Front Porch - Before and After

I took this picture of our house during my first visit to see it. It was (and is) a cute house, but it needed (and still needs) a lot of love and improvement. I've posted before on some of the improvements we've been able to make during our first three years. (Has it really been that long?)

In this post, I'm going to focus on the porch. Check out that huge and ugly row of shrubs in front!
Notice also the ceiling and the cheap old lights and an unpainted door...
Here's my handsome handyman, showing off some brand new lights, and a new beadboard ceiling.
Next step, and the hardest one of all: Cutting down those bushes and digging out the stumps. Thankfully, we have a good friend who came to help!
Aren't those stumps lovely? And notice the railings and posts. Those will change dramatically...
Even lovelier was the lack of anything under the porch! Kevin and a friend added cement posts to stabilize the porch, and then built, painted, and hung lattice around the front and sides. Kev also constructed brand-new railings and posts, having to sand/paint each individual piece (thanks to Tracie for help on this step!).

We had fun during last year's end of season sale at a local nursery, buying some new plants and bushes, including this chokeberry bush.
And here's the final result! A beautiful porch with a sky blue beadboard ceiling, a painted door (which you can't see of course, but trust me, it's a nice green), new lights, sturdy posts, brand-new hand-built railings and posts, gorgeous lattice, and a nice assortment of plants and bushes.

Our front porch is now one of my favorite places to be, especially during these lovely days of September. Thanks for visiting!