Very Small Front Porch Decorating Ideas

COLLAGE OF FRONT PORCH

DOOR WITH BASKET OF SUMMER FLOWERS HUNG ON IT

Ready for small porch decorating ideas? No matter how palatial or tiny your porch is it should always be welcoming and happy and show off a bit of your personality! Today I'm sharing decorating ideas to make your porch its best no matter what the season!

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Today I'm joining some of my blogging friends to participate in a PINTEREST CHALLENGE hosted by Cindy at Country Road 407. Thank you Cindy for including me! And if you are coming from Cindy's beautiful porch, welcome! So glad you are here!

Here is the beautiful Pinterest image Cindy chose for us to put our own spin on! This is from Bria Hammel Interiors. Bria's porch is country perfection!!!!

I've been so inspired by her porch that I wanted to create a pretty front porch space too! One big take away from this challenge is that no matter what the size of a front porch it can be a beautiful welcoming area of your home!

The Tanglewood house has a small front porch with really good bones! And to make it unique and welcoming it did not take much doing!

But my personal challenge was to add beauty, function, and my personality to a space that is quite small!

MY FRONT PORCH DECORATING MUSINGS

I have learned a lot by having a small porch. When we first moved here I thought there wasn't a lot of fabulous small porch decorating ideas I could call on to make my tiny porch look amazing. But I was wrong.

I have learned that there are as many great ideas for decorating a small porch as a large one. You just need to keep a couple things in mind.

First you can love all the porch decorating ideas but you can't use them all at the same time! Sorta self explainatory!

And second, scale and proportion is very important especially when it comes to decorating a small front porch!

Not bragging, but you can find my post with great explanations for SCALE AND PROPORTION and how to use them when you decorate. It takes one of the basic elements of design that can be quite confusing and simplifies it!

THE BEST SMALL PORCH DECORATING IDEAS BEGINS HERE!

FRONT PORCH WITH BLACK BENCH AND LOTS OF FLOWERS

Keeping a clean and well maintained front door and porch is probably the best thing you can do to make a positive impact on your porch no matter how big or small!

Keep a small (or large) front porch tidy!

I like to define "tidy" as

clean
no clutter
nice paint

We live out in the country. And believe me we see it all! Fabulously maintained homes and some that are quite an eye sore! So when we are driving we often comment about how "tidy" a house looks. And that is a compliment! So tidy for us has come to be neat and nicely maintained!

One big advantage of having a small front porch is that is is so easy to keep looking clean!

FRONT PORCH WITH BLACK BENCH AND PLANTERS WITH FLOWERS

ADD SOMETHING SPECTACULAR TO YOUR FRONT DOOR

BASKET OF PINK AND RED GERANIUMS ON THE FRONT DOOR

Nothing makes an instant impact like something spectacular on your front door especially if you have a small front porch!

Our eyes will go right to the front door if there is a wreath or basket or some other focal point on it!

FRONT PORCH WITH BLACK BENCH AND PLANTERS FILLED WITH SUMMER FLOWERS

For summer our front door has a big French inspired basket filled with red and pink geraniums hanging on it. You just can't miss it! I adore red and pink together!

No matter the size of your porch and the time of the year, make your front door the focal point!

This spring I also added a little "hello" to the door! It's a cheery welcome for sure!

FRONT DOOR WITH A BASKET OF RED AND PINK GERANIUMS ON IT.

You can see this super easy diy and some cute things to add to your door by going to…

HOW TO APPLY A FRONT DOOR DECAL

ADD A PIECE OF FURNITURE

Adding something that can loosely be classified as furniture helps to add visual weight and interest to a porch. Even a small front porch!

BENCH ON A SMALL FRONT PORCH WITH A BASKET OF FLOWERS SITTING ON IT

I tried a few pieces of outdoor furniture here before we settled on this bench. First I added one of our rockers to the porch but it really did not fit into this space well. Then we tried a backless bench with a rattan seat. I could see we were headed in the right direction but I needed something (like the back of this bench) against the stone wall to give it more presence and visual weight.

It took months to find this little lattice back bench. Our specifications were very restricted. It had to be an outdoor bench even though we have a covered porch, and it had to be short and narrow. You can see it HERE.

It not only fills the space but adds a bit of practicality too! I can add a basket of flowers in the summer or a pumpkin and my Antique Buchanan wool throw in the fall! And my Amazon packages can be neatly stacked on it!

Adding an attractive piece of outdoor furniture is one of the best small porch decorating ideas I can give you because it will dramatically change the whole look of your porch!

Here are some other furniture or architectural ideas for a small front porch…

stool with a pot of flowers on it
backless bench
chair
rocker
table
planter
crates
swing

ADD A SHOUT OUT TO THE SEASON

SMALL FRONT PORCH WITH BLACK PLANTERS. LOTS OF FLOWERS IN THE PLANTERS.

Adding a nod to the season is an easy and so pretty way to decorate a porch!

Pumpkins in the fall. Evergreens at Christmas. Planters of blooming bulbs in the spring. And lots of pretty, colorful annuals in the summer!

For summer I added three planters of vibrant, colorful annuals. The tall architectural planter on the right side of the porch balances the bench on the left side and is filled with shade loving plants. The planter does not get any direct sun.

These fast growing annuals will fill this planter and spill over it in no time!

The large round self-watering planter gets sun until about 3:30 every day so it is filled with sun loving summer annuals! I'm thinking of this planter as my front porch cutting garden!

I added a big round architectural piece to this container. I've had this and other one like it for years. The rustier they get the more I like them! As the flowers get larger the ribs will help support the taller blooms.

The last nod to the summer season is a basket of annuals on the bench. This area like the tall pot on the porch does not get sun… at all! So I'll rotate a few pots of red and pink geraniums to sit on the front porch bench.

A BASKET OF FLOWERS ON A BENCH ON THE FRONT PORCH.

PUT DOWN SOMETHING IN FRONT OF THE DOOR

PRETTY AND COLORFUL FLOWERS ON A SMALL FRONT PORCH

I love the layered look of an indoor/outdoor rug on a porch with a doormat on top of it. If you can, give that a try! It's a really pretty designer look!

You can find lots of ideas for layering a rug on your porch in the post DRESSING UP A DOORMAT.

For the Tanglewood's small front porch a rug just was overkill! The brick porch has lots of interest and adding a rug over the brick was just too busy! And hid the pretty brick.

So for now, I'm opting to put a simple, yet "tidy" doormat! Sometimes less IS best!

Make sure to replace your front door mat when it shows signs of wear! Pretty decor is all about paying attention to the details!

ADD YOUR PERSONALITY TO YOUR SMALL PORCH DECOR

An amazing porch should begin and end with YOU! Decorating your porch with things you love and things that show off your personal style makes it a true extension of your home!

No matter the size of your front porch it should feel just right for you!

SAVING THE BEST SMALL PORCH DECORATING IDEA FOR LAST

Okay, now for those of you darling readers who have read this post to the very end I'd like to share my best of the best small porch decorating idea!

It's all about knowing the style of your home's exterior and complimenting it with decor.

Here's what I mean…

While I was shopping for things to put on my front porch I fell in love with a tall galvanized planter that looked like a trough! Oh it was beautiful. But I knew since I no longer lived in a farmhouse in the middle of farmland the trough would look out of place in our classically styled home on a golf course. Even though our home is in the middle of Lancaster County farmland.

So I left it at the nursery! Boo-hoo! I must say I adore farmhouse things. But I am a smart enough decorator to know to "listen to my home". It's important to know your home's style and decorate accordingly. You and your home will be happier! Much happier!

That does not mean that I can't have a chippy farmhouse watering can on the porch or the rusty iron piece in my big planter. But here's what it does mean…

most of the decor on my porch is classic and compliments the style of our home
the majority of my porch decor looks like it belongs to my home
I'm not trying to make my home look like something it is not
there's a sense of order and beauty when styles work together and don't fight each other
when my home feels happy, I am happy