Summer farmhouse porch decor

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It finally feels like summer here in West Michigan and I couldn’t be more excited for what the promise of this first summer in the farmhouse brings. Aside from wrapping up the barn remodel later this season, I’m looking forward to having the kids off school in a few weeks and falling into a more relaxed routine.

I also remember summers here being pretty close to perfect. With the lake nearby, days that aren’t too hot and the sun staying up past 10 p.m., there’s not much more you could ask for.

And, I guess after the cool spring, summer decided to be right on cue. Kicking off this Memorial Day weekend we had some beautiful weather and were able to get a lot of little projects done around the farm.

Weekend goals: Porch decor

One of my goals for the weekend was to get our front porch together. While the backyard is really dependent upon the barn project (which has been stagnant for two weeks due to permitting) and the fence (which will go in this week), the porch was calling out to me.

I’ve always dreamed of having a home with a front porch. I find them dreamy and romantic in some nostalgic kind-of-way. Before we moved my husband and I were even considering adding a front porch to our old house because he knew how much I loved them.

Our front porch is really large. It’s almost like an entire room within itself. It’s covered so even in the rain, you can hang out on the front porch. It was really one of the selling points for me for this house, and I think Kevin too.

Every now and then in the mornings, when we don’t have to run off to somewhere for the kids, one of us will sit out there with some coffee and just watch the cars pass by. Admittedly, we both need to do that more often.

A porch decor theme…sort of

I decided to decorate the front porch with a touch of patriotism. Although, phrasing it like that seems really odd.

Basically, I wanted to honor some of the summer holidays like Memorial Day this weekend and the upcoming 4th of July without feeling like I was going overboard.

I really wanted decor that would last all summer long for us out there so I didn’t feel the urge to redecorate it every few weeks. I found a few pieces that I really love from a few of my favorite stores, and I think that this porch is now ready to help us kick off the summer. What do you think?

The rocking chairs

We purchased the rocking chairs from the previous owners. However, I’ve found a few of them on Wayfair that I think are pretty similar. I do know they purchased a lot from here so there’s a good chance the chairs are on here.

You can find one of them here. The second one is here. If you’re looking for a black one, I also love this one.

Patriotic pillows

The, “God bless America,” and, “Home of the brave,” pillows are from Kirlands. They had really fun, farmhouse-like, patriotic decor for the early summer holidays. I could have gone a little crazy, but I restrained myself. 🙂 You can find the God Bless America pillow here and the Home of the Brave pillow here.

Summer lovin’ plants

During the summer, I really love to use natural elements such as flowers and plants to decorate. While I may be a little sparse this year (I imagine a lot more hanging plants at some point), I do love how everything turned out with my mix of shade and sun/shade loving flowers.

Plant stands & Lantern

The plant stands above are from Homegoods. I love the look of them but they aren’t very sturdy. They do tend to blog over in the wind. I think I’m going to find another potted flower pot that’s made of plastic that I can squeeze into the bottom space to help anchor it. Other than that, I love the look! They were both under $15 too!

The lantern is from Target. It is from the Smith and Hawkins collection, which is an outdoor brand I adore. You can find it here.

Our porch swing

Our porch swing is probably everyone’s favorite part of the porch. This weekend my niece was visiting and the kids all sat on the swing just having a good time together for at least an hour. I hope it’s a place where many more memories will be made. A place that always says, “Home,” to my kids.

I posted a photo of it on the Sugar Maple instagram about two weeks ago before this area was completed. It quickly became one of my most popular posts and everyone was wondering where I found the various pieces. Here’s the breakdown:

The porch rug

This one was an Amazon find, friends! I was looking all over for something that was stripped with tassels. No idea why I wanted tassels but I did and I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere – on an outdoor rug anyways. I also wanted it to be a nice neutral color. You can find the link to the rug here.

I was searching for an outdoor rug when this popped up. After looking at the reviews again, I don’t believe it is actually an outdoor rug. It is made from more than 80% wool. The rest is a cotton and polyester blend. However, it’s been working for me.

It has gotten damp but it’s dried and there’s no smell to it. It hasn’t been soaked. Since out porch is covered, that seems to help when it rains. Also, if I know it’s going to rain, I go out and fold it in on itself so it doesn’t blow around. It likes to blow in a similar fashion to the plant stands above.

If you don’t think it will work outdoors for you, I think it would make a great indoor rug too. You can find different colors and sizes here.

A variety of pillows

The pillows on this side of the porch decor are from HomeGoods and Target. The buffalo check pillows are Nautica pillows I found for a steal at HomeGoods (Same as those red buffalo check ones on the rocking chairs!) They are outdoor pillows, or at least that’s what the tag said. See if you can find them at your HomeGoods. If not, try these instead:

Better Homes & Gardens Blue Buffalo Check (not outdoor)

Better Homes & Gardens Red Buffalo Check (not outdoor)

Humble and Haute Blue Buffalo Check (indoor/outdoor)

Humble and Haute Red Buffalo Check (indoor/outdoor)

The red stripped pillows are from the Magnolia Hearth & Hand collection at Target. You can find them here. Again, these aren’t specifically outdoor pillows but they work for us since they are covered.

The, “Welcome to our farmhouse,” pillow is from HomeGoods. I haven’t found a similar one online but I have found pillow covers with that saying on Amazon here and this cute set of covers here.

The side table on the left of the swing is also from HomeGoods.

Honeycomb drink table

This cute, white mosaic table above is from Target. I love how simple it is and I also adore the honeycomb pattern. This is porch decor but it could be a great traditional piece that you can pull into your house when the cooler days come. You can find it here.

Poppy watering can

Last but not least, this red watering can is from HomeGoods too. I love a good bright red, Maybe because it’s a color that actually looks good on me. 🙂 Whatever it is, I’m drawn to it. they also had dark blue cans too that I loved but the blue one at my store was dented.

My favorite part of this watering can is the function though. You can take off the spout top and pour a more direct line of water. I almost always prefer that so I look for it whenever I buy a watering can, which is probably more often than one should buy a watering can. They’re kind of cute though, right?

Summer 1. A lifetime to go…

So that’s it. This is the place we will spend lazy summer afternoons and slow weekend mornings. Ideally we will have a cup of coffee in hand as we look out at our 100-year-old sugar maple. Someday we will be able to smell the lilac bush we just planted next to the driveway too. I just hope that someday comes slowly and there’s a lot of happy memories made here first.

For more about our farmhouse, click here.