The Front Porch

"Make your front porch a part of your home, and it will make you a part of the world." 

~ John Sarris

I have been working lately on fixing up our front porch for summer.

Would you like to see it?

Come on up!

I decided to do pink this year.

I may get a few more ferns, but this is what I've come up with so far...

I never think about the porch in the wintertime, but it always becomes one of my favorite places every summer!

Micah hung this white swing for us one of the very first summers we lived here.

I used to sit here to nurse and rock my babies...

This little iron table with plexiglass top is perfect for when I need to set my iced tea glass down.

I give it a fresh coat of white paint every two to three years...

I've never been one to spend a lot of money.

The rocking chairs on my porch are all hand-me-downs, and my mom found this little end table at a rummage sale for $5 and picked it up for us...

I want to show you something new that I'm trying, and ask what you think...

I always get 'sticker shock' every summer when buying annuals for my porch and planters. Spending a small fortune on flowers that I'll only get three months out of is a tough pill to swallow for me!

Does anyone else feel this way?!

So, this year I had an idea.

These boxwood trees were $29 each at my local nursery. 

They were adorable, and I thought, "Why can't I use these for my planters this summer, and then in the fall we'll plant them among our landscaping?"

Hmmm...

Am I on to something here?

Do any of you do this?

I figure I'll get a bigger bang outta my buck, since $29 is at least what I'd spend per planter on annuals!

And this way, we'll have them forever!!!

I love the way they look flanking my front door!

It's also important to me that whatever's in my planters looks good from inside the house, too!

I think it does!

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"Nobody thought much about the front porch when most Americans had them and used them. The great American front porch was just there, open and sociable, and unassigned part of the house that belonged to everyone. A place for family and friends to pass the time."

~Rochlin, The Front Porch, in Home, Sweet Home

We have really enjoyed our porch through the years.

My kids have brought toy cars and blocks out here to play...

I have visited with friends while our children have run around the yard...

Micah and I have snuck out here with bowls of ice cream after the kids have gone to bed...

Yes, this porch has been a happy and wonderful place for us!

(The kids spotted a beautiful rainbow on a warm night last summer...)

"In the evenings, as the outdoor air provided a cool alternative to the stuffy indoor temperatures, the entire family would move to the front porch," Reynolds Price wrote in "Out On The Porch." "The children might play in the front yard, while the parents rocked their chairs, dismissing the arduous labors and tasks of the day into relaxation and comfort. Stories might be told, advice garnered, or songs sung. Whatever the traditions and manners of the family might be could be offered in this setting. What the family room or TV room of post-World War II America would become, existed first as the front porch."

Oh, how I love this! 

It reminds me of what originally drew me to this old house.

History, character, and a sense of the past.

When Micah and I were growing up, we were accustomed to going to church every Sunday night. In recent years, however, our church discontinued its Sunday evening services. So, several years ago we made up what we called "Downs' Church" and would sit with the children on the front porch to sing together and have family devotions, every Sunday night.

(Downs' Church, four or five years ago...)

(Soren and Nola when they were babies...)

"Porches are as synonymous with American culture as apple pie."

~ from Kahn, Preserving Porches

Beautiful memories have been made here, and we continue to make them...

Thank you, friends, for joining me on my front porch today!

I wish you much happiness and laughter on your front porch this summer!

Love to you all...

xo,

~ Courtney ~