A Passion for Porches
Enjoy the great outdoors from the comfort of your porch. Explore the various porch styles to find the perfect setup for your home.
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Take advantage of the warm weather by moving your family room outside. A wooden bench becomes a comfy seating area with cushions covered in outdoor fabric and a pile of accent pillows. A vintage coffee table (coated in weather-resistant paint) and area rug complete the living room configuration. Cool blues, creams, and white keep the decor light and breezy.
Wicker furniture and rocking chairs are porch classics. Keep the grouping lively with contrast: white wicker and dark rockers. Fabric choices set the style. The plaids and stripes here give a decidedly cottage feel to the traditional pieces.
Narrow porches require careful furniture choice and placement. The large wicker rocker sits in the corner, out of the path of foot traffic and with room to rock. A straight-back settee provides additional seating in a stationary form, and the small red rocker is both an accent and a place for a child to sit. The narrow bench anchors the grouping and provides a place to set down a glass of iced tea.
Add charm to your porch with comfortable furnishings and surprise elements. A primary seating area and a separate dining nook help break up the long, narrow expanse. A painted vintage-look checkerboard floor adds a fun twist to this classic porch.
This sunny water-view porch has an airy, comfortable feel with furnishings in white wicker. A variety of cheery cushions and pillows invite guests to sink in and stay awhile.
The timeless combination of blue and white cools on even the hottest summer day. Accentuate the look with a planter of red-hot geraniums. With a selection of patterns, this basic color combination stays visually interesting and always inviting. For a new look, just rearrange the cushions.
Just a step up from the ground, the fine line where this porch ends and the cottage garden begins is blurred by greenery. A few architectural points -- the home's siding, picket fence, and rooflines of nearby homes -- are the only indicators of nearby civilization. Create the look by using just a modest amount of furnishings and adding layers and layers of garden finery.
What is more appealing on a warm summer day than to sit in a comfy wicker chair, gazing out at a lake view or landscape? A simple canvas floorcloth anchors this seating group. Keep chair pillows clean and dry by placing them in a storage bench or large plastic tote box.
Add a splash of color to a screened porch with painted wicker and colorful accents. The red wicker swing and rocking chair create a comfortable spot to relax. Fabric cushions and pillows, lanterns, and a green rug add punches of color and comfort underfoot.
Contemporary style can be cozy, as this inviting lakeside porch attests. The simple design of the white metal furniture with matching cushions doesn't distract from the room's view. The angular geometry of the porch, deck, and railing emphasize the organic curves of nature.
Keep an enclosed porch connected to the outdoors with color and texture. Natural flooring and plenty of plants set an organic tone. The porch swing and all-glass coffee table are the lightest-of-lightweight choices. A few wood accent pieces and bright fabrics help to define the space. Only the treetops show above white sheers on the windows.
In mild climates or inside a fully enclosed porch, you can use a mix of indoor and outdoor furnishings. This daybed is definitely furniture to care for, yet in this setting offers the benefits of a piece flexible enough for sitting, napping, and an occasional guest.
Create a fun atmosphere for your enclosed sunroom with bold fabrics. Small, medium, and large-scale patterns blend in a happy mix to keep the room fun and playful, just like the summer activities sure to take place here.
Nothing says summer sun like white wicker. This sunroom gets a splash of color from fashionable fabrics in green and pink. Keeping the color on the cushions and throw pillows makes it easy to update the room as tastes change.
Neutral brown gives an earthy, restful quality to a porch. Here it's paired with creamy whites, soft striped fabrics, and one patterned pillow. A small chandelier gives the room a lovely vintage touch.
In this tall, white-trimmed sunroom, the wicker furnishings help ground the space. The welcoming woven texture of these pieces ties the interiors to the tree-lined view outdoors. Black accent tables also add extra weight to the room.
A mix of accent pillows atop a sophisticated cabana-stripe cushion fabric give this wicker sofa the same designer-style treatment you'd give a living room sofa. Ceramic garden stools stand in as an all-weather alternative to an ottoman or cocktail table.
You could use traditional upholstery on furniture in a four-season porch, but covering cushions and pillows in all-weather textiles offers added durability, fade-resistance, and spill insurance.
Screened-in porches provide some protection from the elements, but they're still essentially outside spaces. Emphasize the outdoor connection, especially when the furniture faces the interior. Here, an antique birdhouse is the base for a corner table. The dark wicker furniture visually recedes, giving the outdoorsy-print fabric due emphasis.
Revive the old idea of a sleeping porch by putting a bed or daybed on a good-sized porch. Elevated, well screened, and tucked in a canopy of trees, this sleeping porch has a treehouse feel. The white furnishings lighten the look and connect the interior space to the white-railed deck beyond.
