At the beginning of spring we shared our new partnership with Lowe’s to redesign and renovate some of our outdoor spaces. Like Lowe’s, I believe in spending every moment possible enjoying the outdoors, whether that’s special celebration moments, entertaining or just a casual weeknight evening with just Thomas and me. We’ve spent the last month planning how we would decorate and redo the landscaping for our front Porch. Our front porch is our favorite and most used outdoor spot, it has a view of the water, neighbors cruise by in their golf carts or walk their dogs. The front porch was the place we wanted to focus on first, so we can give our house the full curb appeal.

We have had a lot going on lately and we couldn’t be happier to celebrate being back home in our house enjoying our new front porch.

Prior to the refresh, we had azaleas in the front of our front porch that we weren’t big fans of. We love azaleas bushes, but these were grown and pruned into shrubs, instead of letting them get to their natural shape. Our first step was to rip those out (they found a new happy home in our neighbors yard!) and replace them with some smaller plants. In front of the porch, we added boxwoods in varying shapes, sizes and placement patterns. This helps us ground the foundation of the house as the low porch doesn’t have a railing, so the evergreen boxwoods provide some weight year-round, while their varied sizes keep them somewhat informal and fun. To add some interest, there are variegated pittosporums spaced between the boxwoods for some leaf color, and agapanthus add their lovely blue flowers in early summer. These plants all love the well-drained soil and bright full-sun exposure on the front of the house. We also have some more shaded areas where we planted pink hydrangeas, acanthus and African iris… all lending foliage and flowers to the garden.

We planned for most of the in-ground plants to be long-lasting through the seasons since we travel a lot and always like coming home to green. On the porch we are using a variety of pots to include some more seasonal plants that can be changed out through the seasons, yet most of the pots are anchored with at least one evergreen so we aren’t tied to re-potting every time the seasons change. We do love the tree-form hydrangeas, planted in these large white planters, flanking our front door and when they are done with their spring and summer bloom we plan to transplant them out into the garden for their permanent home.

For decor, Thomas and I eat lots of breakfasts and lunches and enjoy many cocktails out on our porch, so we wanted a table big (shop similar here) enough for four but not so big that we don’t have space for other entertaining items, like a bar cart and bench with plenty of potted plants. Lowe’s has so much great stuff, especially online. For this big project we did a combo of picking up things from our local Lowes, ordering online, as well as getting some special order plants. I’ve always dreamt of having rocking chairs on our front porch. These white ones are so classic and I knew from the moment we purchased our house that this was the perfect spot for them.

For the outdoor dining portion, we wanted it to feel like a natural transition from inside our home, so it feels a lot more homey with the outdoor rug and outdoor lighting (floor lamp and table lamp). Again, we use this space so often- it’s quickly become our favorite spot to relax in the morning with our coffee and our computers as much as is it to have a glass of wine at the end of the day. We’re just so excited to finally be back on the porch and celebrate almost every night!

Thank you to Lowe’s for sponsoring this post.

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