Making a Great First Impression! (A Mini Front Porch Makeover)

This past weekend, we had a bunch of family in town to celebrate Sam’s baptism. All last week, when I should have been focusing on shopping for food, making various reservations, and cleaning the house, I instead decided to crank out a ton of projects I’ve been dreaming and scheming about but just hadn’t found the time and motivation to finish. Well…nothing like a bunch of family descending on your home to spur you into action, right?!? I think I’ve done more to this house in the last 7 days than I have in the last 7 months! I knew most people were going to be gazing at the cute new baby and not at my empty walls or barren front porch, but I decided to channel this fresh motivation and get some things done nonetheless! I didn’t have the time or energy to take on any massive projects, but I was able to carve out some time to transform some of our higher visibility areas. At the top of my list was a mini front porch makeover that would bring some color and pizazz to our home’s entrance!

Since moving in last summer, I never settled on some “non-holiday” decor for the front of our house. Once our Christmas decorations came down, our porch was looking a little barren and sad. Each and every day I would pull in our driveway and walk up to our door and think, “Megan, at least put a wreath on the door to show people that someone actually lives here!”

Instead of throwing a wreath on the door and calling it a day however, I took the few extra hours to finish some DIYs on my To Do list and create a “year round” porch that truly reflects the family inside! Take a look!

There are three main elements to this mini transformation: a plant, a new window covering, and a new “wreath” on the door!

To start the transformation, I cleaned off the dirt and debris that had collected on the large natural rug I bought from HomeGoods last Fall. I then gave our large porch plant some TLC by snipping out some dead branches and bringing it back outside after a few months inside being nursed back to health!

Over on the window I finally replaced the gross, dingy sheer curtain from the previous owner. I hated that curtain so much and tried to take it down on several occasions, but Greg was adamant about having something on that window for privacy. I knew he was right so I decided to check out the window film options at the hardware store.

I was worried a patterned window film would look a little “granny-ish,” but I determined anything would be better than the sheer curtain that had been hanging there for months. I’ve never applied a window film before and was really nervous about the project; but honestly, it was so quick and easy…I wish I had done it sooner. The pattern is subtle enough but still gives a little bit of interest to the porch…and I love that it allows in so much more light to our foyer while still maintaining our privacy from anyone at the door. (This window film was from Lowes).

Last but not least, I created a wooden “wreath” to adorn our door and add the perfect punch of preppy color. I had the wooden monogram on the doors of our past two homes, but it was too small for the huge door we have now. By adding a striped circle background to the monogram, the proportion is so much better and the colors really liven up our whole front porch!

Admittedly, this wooden “wreath” project took a bit more time and ingenuity than I first anticipated…but I am so glad I pushed through because it’s one of my favorite things I’ve created in recent months. I’ll have the full tutorial for this project here on the blog soon!

And with those few simple updates, our front porch has all new life! I’m not really one to change out my wreath for the seasons (other than Fall and Christmas), so I am thrilled to have a display up that can pretty much last the whole year. It feels so fresh and fun and “me,” and I love that I’ve finally taken some steps to make this house feel more like our home!

Originally, I schemed up this project to be a “1 Hour Makeover.” My plan was to show how quickly small updates can be done and what big impact they can have. However, I’m learning/realizing that things are taking me longer now that I have to stop for feedings, changing, and cuddling. Even though it took me a bit longer than I wanted (mainly because the “wreath” turned out to be more of a project than I thought it would!), I hope this makeover shows you that some very small changes…even done one nap at a time…can go a long way in making your house feel a little more complete, a little more “you,” and a little more welcoming!

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend and your week is off to a great start. Henry has the entire week off from school so we are focusing our efforts on our out-of-control toy situation. Please send good vibes – we’re gonna need it! Next week, I’ll be back with a look at some things we finally got in the mail (ahem, change of address cards) and some tips I use for keeping our address lists current. See you then!