All Decked Out for Summer

Just because your porch is separate from the main portion of your home doesn't mean you should treat it as an outsider! Start thinking of your porch as another room in your home that just happens to be outside. Make sure it's decked out this year so that it can provide you with another place to read, relax, entertain, or just contemplate nature.

Treat your porch as another room in your home, and you will increase your entertaining options. By combining an assortment of textures, shapes, and patterns, your porch will become an inviting place to entertain the troops or just curl up and relax with a good book. Don't confine yourself to using only plastic and all-weather patio furniture. Many of the same pieces that are used indoors may also be used outdoors as long as your porch is covered. Wicker and wood along with metal and wire make good choices for furniture. Add pillows and a colorful throw to a rattan sofa or day bed, to help transform the look from porch to outside room. Coordinate chair cushions, placemats, tablecloths, flowers, wall hangings, rugs, etc., just as you would inside your home.

Hang a candelabra over a dining table to set a cozy and romantic mood for dining. If your porch is dark or uninviting at one end, try adding a mirror in that area to reflect a garden or the candelabra giving you twice the glow. And, don't forget the plants-big ones, small ones, bright ones, and tall ones. For extra contrast mix the colors and patterns of your plants by including some with variegated striped foliage in reds, purples, and yellows that will continue to delight after their blooms have gone by. Hang them from the rafters or step-ladders, or plant them in window boxes, watering cans, wagons, old boots, driftwood, or antique baskets.

If you lack privacy at one end, try making a three or four-place room divider out of outdoor shutters screwed together to block out the view. You can then paint the shutters to coordinate with the color scheme of your room. Another thought is to hang a roll-up rattan blind over an open area that can be raised and lowered as needed to block out the sun or an unsightly area. If bad weather moves in and it really begins to blow, how about hanging clear plastic shower curtains from rods strung across the open area. They can easily be pulled across the opening to block out the wind and rain but not the view. After the storm has passed, they can be easily pulled back to virtually disappear into the wall.

A porch doesn't have to be fancy but it should be fun and comfortable. Not everything has to match perfectly. You should feel free to mix and match patterns and textures with summery colors blending harmoniously with the scenery outside.

One of my clients recently asked me for suggestions on how she could transform a dreary concrete slab floor on her front porch into something more inviting. She said it not only was dull and drab, but also always looked unkempt. Because this was the main entrance to her home, she wanted it to be cheerful, bright and clean.

I told my client about a technique I recently used on someone else's concrete porch floor that received rave reviews. The first step was coming up with a design plan that would fit all of her criteria. She wanted something easy to maintain, colorful and unique. Because concrete is so porous, I decided to use a concrete stain so that it would soak in easily and not flake off. Also, it is easy to maintain by simply hosing down when necessary to keep a fresh clean look.

Before I began staining, I thoroughly cleaned the concrete surface with a little bleach and water solution mixed with a lot of elbow grease. Then I let it dry completely. Sometimes this process can take up to two days-depending on the weather. The next step required applying several coats of silicon acrylic concrete stain to the concrete slab, letting each coat dry completely before applying the next.

Now I was ready for the piece de resistance-painting a faux rug on top of the newly stained concrete. The rug was inspired by my client's location at the seashore and the designs I painted on the rug were of the ocean, sailboats and seashells. I purchased several ready-made stencils of sailboats, seashells and borders and then filled in the rest of the rug with some free hand details for extra personality. Now this customized one-of-a-kind porch always looks all decked out and ready for company!

This unique application would work well on any concrete porch or entry area to your home. Your design inspiration could come from your garden, a hobby, a painting, or a vacation. You'll be amazed how quickly your project can come together with just a little stain, a few stencils, and your imagination.