AFTER the porch makeover

After porch makeover

Another picture of their light and airy new porch

Porch makeover close-up

How they did it

Their project consisted of "painting, building, sewing, and hanging".

First, they painted their old dark-planked porch with alternating tan and cream stripes. Painting the floor in stripes actually makes the porch appear larger. It's clean, airy, and unique!

Mary and I really love the way their porch floor turned out. A simple yet very creative idea.

Here you can see the "before" floor and then after. Wow, what a difference.

Before painting the floor After painting stripes on floor

Sherry and John also painted their black planters in a cream color to go with the cream in the flooring. It's a nice way to tie them together for a very cohesive look as you can see here.

For seating they purchased and assembled a comfortable wooden glider which fits nicely in the space.

Planter table

Planters can become an integral part of your decorating scheme if you paint them in either complementary or contrasting colors. You can see why here.

Need a chair-side table? How about turning a planter into one?

Sherry and John made a little side table with a large planter and a terra cotta saucer that they sealed, painted and used as the top.

They now have a place for their magazines or umbrella drinks.

They also made their porch pet-friendly for Burger, their dog. They purchased a green paisley lounge chair cushion, cut it in half, and re-sewed it into two all-weather comfort pillows for Burger. How neat is that? Notice that Burger's cushions complement their color scheme.

Also check out the feeding station they built for Burger. Talking about a dog living the good life.

Burger the porch makeover dog

To add additional color and texture, Sherry and John purchased two hanging ferns. Symmetrically placed, the ferns act as abstract dividers without inhibiting their view.

The green and cream planters along with the green paisley outdoor pillows pull the entire porch together.

Porch makeover - using ferns

Notice how the tan outdoor door mat in the picture below complements the stripes in the porch floor, the cherry red door, and the glider.

Porch makeover - red door planter detail

To finalize their project John and Sherry came up with an ingenious idea - hanging candle holders. They used inexpensive thick-ribbed glass bulb covers and wire from Home Depot to make these decorative lanterns.

Porch makeover candle lights

Although not part of the contest we just wanted to point out their porch railings. This unique pattern really dresses up their porch and adds a lot of curb appeal. Notice the charming lanterns. Even in the daylight, they add a touch of magic.

Porch makeover - porch railings

We appreciate Sherry and John sharing their porch makeover with us. It turned out great! You can learn more about their porch transformation at Young House Love.