A Quick Front Porch Spruce Up & Blue Shutters

Front porch when we moved in.

Let's talk about how much we're itching to upgrade the curb appeal. We keep thinking we're going to do it. We talk about it all the time. We walk outside and discuss our plans, saying that this Saturday will be the day. And then Sunday rolls around, and it's not done. And then the next week goes by. The next month. When you're installing a bathroom, nothing else gets done.

But, we see our front porch every day, and this year, I decided to just do a few small, easy things to make it look like someone lives here (because honestly, with all the overgrown foliage and general state of the outside, you can't really tell that people dwell here). And then, this past Spring, I also painted our shutters blue to give the exterior a happier facade, and we finally were able to get them all back up. The general exterior of our house needs love - love that we can't provide at the moment. It needs a seriously good power wash, a ton of weeding and general lawn maintenance and a few homey touches to complete it. But, the few small things we did to our front porch area give it enough life to carry us over until we have the time for some serious landscaping.

Starting with our front door! We painted it mint green. And I'm kind of really excited about it. I have a mint green obsession. I want this color in all aspects of my life, and it just makes me happy. I just went for it one day, and it really adds a cheery brightness to the exterior. The color we chose is Carried Away by Benjamin Moore.

Next, we got some hanging flower baskets and a new doormat. Nothing insanely exciting, but it's the little things, you know?

And then, we bought shutters for our porch window, which is actually our kitchen sink window. This was the only window on the front of our house that didn't have shutters, so adding them was a natural decision.

We also added a new sconce light. The existing one wasn't bad, but it just wasn't quit the style we were looking for. So we picked out one that was more bronze (instead of black) and looked a little more cottage-y.

My mom got us these sheep planters as a Christmas gift last year, and they're kind of amazing. I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I have a thing for sheep, and these are perfect.

Finally, we made an adjustment to the hanging sign that's attached to the shelf on our porch. I love that our front porch has a shelf - perfect for storing all kinds of yard-related things. When we moved in, a sign that said, "Santa's Helpers" hung from it, and while it was so cute and endearing, and went with our Christmas tree farm, we're not in a place to make the farm a business right now and it didn't make a lot of sense for us. So, we flipped it over, and I decided to paint Welcome on it, on a total whim one night. And I love it. It's not perfect because I have the world's worst penmanship, but I love that it's totally imperfect and homespun.

Shutters when we moved in.

Newly-painted shutters.

Not a terribly dramatic makeover, but it's enough to put a smile on my face for now. We do plan to paint our other front door the same mint green, but we're actually replacing that door completely in the next few months, so no sense it doing it until we get the new one! Finally, when I pull up to our house after work, it looks like people actually live here, and that's such a good thing.