These 8 Relaxed Porches May Be Just What You Need
You’ll want to put your feet up and watch the world go by from these inviting porches from Florida to Sydney
Lauren Dunec Hoang
August 30, 2017
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
With summer winding down, we’re thinking about ways to sit back and enjoy the long evenings and balmy weather. High up on the list: having our feet up on the porch with a cool drink in hand. If you’re looking for inspiration to spruce up your porch, take a look at these eight homes that offer style inspiration for front and backyard lounging.
1. Caribbean-Inspired Wraparound in Florida
This newly renovated 400-square-foot (37.2 square meters) wraparound in the East Hill neighborhood of Pensacola has become the homeowner’s go-to spot for hanging out. Redoing the flooring, adding porch railing, painting the home’s exterior seafoam green and investing in comfortable outdoor seating all helped make the space an inviting spot for outdoor relaxing.
Green paint: Fjord, Sherwin-Williams
This newly renovated 400-square-foot (37.2 square meters) wraparound in the East Hill neighborhood of Pensacola has become the homeowner’s go-to spot for hanging out. Redoing the flooring, adding porch railing, painting the home’s exterior seafoam green and investing in comfortable outdoor seating all helped make the space an inviting spot for outdoor relaxing.
Green paint: Fjord, Sherwin-Williams
Try at home: Divide larger porches into multiple use areas. The porch’s generous size allows for the Florida couple to create three separate seating areas: for entertaining, welcoming neighbors or watching the world go by with just the two of them.
Read more about this porch renovation
Read more about this porch renovation
2. Colorful Craftsman in California
A swinging bench, a pair of yellow wicker chairs and a cheerful sunflower bouquet offer a warm welcome to this Craftsman home in California’s Central Valley. The seating arrangement invites one to relax with a book or have a chat with neighbors.
Try at home: Go bright with porch furniture or accessories. Covered porches are, by nature, shadowy, but the addition of seating, pillows or throws in bright colors can make them feel more inviting. Choose bright furniture hues that work with your home’s exterior paint color, such as golds and orange tones with homes painted blue and gray or reds with white or taupe exteriors.
See more gold and yellow outdoor furniture
A swinging bench, a pair of yellow wicker chairs and a cheerful sunflower bouquet offer a warm welcome to this Craftsman home in California’s Central Valley. The seating arrangement invites one to relax with a book or have a chat with neighbors.
Try at home: Go bright with porch furniture or accessories. Covered porches are, by nature, shadowy, but the addition of seating, pillows or throws in bright colors can make them feel more inviting. Choose bright furniture hues that work with your home’s exterior paint color, such as golds and orange tones with homes painted blue and gray or reds with white or taupe exteriors.
See more gold and yellow outdoor furniture
3. Cozy Seating for Two in Indiana
In this Indianapolis home, a pair of orange Adirondack chairs with matching pillows encourages one to relax or have an intimate conversation. An outdoor rug underfoot adds softness, and striped curtains hide the driveway from view, increasing privacy.
Try at home: Add outdoor curtains for quick screening. Mounting a curtain rod and hanging fabric of your choice can be a useful design trick for making a porch feel more intimate or screening unwanted views. It’s much faster than waiting for shrubs to fill in and more cost effective than adding fencing.
In this Indianapolis home, a pair of orange Adirondack chairs with matching pillows encourages one to relax or have an intimate conversation. An outdoor rug underfoot adds softness, and striped curtains hide the driveway from view, increasing privacy.
Try at home: Add outdoor curtains for quick screening. Mounting a curtain rod and hanging fabric of your choice can be a useful design trick for making a porch feel more intimate or screening unwanted views. It’s much faster than waiting for shrubs to fill in and more cost effective than adding fencing.
4. Swinging Daybeds in Arizona
The owners of this desert home in Tucson enjoy their weekend ritual of drinking morning coffee and enjoying views of the mountains from the cushy seat of these hanging daybeds. The wife admits to also curling up sometimes for a mid-afternoon nap.
To make day beds comfortable for sitting upright as well as reclining, generously pile pillows along the back for added support. Here, a mix of large cream cushions and patterned kilim pillows look cushy and inviting and allow the homeowners to arrange the daybeds for sitting or lounging.
Browse southwestern pillows
The owners of this desert home in Tucson enjoy their weekend ritual of drinking morning coffee and enjoying views of the mountains from the cushy seat of these hanging daybeds. The wife admits to also curling up sometimes for a mid-afternoon nap.
To make day beds comfortable for sitting upright as well as reclining, generously pile pillows along the back for added support. Here, a mix of large cream cushions and patterned kilim pillows look cushy and inviting and allow the homeowners to arrange the daybeds for sitting or lounging.
Browse southwestern pillows
Try at home: Trade a porch swing for a daybed and take lounging to the next level. Porches lend themselves well to hanging furniture: the wide roof overhang both shades the seating area and provides a structure for mounting a swing. If space allows, add a daybed (typically about 2 feet deeper than a bench swing) to set the mood for ultimate relaxation.
Read more about this renovated home
Read more about this renovated home
5. Treetop Retreat in Australia
This elevated porch in Sydney features an upholstered outdoor sofa and matching love seat, as well as a pair of sling-back butterfly chairs. The arrangement provides enough space for a group of four to six people to kick back and appreciate the view of leafy treetops and palm fronds. Potted boxwood and a twining wisteria vine along the balcony make the space feel even more lush.
This elevated porch in Sydney features an upholstered outdoor sofa and matching love seat, as well as a pair of sling-back butterfly chairs. The arrangement provides enough space for a group of four to six people to kick back and appreciate the view of leafy treetops and palm fronds. Potted boxwood and a twining wisteria vine along the balcony make the space feel even more lush.
Try at home: Use potted plants to make your porch feel green and to help with screening. Some covered porches create a challenging planting exposure, depending on its orientation towards the sun: hours of dark, low-light combined with periods of blasting, direct sun. Plants like boxwood, privet, clivia, confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) and paperplant (Fatsia japonica) can tolerate this type of exposure, to a certain degree.
6. Elegant Lounge in South Carolina
This restored 1770 South Carolina mansion with gorgeous historical details — check out the molding on the columns — oozes Southern charm. But perhaps the most enviable architectural feature is the double porch. Mirrored swinging daybeds, matching outdoor sofas and a pair of chairs frame both sides of the door, creating an outdoor gathering place made for a slow evening of sipping iced tea and catching the breeze.
This restored 1770 South Carolina mansion with gorgeous historical details — check out the molding on the columns — oozes Southern charm. But perhaps the most enviable architectural feature is the double porch. Mirrored swinging daybeds, matching outdoor sofas and a pair of chairs frame both sides of the door, creating an outdoor gathering place made for a slow evening of sipping iced tea and catching the breeze.
Try at home: Lay down an outdoor rug. Softening the floor makes a porch feel more like a luxurious outdoor room and encourages people to go barefoot. Choose a rug made of a durable materials like recycled plastic, nylon or acrylic made for outdoor use, or bring an inexpensive indoor rug outside for the season.
7. Front and Back in Florida
This beach home on Amelia Island, just north of Jacksonville, Florida, has two porches for very different purposes. The front porch, shown here, is set up for easy conversation, with a bamboo love seat facing a pair of white-washed chairs. The space feels like an extension of the living room, thanks to indoor-style table lamps, a soft rug underfoot and a potted fiddleleaf fig (Ficus lyrata) moved outside.
This beach home on Amelia Island, just north of Jacksonville, Florida, has two porches for very different purposes. The front porch, shown here, is set up for easy conversation, with a bamboo love seat facing a pair of white-washed chairs. The space feels like an extension of the living room, thanks to indoor-style table lamps, a soft rug underfoot and a potted fiddleleaf fig (Ficus lyrata) moved outside.
The back screened porch of the same home is set up as a summer sleeping spot. A set of two twin beds done up with light linens and cushy pillows looks like the ideal spot for dozing on a breezy summer evening.
Try at home: Designing and installing the beds like porch swings makes them more versatile than, say, a pair of cots moved out on the porch. During the day, pile them up with pillows and they’ll function as extra seating on the porch.
Try at home: Designing and installing the beds like porch swings makes them more versatile than, say, a pair of cots moved out on the porch. During the day, pile them up with pillows and they’ll function as extra seating on the porch.
8. Classic Rockers in Virginia
On the back porch of a Virginia Beach home, a line of rocking chairs painted a deep green provides an ideal spot for taking in views of the back garden.
Try at home: Stick to the classics. If you have a small space or busy exterior, sometimes the simplest design is the strongest one. Really, what more do you need than a comfortable spot to rest, perhaps in the ease of a rocking chair or gentle sway of a swing, to enjoy being out on the porch?
Green paint: Shamrock, Sherwin-Williams
On the back porch of a Virginia Beach home, a line of rocking chairs painted a deep green provides an ideal spot for taking in views of the back garden.
Try at home: Stick to the classics. If you have a small space or busy exterior, sometimes the simplest design is the strongest one. Really, what more do you need than a comfortable spot to rest, perhaps in the ease of a rocking chair or gentle sway of a swing, to enjoy being out on the porch?
Green paint: Shamrock, Sherwin-Williams
Houzz readers: Show us your porch in the Comments below.
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The front porch of our 20's Spanish Mission twin is one of our favorite places to relax. I inherited the heavy mid-century redwood furniture from my parents, and it's so comfortable.
it looks beautiful-cool, calm, and relaxing. you are a very lucky person!
I live in a 1955 Cape Code that has a carport attached. Of course, cars today are much too large so I turned it into a porch. One 5 x 7 rug from Home Depot, two rocking chairs from Pier One (yrs. old) with pillows from Plow and Hearth, a very large Boston fern that sits on an old packing crate with a company name on it, and a few ceramic koi chimes and that's my porch. My home is one lot in from a four-way STOP so I see the neighbors come and go, both driving and walking. Can't wait for spring again so I can bring out the chairs and other decorations and begin enjoying the soft breezes.