I shared our front porch refresh earlier this week, and wanted to follow up with a cost breakdown and source list for those looking for a similar look as well as my own resource for when I need to replace something, or just remember where I got it and how much it cost!




Let’s start with the products I bought.  Unfortunately, the furniture set from Bed, Bath and Beyond is no longer available, but I found something comparable and not a thousand dollars.  The rest are all exact products, but some are on clearance, so they eventually may sell out as well.

COST BREAKDOWN
Mirror	$39.99
Pouf	$64.99
Outdoor Rug (5’x7’)	$53.99
4-Piece Conversation Set	$249.99
Gold Planter	$24.95
Black Planter	$39.99
Blue Pillow ($26.99x2)	$53.98
Black Striped Pillow	$33.00
Watercolor Palm Leaves Pillow ($33.00x2)	$66.00
Large Black Lantern	$13.98
Small Black Lantern	$6.98
Concrete Citronella Candle	$8.49
Citron 3 Wick Candle	$13.59
Large Silver Lantern	$31.99
Small Silver Lantern	$23.99
Gold Drum Table	$20.98
Plants (approximate)	$80.00
TOTAL	$840.86

This cost isn’t exactly what I spent.  Some of the items I got a discount on like using a 20% off coupon for the furniture from BBB, and others I already had like the black lanterns which were gifts.  But, it’s a good representation of what it would cost to buy all of these items to recreate this look.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the cost and extremely happy with the results!


We continue to love this space and I’m happy I’ve finally gotten it right after almost 4 1/2 years!
If there are any other questions about specific items, or something you see that I didn’t mention, just let me know!  For see all these items, as well as some that I didn’t end up using or things that I might buy in the future, check out my Front Porch board on Pinterest.

I mentioned back in May that I was revisiting my earlier plans to decorate the porch.  I had bought new furniture and a new rug, but needed to add some layers and to pull everything together.  Well I finished, and finally took photos!

Just because Mike’s leaving for a few months doesn’t mean I’ll stop decorating!  I may even do it more since he won’t be around to call me crazy.  (Just kidding Sweetie, I won’t change a single thing while you’re gone, HA!)

The furniture and rug were nice, but it needed a lot of accessories to make it awesome.

Before:

and After:

To connect the chairs I added a gold drum table I scored on clearance from Target. 

I wanted a pouf for additional seating and to kick my feet up on (I usually sit in the chairs, while Mike lounges on the couch) and after trying this one from Target, I settled on this gray knit pouf from World Market.  Both were comfy, but the knit one is firmer, and I didn’t like the giant stitching on the other.

I was stumped for a long time on how to fill that area between the windows.  I saw this wicker mirror from Target on sale and grabbed it wondering if I was crazy to put a mirror on the porch.  A couple days later I saw Julia from Cuckoo4Design use a couple mirrors in outdoor settings and knew my idea would work!  

I tried using the heavy duty/waterproof command strips, but the hook wouldn’t lay flat against the siding and didn’t have enough connection to stay up.  Mike suggested some vinyl siding hooks and I found a pack of hooks small enough on Amazon to work.  These clips fit right into the siding seam and can hold up to 5 pounds.  The only problem was that I was limited by the seam of the siding on the height.  I had the mirror a little lower, but had to move it up for the clip.  It doesn’t bother me at the moment, but I may use some fishing wire to hang it a little lower.

I had a heck of a time finding outdoor pillows I liked, but finally found several from Society6.  I also came across these Zuma Stripe Indoor/Outdoor Pillows from Pottery Barn and grabbed 2 of those, then picked a couple coordinating ones from Society6 from my short-list.

I went with two Beverly II Throw Pillow by THE AESTATE and one TX01 Throw Pillow by Georgiana Paraschiv.  I bought the inserts from Society6 as well, but I wasn’t that impressed with them.  Next time I’ll buy them separately.

They don’t necessarily look like they match, but the coordinate well together.  And they make me happy!

The porch itself has a lot of neutral colors with the tan siding and carpeting, and white trim.  I tried to stick to a simple palette of natural wood, blues, greens, metallics, and black. 

The plants bring in a lot of the green, while the pots and small accessories, like these lanterns I was gifted with at my wedding shower years ago, add the black elements.

I also picked up these Threshold lanterns (in small and large) from Target.  I bought the giant plant pot and saucer from Ikea before I found this massive fern at the grocery store.  I’ve already under-watered it from the brown leaves I see, but I’m determined for another grocery store success story like my Japanese maple.  I also added the metal “M” that’s the match to the one in our basement family room.  My sister gave it back to me after using it in her apartment for a few years and I honestly didn’t know what to do with it!

The only thing I had in my plans that didn’t get included was a overhead fan.  I have dreams of a giant fan keeping the mosquitos at bay while we sip margaritas out here, but 1 - outdoor fans are expensive (!) and 2 - the ceiling isn’t that tall, and a fan with a light would be just above 6 feet.  Meaning any adult could hit the blades if they raised their hands.

I was still gung-ho, but Mike suggested that before we spend the money and time let’s see if adding a box fan would increase the amount of time spent out here.  So far, we have spent a lot more time out here enjoying the summer evenings, but I’m not sure it’s enough to warrant a ceiling fan just yet!

I’ve only showed the one angle, but the front door is on the other side, and there’s really no space for anything else.

I tried to add in some red to go with the door, but I just wasn’t happy with it.  Maybe the red coordinates with the orange tone of the furniture and mirror?  I think that’s a stretch but I’m sticking with that reasoning.

I still love that red door, even though I don’t use red a lot.  With the tan siding and black shutters, it really needs a red door to make it stand out, especially under the covered porch.

The porch furniture doesn’t show very much over the railing, but you can tell it’s finally got it’s sh*t together even from the street.  And, all the boxwoods made it through the trauma of temporarily being moved to the side yard!  It was touch and go there for a minute, but we’ve even got new growth happening!  What didn’t make it though is that center hosta, which is weird because I was under the impression that hostas could not be killed, which is why I love them so much.  These were all taken from the side yard either completely or split, so I’ll get another to put in the center later.

Overall I love the new front porch space and it’s literally my favorite “room” this summer!

Later this week I’ll share a budget breakdown of all the items, since it’s basically all just bought items that created this space.  Until then, you can most likely find me lounging out here with Mike and Benelli and some adult beverages.

Switching gears a little bit from the Hummel House to talk about our porch.  Last time I talked about the porch styling was almost 4 years ago when I complained about how tan everything was looking, but did some virtual styling to reduce the monotony of beige.  Last year we did do some major work on the actual porch which made my dislike of the basic furniture seem a little less important, but with warm weather right around the corner I’m back to dreaming of sipping margaritas out here again!

So, the last time I had checked in I had bought this set from Bed Bath & Beyond, which is no longer carried.

I also had that Ikea sisal rug that I had plans to paint, but honestly, who has time for that?! 

My plan was to add color by painting the rug, adding pillows and accessories, and maybe one day making slip covers.  They were grand plans indeed!

Well fast forward 4 years and we still had the tan furniture with a couple pillows, which you can see peeking out in the first photo, and that was it.  I was hopeful to take on this space again and everything changed when I got the Bed Bath and Beyond circular last month and I got super excited about new possibilities.

I decided to stop trying to like my old set and get something I loved, and this Westerly Acacia Wood Chat Set was it!  I knew Mike would kill me if I came home with a new set while we still had a perfectly good one sitting on the porch at the moment, so I reasoned with myself that if I could sell the old one, I would buy the new one.  I posted it to our local Facebook Buy, Sell, Trade group and within 3 minutes it was sold for $150!  I went after work to buy the new set :)

Poor Mike was actually on the porch cleaning it up when I came home with the news that someone was coming by later to take it away.  He’s definitely used to this by now so he wasn’t even that surprised.  I had also picked up a new outdoor rug from Target while I was out and then got to work putting everything together.  I would have liked a larger rug, but we’re limited by width of the porch.

The furniture is surprisingly really comfortable.  The cushions look a little thin, but I sat on the display set before I bought it. 

I’ve got to add some more layers, including a side table for the chairs, planters, lanterns, pillows, and accessories.  I’ve got a couple items in transit, and I’ll share as I add more pieces.   

When I showed the painted foundation I never did a full pulled-back shot of the porch.  Since I use this blog as much as a platform to share our projects as I do a reference for us to look back on, I wanted to wrap this project up, officially. 

This is probably the first project that doesn’t look that much different from the before, but the progress photos show all the good stuff.  We started with the existing porch, with carpeted stairs, and a concrete slab that dead-ended into the grass.

We got to work removing and saving the siding, demoing the stairs, and tearing off the old wooden siding.

We then had to step back to re-evaluate the project after we found extensive termite damage.

After some discussion, we decided to keep the porch and rebuild it with extra support.  Also adding better materials to prevent termite damage in the future.

We poured a new walkway.

And, got new stairs.

We wrapped the porch with Tyvek and PVC trim, and added faux stone panels to create a faux foundation and columns, creating an architectural detail and better curb appeal.  Then added the saved siding back on.

Finally, I painted the foundation (technically, only half of it) with a paint color matched to the faux stone for better continuity.

Even though we still have to fill in some of the garden beds, we’re calling this baby done!

I hope to get the other foundation wall painted before the weather turns.

Like I said at the beginning, the before and after aren’t mind blowing or anything, I mean we literally transplanted the same plants back into place, but all the work underneath is impressive and we can definitely tell the new supports when we walk around on the porch.

The before/after back to back:

We recently added up all the receipts from this project, as well as all the new landscaping (new beds, mulch, rocks) and our total was $2,700.  We had estimated that a new porch would be close to $5,000, so we went in to this project fearing the worse.  We feel really good about the upgraded curb appeal, as well as making the foundation secure and preventing future damage.  We’re also impressed we were able to clean up the rest of the yard in that number too!

Since we upgraded the porch foundation.  Well, technically created one.  I needed to do something about our house foundation. 

When we replaced the basement windows we knew we would need to paint the blocks since the grout sills made it look unfinished.  That was almost five years ago! 

Not only were the sills raw grout, but there were spots that Mike patched with concrete, and areas where the stone had started to deteriorate.

I honestly didn’t know what color to paint it, and then it became one of those unfinished projects you know longer see.  After adding in the faux stone base on the porch, I finally had a direction.  I took a piece of the stone panel to Sherwin Williams and had them color match to the darker stones, but realized that SW7019 Gauntlet Gray was a perfect match.  I got a gallon of SuperPaint in Satin.

It was actually pretty easy to paint.  I grabbed Mike’s creeper and scooted my way down the drive and used a small roller with a 3/4” nap and an angled brush.

It went on pretty thick and I thought I got away with only 1 coat, but in the different light I can see some spots that are a little thin.  That’s okay because I only did the one side!  That’s right we’ve been living the last few weeks with one side a different color.  When I get the energy I’ll do the other side.  We’ve removed some of the plants so it should be easier, but it’s all garden beds and mulch over there so I can’t use the creeper :(

But this is the side I see everyday so I’m still happy!

I only went as far as I could reach under the deck.  You can’t see it unless you get under there, but I promise never to make fun of painting around things again. 

The window sills look so much better now that they blend in with the rest of the block.

And I’m not sure what will happen to the deteriorating block over here now that I’ve covered it in paint, but I do know that it’ll give it a little more protection, and if it starts looking crappy again I can always paint it!

A pulled back photo shows how the new porch faux foundation now matches the house foundation.

It’s not a huge difference, like a new house color or anything, but it’s something I’ve wanted to change for years, and it feels awesome to finally have (half of it) done!

We also capped the porch and started landscaping again.

We added the boxwoods and hostas back, and so far they don’t seem to have been that traumatized by the moves.  We’ll see next year. 

This detail shows how Mike capped the railing and beefed it up.  He used the Azek trim to cap it, then ripped down pieces to finish off below.  We still have to fill all the holes, but from far away you can’t tell, so we’re in no hurry!

In other super exciting news, we got a new mailbox!  We went back and forth on something DIY’d, or super modern, but in the end we went with something similar to our old box, just bigger with simple lines.  Mike made the flag that attached to the side with a magnet.  Maybe I’ll have him disassemble it to show how he made it.

We’ve made some garden beds around the house and yard, and plan to use the dwindling days of summer to get the outside looking as good as the inside, finally!