I wish I had taken better "before" & "during" photos of this upgrade to my front porch. However, when I did it, I wasn't expecting to post the project. Thanks to the encouragement from my friend, Zaina, I decided to post some of the tips I used in giving my porch a little make over for NO money!
My porch was neutral. When we moved to this house, I used left over things to decorate it. It was boring and needed some color! Every day when I walked into the house, I would think to myself, "I really need to do something to this porch!"
I was recently interviewed for an article in our local newspaper. The last question I was asked was, "Is there anything else you would like to add?" My response fits perfectly with this project. I said, "Great design does not have to cost a lot of money..." That is so true!
So, here are a few tips to Update Your Porch for FREE:
- Shop your house & use what you have!
- If you look around your house or garage, you will be surprised at what you already have laying around or in storage. Take a walk around your house and collect little things you can use. Don't worry about the color. Look at shape and function & make a "pile" of useable items. I had the three stars hanging on my side/screen porch that no one ever uses. Ok, that is because I store all of my "to be worked on" furniture out there, but that is not the point! :)
- Stage before you change!
- Before you put any "work" into the items you are going to use, stage your porch. Put all the items where you think you want to use them. Fluff the pillows, move the plants and hang things. Make sure any items you are going to work on are usable. So, decide what works and put the rest away. I had some little tins in my craft drawer. I put all of my plants in them. Using the same container made them "go together."
- Paint!
- I had some left over paint from a previous project, so that is what I used here {FREE}! Things that normally might not go together can be painted the same color & magically become a family of objects that look hand selected and welcoming. For example: Do you see that post in the middle of my plants? That was a wood and black painted block of decorative wood (maybe off of a fence) that I painted. I put a plant on top & voila! And, the stars? I painted just one, the large one, to tie into my decor.
- My seat covers needed to be reupholstered. They were dingy and stained from being outside. With just coat of paint (yes, on fabric!) they look great!
- Be Creative!
- I have had that burlap colored pillow on my porch since we moved here. Nothing special about it. Until....
I used my Silhouette to cut out a vinyl sticker that says "Jacobs Nest." I then pulled the letters out, leaving the negative space. I applied that "stencil" to the pillow, dapped it with paint & pulled the vinyl off. I think this is my favorite thing of the day. Completely custom! {and FREE}
Put a little thought into it, use your hands & make something fabulous!
Side Note: The paint used in this project is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Provence.
