End of summer front porch decor

The end of summer always makes me feel wistful. I wonder if we’ve done enough fun things, if we’ve done enough work on the farm, if we’ve spent enough time with the kids, if Kevin and I have spent enough time nurturing our relationship…

The answer to all of these is usually no. And it’s because I truly believe we can never have enough fun, do all the work, spend too much time with the kids or spend enough time working on ourselves.

However, this summer especially has been odd. With the pandemic ranging in some parts of the country, it’s been anything but normal. It’s impacted not just our summer plans but the work we’ve been able to accomplish here this summer, which impacts the fun, which impacts the kids and Kevin and I. It’s even impacted the design of our home and our outdoor spaces because finding décor – or even pots for flowers – has been a challenge.

But, there’s also been a few positives to all of this too.

The first positive has been being able to be around one another so much. I honestly have loved being able to retreat into our little farm and have the kids around. As long as I’m not homeschooling them and just enjoying them, we’re good.

The second positive things is that sitting within this space every single day has really helped me define what I love in terms of design and style for our home.

Understanding our space

Our house was built in 1900 and redesigned to be “modern farmhouse style” in 2017. But, I’ve discovered that I really love the look of Modern French Country too with some hints of vintage flare. I’ve learned this year to really gravitate towards pieces I love and not just pieces that current design trends tell me to love.

When it came to  the summer front porch decor this year, I knew I really wanted it to feel like our home and add some of those touches. Last summer, I felt like I didn’t know who we were in this space well enough to really make it shine. But this summer, after spending months and months here on the farm without going anywhere, I knew the look I was going for with the summer front porch.

This year, I wanted the summer front porch decor to feel peaceful, cozy and really be a light and relaxing place for us. A kind of calm spot in the world. I wanted calming colors, soft surfaces and a spot where we could just watch the world pass us by.

Here’s what I did…

Making it a room

To start, I always think of the front porch as its own separate space. To me, it’s just another room in the house and I approach decorating it in much the same way. I use texture, straight lines, a little bit of flourish. I like to mix old and new pieces to create a look that feels timeless, fresh and inviting for the summer front porch decor.

To make this happen, I added a coffee table to the porch swing area this year. We love to spend time in this spot and it didn’t make sense to not have a coffee table out here.

I knew I wanted a small table to go out here in front of the swing. Somewhere we could put a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and just enjoy some time outside. But it really took me awhile to find the perfect piece.

First, I bought something from Target, but I didn’t like it. It just looked too new and plastic-like.

Then I decided to look at the vintage stores around here – really looking for something that was more metal versus anything else. But, I stumbled across this wooden table and fell in love. I love the curves of the legs, the warm, white color and the fact that it’s so sturdy. I think it looks perfect in this space. It’s really worked wonderfully for us this season and rain hasn’t been an issue since the porch is covered. It also really lends itself to the Modern French Country look that I love.

Defining spaces

Since the porch is so long, I decided to treat it almost as three separate spaces this season. I added a second rug in front of the rocking chairs to give it some definition. It’s the same rug that I bought to go in front of the swing last year so they match perfectly. One of the rugs is a year old and despite getting wet and being outside year-round, it’s still in really great shape.

For some reason, right now only and orange and cream rug is coming up when I go back to check my order. You can find it {HERE} if you’re interested in seeing it. Keep checking back to see if the blue/grey and cream rug returns.

Finding the right flowers

When it came to adding flowers to the summer front porch decor I was a lot more specific this year than I was last year. I wanted to really focus on giving the space a bit of the Modern French Country feel so I decided to stay with mostly white and purple flowers. Here and there there’s a pop of color but I wanted to make sure that the colors were calming, soft and simple throughout the space. I really focused on using textured flower mixes with simple, easy-to-maintain flowers to create a charming space.

Because. we are at the end of the summer, I’ve already started adding mums to the space too. These will carry us through to November as long as it didn’t get too cold here in Michigan.

Front door wreaths

The front door wreaths are wreaths from the Target Magnolia collection and you can find them {HERE}. I’ve had them for the last year and a half. In fact, these wreaths were some of the first things that I bought when we moved into the farmhouse and they hung that entire first winter.

Each spring and summer season I’ve added flowers to them to make them more original and work with my front porch design. I love that I can change the look just by adding other faux flowers – or real dried flowers – and don’t have to spend money on a new wreath each season.

This year, I decided to keep it simple and just add white flowers to stay in line with the summer front porch decor. I actually purchased and used the hydrangeas last year and love that I was able to reuse them this year. I think they look really beautiful in the space and add to the overall look of the front porch.

The gorgeous sign

Our beautiful front porch sign is from Joyfully Said Signs and it was the last thing I added to the front porch but I really think it’s the one piece that pulls everything together. We’ve never put anything in this space above the rockers and it’s always felt a bit empty to me.

I love that this sign fits the space perfectly and that the sweet saying welcomes guests and family when they visit. It’s the perfect sign to have hang on our house year-round.

It says:

WELCOME HOME

where hope abounds, love heals

and forgiveness is never earned

YOU BELONG HERE

Beautiful, right? You can visit Joyfully Said Signs and find the sign – and so many more! – right {HERE}.

Tying it together with textiles and other things

For the textiles, I stuck with light, cream colors for the summer front porch decor. I really think that they help to give the space that light and airy feeling. I kept the same pillows in both the swing are and the rocking chairs to give some consistency.

You can find the blanket {HERE} and the cream pillows are from Target but no longer available online. I purchased the “Our happy place” pillow from a local shop here.

The lanterns I used for the summer front porch decor are a mix of metals and materials and I love that they’re not overly matchy. A few are new but again some are from a previous year. I love that I have been able to reuse from year-to-year

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So that’s it! What do you guys think? Please let me know if the comments below!

Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope you’ll come back again and see what else we’re up to here at Sugar Maple Farmhouse. For more farmhouse decor ideas, click {HERE}!