In Love with My Front Porch

Those of us living in warm climates love our porches.  We have fans for the heat and to keep those pesky mosquitoes at bay.  I love my own front porch and have spent and will spend many hours there.  It is an extended living area for us and our friends.  We enjoy coffee, reading, listening to hours of music, cocktails and an occasional glass of wine and many times a meal.  Of course we also nap here.  The weather controls when we can use our porch.

Seating area used when mosquitoes have hibernated

A welcome to all who enter

Caladiums, ferns, and frogs

When we have a large crowd gathered, we extend the party to the front porch and put a #5 washtub out full of cool drinks.  Weather permitted, we have been known to use our outdoor porches from March to December. 

Porches look so inviting when set up as a room, so I follow the same design principles that I use when designing a room.  I include several sources of light and a conducive seating arrangement.  When the weather allows, we open the french doors to the dining room which makes this the perfect spot for after dinner drinks or desert.

Seating for seven or eight folks

French doors to dining

Fountain with light and lamp provide ambient light.

I use candelabras, lamp light, a lighted fountain and up lights to create a good night time mood.  I hung a number of Delta Bells from McCarty Pottery that are up lit, so pretty at night.  If you look closely you can just see them in the corner of the photo above. 

And at the end of a long day, if we are lucky and the weather is just right, we enjoy a meal together on our porch.

Dinner on the porch

With just a small amount of effort we can all fall in love with our front porches.