The Saratoga House: Living the Life on the Porch

So this week the sun decided to come out and say hello, flip
flops appear to be welcome pounding the pavement around town, everything is
lush and green and bursting at the seams in a way like it might stay for a
while and visit…so it is time to come on out and live life on the porch again.

Welcome to our front porch: crisp yet collected, I feel like it represents my obsessive need for order while still suiting an older home. Because I don’t want to spend major bucks and then feel guilty changing things up, the slipcover for the couch cushion is made from a flat sheet from Walmart and the black and white toile/damask patterns are left over from previous projects. The wicker furniture? Bought at 60% off at an end-of-season sale then painted black…total score!

When we decided to move to “Lower Canada” (as many of our
southern friends referred to Upstate New York), one might think the last thing
we would be looking for in the house of our dreams is a big, beautiful front
porch. Usually we spend several months buried
under the frozen tundra, so how could outdoor living really be taken advantage
of in a place where winter (normally) takes up significant residence?? Those who share this opinion though have
obviously never visited Saratoga Springs, where the front porch becomes a way
of life 2-3 seasons of the year. Games
are played, newspapers are perused, neighbors reconnect, and toasts are made on
this lovely parcel of property, where the line between inside and outside is
most blatantly blurred. In our
neighborhood it appears as if the dusting off of the porch furniture is a
signal for hibernation to end and the social scene to begin. All of sudden, everyone is outside exchanging
pleasantries over everything from the state of the frost-burnt hydrangeas to
the latest baseball stats at East Side Rec. And the congenial atmosphere doesn’t end at
friends and relations–every passerby gets a hello and how-are-you, whether
he/she might be a local or a track traveler–because something about porch
living brings out the friendly in each of us.
Even my dad, who commuted to Manhattan for over a decade (where no one
says hi to anyone), comes to visit
and spends the majority of his time here enjoying the front porch and exchanging
pleasantries like a true Saratogian.

This is my dad’s favorite front porch perch–and one of my favorite elements of our entry. The rocker used to be in our baby’s rooms when we had babies, and holds an embroidered pillow with our house number on it (courtesy of my sewing expert mom). And along with seasonal blooms is our milkbox for weekly deliveries from Battenkill Valley Creamery…and with such great local dairies in the area, one should be on every Saratoga front porch.

So of course this is a design blog, and for those of us who
obsess over our homes as we do, decorating said living space becomes a major
priority. A few thoughts to keep in mind
might be:

Let
Your Porch be an Introduction to your Home.
When
thinking about your porch design, look to the rest of your house for inspiration:
this is an outdoor room, not a couple of lawn chairs and a hibachi, so decorate
it as such. For our front porch, I
wanted something with varied pattern, a specific color scheme, but also a feel
like it had been developed over time–so I went with traditional wicker painted
black and a color selection of red, navy, black, and a hint of pale green–which
previews most of the colors on the first floor of our house. I also added a few vintage pieces for fun,
and kept a star and monogram theme that I also hint at once you move past the
front door

Balancing what you need with what you want–the red lanterns hold tea lights, while the black one is battery-operated and keeps those pesty bugs away during our evening get-togethers…

One of my favorite front porch haunts…the two person bistro table. My husband and I sneak out here for dinners as often as possible…but are still close enough to hear any child drama going on just inside the door. The blue over-cloth makes it easy to keep clean, and the clip-on tablecloth weights…they had me at hello!

Decide Your Function,
then Your Form Will Follow. Are you
looking to eat dinner with your whole family on your front porch every night?
Is it where you will be reading all summer?
Is your seasonal gear going to be stored out there for the
duration? If so, plan accordingly. If you plan to hold private gatherings, you
might want to look into canvas curtains to envelope the space, or a trellis
with vines growing on it for one side to provide at least a little bit of
privacy. Reading room needs will include
comfy furniture to sink into and a few accent tables to set your latte or bookmark
on. For us, it is a place for my husband
and I to enjoy a little dinner, a gathering place for friends in town, and a
perch to people watch from, so we needed to incorporate each of these purposes
into the concept.

Armor up, or Don’t
Get Too Attached. Let’s face it, our
designs on the front porch take a beating, whether it be from sun, rain,
excessive pollen, or whatever nature throws its way. Because of this, if you are set in your
design and know you want to stick with what you initially create, invest in
some hardy, outdoor furniture and upholstery.
If you are like me and a bit fickle about your design (wanting to change
it up every now and again just for the fun of it), you can play with what you
use on the porch, just don’t plan on it lasting forever. Because of this I usually give myself a very
small budget for tweaks each season on my front porch, because I know next year
I might want to mix it up and go in a different direction altogether, so spending
major bucks on permanent items doesn’t lock me into just one style or scheme.

Whimsy has a definite place on the front porch–I love being able to add a new message to our front porch chalk board, whether it be to welcome an overnight guest or make a fun statement concerning the season.

Have a Little Fun! Remember, don’t take your porch too seriously–a
room you can only use for 6 months shouldn’t be something to stress over. Create a vision, make it a reality, then sit
back and relax–because in the end, you and your family enjoying your front
porch is the best decoration of all.

So open your front door, breathe in the fresh spring air,
and head out to enjoy your front porch.
It is without a doubt the best way to welcome the season. J