It’s FINALLY done. By “it”, I mean the all-consuming, weekend-stealing, back-aching project that has been this front porch makeover. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had an absolute blast doing it, but I’d be lying if I said it was all rainbows and unicorns the whole way. I think my husband, Jonny, and I are both very ready for a break from projects. When we started this, we thought that business might slow down, and we’d need something to fill our time. Luckily, we were very wrong, and I’m so grateful that both of our work schedules have been full, but I’ve also learned not to take on a big project like this in the middle of my busiest season of the year. I’m a Realtor, and Jonny is a real estate developer, so spring and summer are our prime times for work each year.

Though it was a lot of work, and definitely turned into a much bigger project than we expected, we’re both so happy we did it. We turned the front of our house from a cute, under-loved bungalow into a beautiful space where we now love spending breezy summer afternoons. We’ve already gotten to spend time using the space with my parents and our neighbors, and the seating is conveniently located on opposite ends of the 24 foot long porch–perfect for social distancing!

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to where we started, because we all love a good before and after. Here’s the house the day we bought it, March 1, 2019. Please notice the actual brick on the roof from the crumbling chimney. I didn’t notice this in the photo until MONTHS later when Jonny pointed it out, and now it makes me laugh every time. This poor house needed a lot of love.

We had the floor painted, but those giant ugly purple bushes were still such an eyesore. Still, this is where we were when we started this project way back in March of 2020. The roof was replaced right after we bought it, the walkway was painted to match, but it had already started chipping.

If you missed the in-between photos, just click back a couple blog posts to see the progression. And now, without further ado, let’s get to the good stuff–today! These photos were taken by my good friend Rachel Breakey this past weekend.

Here’s what we completed for this project:

• Pulled all the old plants (except for a few hydrangeas and a rose bush) from the flowerbeds–about 100 linear feet of flowerbeds in total
• Pulled 10 stumps of bushes and one sad tree from the flowerbeds and yard (yes, ten… had no idea we had that many.)
• Replanted all those dang flowerbeds
• Painstakingly pressure washed and paint stripped no less than four different colors and many more layers of paint off of the porch floor and front sidewalk
• Accidentally killed all the phlox in the flowerbeds along the sidewalk with paint stripper (don’t worry–they came back).
• Painted the porch ceiling haint blue
• Painted the porch floor
• Decided to touch up the house paint, columns, railings, windows, door, and trim. Who knew we had seven different paint colors to touch up? Also news to me: Jonny loves prepping with painters tape, which I hate, and he hates painting, which I love. We’re meant to be.
• Built a daybed swing
• Decided that if we are building a daybed swing, we also need one for our dog
• Decided that while we’re at it, we might as well build some adorable individual swings for the other end of the porch
• Had to cut open the side of the porch ceiling to make sure there was a stud and we weren’t going to have a lawsuit on our hands the moment anyone sat in the little swings and fell off the edge of the porch and into a rosebush
• Spray painted the old plant stand I bought at Aldi when we moved into our first apartment
• Potted ferns and flowers
• Bought 10 rugs because I wanted to make sure we got the perfect one (Not kidding. Decision fatigue was kicking in at that point, and now I have a lot of returns to make)
• Ordered fabric for the daybed swing and Hank’s daybed, only to have it arrive less than 24 hours before we had photos scheduled.
• Worked deliriously into the night with my mom sewing the daybed covers (and learned how to sew a French mattress seam in the process)
• Arranged everything and actually made myself presentable just in time for photos.

I’d say that all in all, it was a much bigger project than we anticipated, and I am SO glad we did it. If you need me, I’ll be sipping mint juleps on my front porch all summer, just staring at my pretty blue ceiling and wondering why I made a dog bed out of expensive white fabric.

♥

Grace