Front porch… before pictures.
The day we moved in, our front porch looked like this:
Like maybe we were in the jungle. Or Key West. It was really private—which I loved. It had an overgrown, Grey Gardens vibe. Which was pleasing in a dramatic way. Like I might become a person who wears scarves and doesn’t clean the house, and eats tinned caviar for dinner.
The ratty, camp-like vibe made me feel like I was transported to a summer cabin from Dirty Dancing.
Some things were less appealing— our previous owner had a fondness for orange. Particularly on ceilings. And there is a whole lot of porch ceiling. Across the front, and around the side.
There was also this issue, below. At one time, the porch only ran the front of the house. The previous owner decided to expand and wrap around the side. A great plan… but like a lot of his projects, left unfinished. The scar from the old roofline was left untouched.
So the porch has been left like this for over two years now. But it’s the next project. We won’t have purple doors much longer. Or a bright orange ceiling.
RELATED POSTS
- We begin repairing the porch
- Choosing a color scheme, finally painting over all the purple!
- Front Porch stain debacle. Where I hate the Cabot stain we chose.
June 7, 2012 @ 11:04 am
Victoria,
Maybe the orange ceiling is a bit much but you can see the good bones of the porch and your house through it. I’m going to enjoy seeing what improvements you make and how it looks in the end.
Karen
June 7, 2012 @ 12:11 pm
It will really be a nice space when it’s finished… I got used to it being so shabby, but every once in a while I’d come up the front steps and see it with that flash of “real vision,” where you take fresh note of something you’re accustomed to and see just how bad it looks!
June 7, 2012 @ 11:54 am
You’re so funny! I think you would look good in an Edie scarf – dah-ling! I have no doubt that this project will be amazing… and lots of hard work. I love porches. I wish the weather here in Texas wasn’t so awful and humid. Yours is a porch I could sit on for hours. It’s crazy that a homeowner would leave such a “scar” like that. Will it be hard to fix? (Silly question, I guess… with Paul around!)
June 7, 2012 @ 12:14 pm
Oh, it will only involve gutting out the broken pieces to fit in new pieces that match perfectly… la la la… no trouble at all. The degree of difficulty will hinge on whether we can find replacement siding. It’s thicker and wider than anything we’ve found so far AND has a tongue and groove… So if Paul has to mill something himself, that could be… tricky. To say the least.
I DO hear you about the summers in Texas. HOWEVER. I have not forgotten that you have nice, ripe, home-grown tomatoes. Right NOW.
June 7, 2012 @ 12:49 pm
Well I have total confidence in your abilities and feel certain you guys will pull that off without too much trouble. I’ll be taking notes, for sure!
V, you’re so thoughtful to remember the small details about my life/garden. I love that about you! At the moment I have tomatoes everywhere! We’re overflowing with bowls of them. I wish I could share with you!! Nothing would please me more.
June 9, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
Did I not comment on this post? I was going to say that you have your work cut out for you, and that that is one crazy shade of orange on the ceiling. Yikes!
June 13, 2012 @ 9:24 am
“Work cut out… crazy… yikes.” Yes that about sums it up!
July 1, 2013 @ 11:28 pm
what color did you paint the ceiling of your porch.
November 23, 2016 @ 5:57 am
I have porch envy! in the UK it’s rare to find a home with a porch, and even these before pictures I just think.. what a beautiful space! love it.