How do view your front porch? Is it an insulating layer beyond your front door, somewhere to leave muddy shoes, or is it simply a shelter from the rain while fumbling for your front door keys? The style of your porch can often dictate its uses, but it can also make a statement about your home.
An Extra Room
Whether it’s a small storm porch or a large canopied area in front of your house, thinking of the space as an extra room in the house brings about a new approach to styling it. For example, if the space is big enough, incorporating seating in an open porch area can provide a welcoming ambience, and if there’s enough privacy in the front garden, it’s an ideal place to entertain.
Merge the garden into your home by building a lattice on one side of your open porch where climbing plants can provide both privacy and greenery. Even an array of potted plants and hanging baskets around a small, open porch canopy can transform it into an attractive focal point from the street.
Enclosed porches can be decorated like any other room in the house. Consider blinds or curtains for windows, and wooden flooring or matching furniture for hanging coats and storing shoes. Think about the lighting arrangements, such as whether you’d prefer wall lights or overhead lights. Heat-sensitive external lights are good for lighting the approach to your porch whilst also serving as a deterrent for burglars.
Deciding on the porch of your dreams
If you’re starting from scratch and looking to have a front porch built, there are plenty of designs to consider, from brick-built extensions to simple wooden canopies over your front door. Some larger projects may require planning permission. Planning Portal has guidelines on this for projects in England and Wales.
If you’re looking for an open, wooden canopy, you can find oak porches from internet retailers such as bespoak timber frames available online.
Stuck for ideas on what’s best for your house? Take a look at porches on houses that are of a similar style or age to your own, how those porches are used, and what you’d do differently. It will help crystallise the perfect porch design to suit the way that you live, both aesthetically and practically.